tomorrow is D day for most of the south african S12 team supporters.

if you asked me a week ago to be realistic on who wil win between the stormers and bulls, i would have said the bulls, but now i know the stormers can beat them if they really want to. and i know they want to

To keep those Scandanavian folk happy





and others

The South African economy
The confidence of the SA consumer just keeps on rising
Published 12/05/2005


Short term consumer confidence in South Africa has increased by nearly 30%, according to the MasterCard MasterIndex released yesterday.

The South African MasterIndex jumped from 64.4 in February 2004 to 83.5 in February this year out of a possible index of 100. This is the highest consumer confidence figure the country has seen since the MasterIndex survey began in early 2004.

Conducted bi-annually by MasterCard International in selected markets in the South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) region, the survey analyses consumers' perceptions of economic conditions over the next six months. The countries surveyed included South Africa, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India. The scores are based on respondents' answers to questions relating to five variables: Employment, Economy, Regular Income, Stock Market and Quality of Life.

South Africa had the greatest year-on-year improvement in consumer confidence in the SAMEA region between the first half of 2004 and the first half of 2005.

"Lower personal tax rates, low interest rates, stock market growth, employment growth and a booming property market have all added to the positive glow that South African consumers are currently experiencing," says Eddie Grobler, senior vice-president and general manager of MasterCard Southern Africa.

"From consumption to investment, jobs and the overall quality of life, the average South African has become more confident about his/her future. This is borne out by the fact that every single indicator measured in South Africa's MasterIndex showed a consistent improvement over the last six and twelve months' results," he adds.

"The rise in employment and income optimism is confirmed by the SA Employment Report which showed that jobs in the formal sector increased by 2.7% in 2004 - the highest increase in employment creation in more than a decade," says Schussler. "This, combined with South Africa's 2004 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 3.7% - the highest growth rate in four years - means that South Africans are feeling more confident, more often about their future."

President Thabo Mbeki used the previous MasterIndex as a barometer of South African consumer sentiment in his weekly address to the country on the ANC website.

When South Africa's MasterIndex of 83.5 is compared to the average SAMEA figure of 70.1, the Asia Pacific figure of 63.2, and the Australian MasterIndex of 61.5, the South African consumer is undeniably positive.

Hi ALL

Firefox has released 1.0.4, which is the next upgrade level

however, it is maybe not recommended to change until they sort out a few problems

Make sure you have done the following [see below], the 2nd option is the best

For your information and necessary action to correct the problem for your system.

Extremely critical vulnerabilities in Mozilla/Firefox all versions.

- Disable JavaScript (Tools --> Options --> Web Features ---> javascript)

or

- Disable "Allow web sites to install software" from the same option.

For more information: http://secunia.com/advisories/15292/

#############

more to follow no doubt

Who has seen it? What did you think?

Some advice if possible please.

I've been living in CH for the past 8 months, recently married to a Swiss-South African. We're wanting to do some touring of Europe and I know I have to get a Schengen Visa.
How complicated would it be to get? I'd preferably like a multi-entry valid for an extended period so that we can do weekend trips, etc. Bearing in mind that I do have a Swiss residence permit, but alas a limiting SA passport *hmph*

I haven't contacted any embassies, etc as yet, just thought I'd get some knowledgable advice first.

Thanks all.

since you have changed jobs you have far too much time on your hands

For the last few days my babs has had a cold, which made it difficult for him to feed.... we got nose drops and had him at the doctors...

Now his nose has improved a bit, but he has BAD BAD wind because of his attempts at feeding with a blocked nose... I feel so sorry for him when he arches and cries blue murder because of the pain.

To help with this I have bought 2 x Tommee Tippee Medical Anti Colic bottles with variflo teats... these bottles are supposed to help wind. It does seem to help a bit, but he feeds VERY slowly from these. I have also ordered 4 x Dr Brown's bottles, which will hopefully be delivered tomorrow. I have also bought Colief drops for wind... All in all this little bottle trip and drops has cost me nearly 60GBP.... Not that I am complaining, I would do anything to make him more comfy, but at the same time just want it to work!

The thing is, even with these drops and the special bottles, his little legs are still up in his tummy.... I have rubbed his little back and patted him and nothing is bringing the nasty's out!

I would appreciate any suggestions......

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with
a hat by his feet and a sign that read: "I am blind, please help".

A creative publicist was walking by him and stopped to observe. He saw
that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in a
few more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign,
turned it around and wrote another announcement. He placed the sign by
the blind man's feet and left.

That afternoon the creative publicist returned to where the blind man
sat and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins. The blind
man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had re-written
his sign and he wanted to know what he had written on it.

The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true, I just wrote your
sign out a little differently." He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: "TODAY IS SPRING AND I CANNOT SEE IT."

Sometimes you need to change your strategy when something does not go
your way and you'll see it may just be for the best.

Remember, if you always do what you've always done,
you'll always get what you've always got ... :daisy:

We are having our little :wings: Christened in July, and I want to bake a light easy sponge cake which I cannot make a flop of...

THEN I want to either cut the cake into a shape (like an Angel or something suitable) OR maybe just bake it in a shaped cake tin... but where on earth do I get something like that...either to rent or to buy?

Any suggestions would help!