:weekend: Hoping that it is a good weekend for each of you and that you all enjoy it and are able to do what you want to do. :braai: :tent: :celeb: :weekend:

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday.

:bday3:

June 20, 2006

Whales are facing the firing squad once again following an historic victory by Japan and its allies against the morator-ium on commercial whale hunting at the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting in the Caribbean.

The one-vote victory was a shock to the conservationists, who called the result tragic and the most serious defeat suffered by the anti-whaling group.

While the 20-year-old moratorium against whale hunting still stands as it needs a 75% majority to be overturned, Japan has scored a major coup by insisting that the majority of members of the IWC now believe the ban on whaling is no longer necessary. This could open the way for what Tokyo calls sustainable commercial whale hunting.

Conservationists scoff at such an idea, claiming that many whale species are still endangered and commercial hunting of any kind will lead to the extinction of these great mammals of the sea. They accuse Japan of using its wealth to buy votes from poorer countries that have no history of whaling.


Despite the moratorium, whale hunting still occurs. Both Japan and Iceland use a loophole in the Whaling Commission's rules which allows for killing a limited number whales for "research" purposes, while Norway simply ignores the ban. This means that about 2 000 of these leviathans are harpooned every year.

If Japan can keep its majority in the Whaling Commission, it will be able to dictate the agenda of this organisation, turning its focus away from conservation to ways and means of allowing commercial exploitation of whales. This would open the way for Japan and other whaling nations to roam the world in search of these great beasts of the sea, including the oceans off the coasts of this country, where whales are becoming more common and are proving to be a popular tourist attraction.

The conservationists have lost a trick and they will now have to play their cards with care and skill to ensure whales remain safe from the greatest predators of all - man.

June 23, 2006 Edition 4


Louisiana - If it takes you 10 bites to demolish a hamburger, chew slowly on this one. Seven hundred bucks might buy you more than 30 dozen burgers from McDonald's, but the swanky Old Homestead Steakhouse will sell you one brawny beef sandwich for the same price.

Boca Raton mayor Steven Abrams could barely speak between bites as he devoured the 567g, $100 (R700) hamburger billed as the "beluga caviar of sandwiches".

"Heaven on a bun," restaurant owner Marc Sherry said.

The burger debuted on Tuesday at the restaurant in the Boca Raton Resort and Club, where membership costs $40 000 (R280 000) and an additional $3 600 (R25 200) a year.

"We've never had a hamburger on our menu here so we really wanted to go to the extreme," Sherry said, calling it "the most decadent burger in the world."

The mound of meat is comprised of beef from three continents - American prime beef, Japanese Kobe and Argentine cattle.

The bill for one burger, with garnishing that includes organic greens, exotic mushrooms and tomatoes, comes out to $124,50 (R871) with tax and an 18% tip included.

The restaurant will donate $10 (R70) from each sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which fulfils requests from terminally ill children. - Sapa-AP

Former Springbok captain Joost van der Westhuizen, who was admitted to hospital with severe concussion and swelling on the brain on Wednesday, was kept at Pretoria East Hospital for a second day of observation.

According to his doctor Henry Kelbrick, "he was recovering slowly, but well".

The former scrumhalf was still suffering from bad headaches yesterday as a result of a knock he took while playing in a Rugby Legends game in Durban earlier this week.

His wife, Amor Vittone, said: "I really got a fright when the whole thing happened. It really brought me down to earth again and you realise how precious your family is to you.

"Joost told me on the phone from Durban he had taken a knock when he tackled a player and he had a bad headache as a result. But we kept on chatting on the phone while he was at the function afterwards and he kept on giving me pointers about the venue, because I am scheduled to perform there at the final."


Van der Westhuizen underwent an MRI scan where the concussion and the swelling on the frontal lobes of the brain were diagnosed.

Vittone said: "It really didn't look good at the time and it was a big shock for me to see him like that. It was very serious but he is recovering slowly.

"He would have played today had he been okay. It was a freak accident, especially if you think of all the years he played across the world without sustaining an injury like that."

Vittone said the main thing now was to ensure that her husband received the best treatment available to ensure that there was no lasting damage.

"If it isn't handled properly he can suffer from strokes later."

By Gordon Bell

South Africa's deficit on the current account widened to its worst level since 1982, data showed yesterday, knocking the rand to a 21/2-year low and suggesting that interest rates will have to rise again.

Mboweni said he was "concerned" about the shortfall on the country's broadest measure of trade, which swelled to 6.4 % of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter from 4.5% in the previous quarter.

Strong domestic demand, robust credit growth and high oil prices all conspired to boost imports and push the current account deficit to a record R103.1 billion in the first quarter, the bank's June quarterly bulletin showed. That news knocked the rand 3.5% lower to 7.41/dollar - its weakest level since January 16, 2004.

Its rapid descent backed perceptions inflation would climb, forcing the central bank to raise interest rates again after its surprise decision to hike its key repo rate by half a percentage point to 7.50% on June 8.

"There may be some major inflationary consequences down the road and strong import demand may also have some unintended consequences for domestic production," Mboweni told parliament's finance committee.

"Which means that something is wrong in the economy encouraging all this conspicuous consumption that is taking place ... and that thing that might be wrong is that money is too cheap."

Bank shares tumbled more than 3% while some retailers dived by 3.6%. Government bonds also took a beating, with yields on the most traded R153 bond due 2010 climbing by 14 basis points to 8.23%.

"My feeling is that more interest rate hikes are on the cards, the central bank has no choice ... the trend is in place, further rand weakness lies ahead," Brait economist Colen Garrow said.

Concerns over the ballooning current account gap had already piled pressure on the rand during a rout of emerging market currencies over the past month, which knocked the unit about 15% weaker in the year so far.


To date the deficit has been amply covered by inflows on the financial account, but a drop in foreign buying of domestic equities over the past month has fuelled concern there will be less support from that area.

During the first quarter of 2006 capital inflows - particularly portfolio investments into domestic equities - continued to finance the current account shortfall, the central bank's bulletin showed.

But other data highlighted South Africa's deteriorating export performance, which has been blamed on sustained strength in the rand currency after its descent to a record low of 13.85/dollar in December 2001.

In volume terms exports fell by 5% in the first quarter of 2006, while imports rose by 3.5%, matching an "accelerated pace" in domestic spending.

"We still see significant inflows into the economy which finance the current account deficit," Mboweni said.

"(But) I'm still concerned (about) a current account deficit of more than 6% of GDP ... There is an imbalance here."

Mboweni highlighted high levels of household debt, which jumped to a record 68% of disposable income in the first quarter of 2006 from 65.5% in the fourth quarter.

Economists said the trade backdrop and current account deficit was likely to improve as the weaker rand boosts the competitiveness of domestic exports.

"This could translate into a need for further monetary
policy tightening in the near term," Absa economist Monale Ratsoma said.

"However the recent depreciation in the rand could support exports and result in an improvement in the trade balance."

I was with AOL for many years and had some issues with them, so decided to change. I did some research and based on what Which magazine had to say, decided to go with freedom2surf. They were named as UK'S nr 2. Well they should change their name to nofreedom2surf. Right from the start there were problems. I sat on the phone to their help lines for 2 hours at a time without being able to get through to their tech dept. I went to the library to email them. Eventually after 3 days I got a call from a tech support manager and managed to get connected. Well, by connected I mean I could get online, but got booted almost every 3 minutes. Same story, no joy with their tech dept for days on end. When someone finally contacted me, they told me that I was on 6meg, but my area only had 4meg, so this was why I was having the connection issues. I was told that BT would be phoning me as it was their problem. Anyway, long story short, I was without a connection for weeks.

I have sent copies of my phone bill listing all the looooooong calls to f2s (all holding on to speak to someone, never yet managed to get through), copies of the many emails I have sent them to WHICH MAGAZINE and to WEBACTIVE. My next step is going to be radio stations, oftel and watchdog. F2S is supposed to be a MONTHLY contract, yet I have been told that I cannot cancel with them for 3 months. They are refusing to give me my MAC code so that I can migrate to another provider.

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Greetings one and all and do hope that you all have a good day ahead of you.

If your weather was anything like ours was yesterday, like me, you will be hoping that it will be a lot warmer today!! :mmm:

Hope you enjoy your holiday and do not "over do it" too much and that you come back 'remembering' what you have been up to. :crylol:

Will be thinking of you.

Wishing you a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY and hope you have a wonderful day.

:bday3: