Continual Vigilance

Twisting Sit-Ups - Lie on the floor with knees bent and feet in front of you. Place your hands behind your head and slowly roll up as high as you can then twist to your left. Curl back down and repeat. Do 20 reps.

Leaning Twists - Find a pole or twist off the handle of a broom. Stand with your feet about 2 ft apart. Place the broom handle behind your neck resting on your shoulders and hold it with both hands. Keeping your back straight, bend forward then turn your body to the side. The pole should be perpendicular to the floor and celiing. Come back up and repeat for the other side. Do 50 reps.

Waist Twists - Sit in a chair and place your pole or broom handle on your shoulders like before. Twist only your torso to one side and hold the position for a couple of seconds. Return to the middle then twist to the other side. Both sides are 1 rep. Do 70 reps

Frog Kicks - Lie on a floor or mat. Bring your knees to your chest and then kick your feet out at a 45 degree angle. Do 50 reps.

Leg Raises - Lie on the floor with your legs straight and together. Raise your legs to a 45 degree angle and return to the starting position. Do not let your feet touch the floor once you start the exercise. Do 20 reps.

If you choose to work this into your fitness exercise routine not only will you have amazing results but your core and overall strength will increase ten fold. Do it yourself and trust me you will see the results firsthand.

Linda Strickland Plus-size-fashion-series…slim down with black, don’t wear
orange, red is fun, neutrals are neutral put some “pounce” in that closet.

Are you happy girl? If not you need some happy clothes. I don’t care what city or town you live
walk down the street and what do you see? Women wearing, black, brown, neutral. In the large
cities women will become a little more adventurous.

You’ll see 5 women in neutrals and maybe one will be wearing that sky blue pant suit. Maybe that’s
why I love the spring. All the spring colors come out and I begin to feel alive. I love the colors.

Now don’t get me wrong I still love black.. It can make you look 120 pounds when you weigh 250.
Black is my diet pill.. But do you own anything that makes you laugh when you put it on? I’ve got
this great yellow duck umbrella that I just love to carry when it rains.

Get some glad rags. If your closet lacks color, refuse to buy any more navy, beige, brown,
or black until your wardrobe is more vibrant. You may hear the inner voice that your mother
so cultivated, shouting, ‘A pink suede skirt? That won’t go with anything!’ Perhaps.
But it will make you want to shimmy.

Wear more red. It’s the only color that’s both bold and classic, and every woman
can find a shade that flatters her. If you’re not sure what looks good on you, go
to an upscale makeup counter and ask them to help you find a red lipstick that
works with your complexion. Once you’ve found something attractive, you can
buy red clothing with the same base shades. Nothing beats a red dress for sex appeal.
If you don’t believe me, lick your finger, press it to your hip, and make a sizzling sound.
Now isn’t that more convincing when you’re wearing red?

Pay attention to color tones. Pastels work better with other light colors,
while saturated colors work well together. Pale pink is beautiful with beige,
but dark pinks are nicer with a chocolate color.

About the Author

Linda Stickland is the founder of plus-size-fashion-secrets.com
She publishes a free plus size fashion newsletter called
reflection in the mirror.

Learn more at
http://www.plus-size-fashion-secrets.com

You would perhaps be surprised at the total number of families that deal with money set backs in their lifetime. Because of this, bad-debt will likely arise. People can sometimes confront these setbacks because of loss of job, divorce, abrupt passing of a family or just poor personal cash management. Businesses characteristically come across this adversity within the initial couple years of operation. To blame for a business shutting down can extend from greater competition, mistakes, loss of significant accounts to name some. Whatever the basis, outstanding debt could possibly lead to insolvency. Nevertheless, there are bankruptcy alternatives that may diminish damage to your personal credit report or your company credit status.

Financial insolvency is definable as the inability of an individual or an organization to cover monies owed to a credit giver. If filing, the debt holder (the firm or you) is obligated to release all exemption free possessions and property for cut-rate sale. While individual assets are protected, you have to also pledge a particular part of your realized revenue to the creditors based upon a decided repayment plan. Your credit score will go very low for a while, meaning that you won’t be able to find funding for any personal or business for a long time.

The strain and headaches made by these outstanding fiscal responsibilities can be distressing, to say the least, specially when the consideration of registering insolvency crawls into your brain. Within these situations, it is important to remember that you have choices. It is essential to search out the choices, such as a fiscal adviser who can make a debt resolution program for you.

You will perhaps ask: “How come my creditors are are willing to allow debt negotiation?” The truth is that any alternative is beneficial to the creditor when comparing to insolvency. Alternatives to bankruptcy are invaluable to both the lender and you. The creditor will be able to recoup at least a percentage of the money that they are owed and you are capable to handle. Allowing a debt negotiation program that is a great deal less than the first sum of money you actually owe is better than zero.

Debt resolution is an exceedingly positive option compared to insolvency for you, as a private individual or a commercial enterprise proprietor. In particular when you take the future into consideration. Insolvency should be averted at all costs given the fact that obtaining credit will be near unattainable for any private or business enterprise you might experience at a later date. There isn’t a new beginning; insolvency tags around wherever you go. Regardless of what kind of debt you have incurred, always look out for a debt resolution program as the preferred choice for contemplating bankruptcy.

Copyright 2005 Doug Staneart

Many myths about public speaking have been passed along from person to person over the years, and the one thing that is consistent about these myths is that the people who pass them along are still nervous about speaking. After facilitating over 200 public speaking classes and never having a single person fail to significantly reduce his/her fear of speaking, I had a dramatic realization. Just about everything I was taught about public speaking while I was in school and from well meaning peers and coworkers - WAS WRONG!

Below are the top three myths that we have identified, and some simple tips that will help you reduce your fear or nervousness.

Myth #1: If you write out a talk and memorize it, you’ll be more comfortable. This is the fastest, easiest way to make your presentation boring and canned and to make you more nervous. When you memorize a talk word-for-word, any slight hick-up or distraction can throw you off track. That can increase your nervousness. Instead, write out just a few key points and practice giving stories or examples to back up each point.

Myth #2: More facts/details will better clarify your topic. Most of us believe that a little is good, more is better, and a whole bunch is just right in public speaking. If I can give you 10 reasons why my topic is true, then that is obviously better than two or three reasons, right? Well in public speaking, the more points we offer, the more confused our audience can become. A good rule of thumb is five or less. So, after you decide on your topic, narrow down the key points that support your topic to around five key points or fewer. If your talk requires more than five points, then it would be best to divide the presentation into two different talks.

Myth #3: Nervous habits make you a poor speaker. Most people think that “Uhms,” talking fast, and nervous gestures are bad, but in fact, these things can make you very relatable to your audience. “Uhm” is a normal word in the English language. We say this word all the time in normal conversation. When it’s not there, the speaker can sound phony and forced. Plus, I’ve found that if you try to get yourself to stop saying “Uhm,” you’ll probably just start saying it more often anyway. Also, when people speak fast and move more, they show energy and enthusiasm. I’ve had many speakers come through my classes who were scared to get up and speak at the beginning of the program, but when they did speak, the audience thought that they were excellent speakers. The audience saw the nervousness and assumed it was enthusiasm.

Realize that speaking well is like learning to play golf. If you get a group of hackers together to coach each other, you’re just going to get a group of people very proficient at a bad golf swing. However, if you get a good coach, he can shave strokes off in no time. If you really want to get good at public speaking quickly, get a good coach who doesn’t buy-in to all the speaking myths.

About the author:

Doug Staneart, mailto:doug@leaderinstitute.com , is CEO of The Leaders institute® ( http://www.leadersinstitute.com). His classes focus on overcoming the fear of public speaking, building confident and autonomous leaders, and improving employee morale. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

So your sister just introduced you to her friend Irving, a real estate agent, and now you can’t get rid of him, right? Wrong! Choosing the right person to sell your home is one of the most important steps of selling. Therefore, choose wisely.

At a minimum, speak with 2 or 3 brokers from different agencies. Ask prospective brokers the same list of questions, in order to compare their answers. Find out what they would do to sell your house.

Above all, choose a broker that you feel comfortable with and like. This person will help you make the biggest sale of your life, so find someone you think will do a good job!

The following is a list of questions that may be helpful to ask while speaking with prospective real estate brokers.

How many years have you been in business?
For how long have you sold houses in this area?
How many houses did you sell in the past year?
What is your commission?
If I were to work with you, how would you market my house?
Will you organize meetings with potential buyers and will you coordinate them personally?
Can you give me names and telephone numbers of other families that have used your services?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ajay Pats is a professional manager.He manages real estate site”Real estate broker”(url-http://realestatebroker.nexuswebs.net/realestatebroker/index.html),a community for home based business entrepreneurs “Venturecon”(url-http://groups.msn.com/venturecon) and inspirational ezine”Discover secrets of happy and prosperous life”(url-http://www.topica.com/lists/venturemall).

A rough guide to corporate identity

The tabloids report the millions spent by large corporate companies on their logos as a scandal… Those small swathes of colour adorning British Airways’ tail fin, ICI’s letterhead or Sainsbury’s checkout seem to come at a huge price.

So do these companies have too much money and not enough common sense? Are they victims of designer indulgence, or are they getting a good deal?

This isn’t rocket science, but it is often misunderstood, as the tabloids flagrantly show. Let’s start at the beginning. Every company has a corporate image. Every company from Joe’s One-Man Taxi Co. to IBM. It may be good, it might be bad. Put simply, corporate identity is the way in which an organisation is perceived.

Corporate identity describes the individual characteristics by which a company is recognised. It is the organisation’s sense of ’self’ - the corporate individuality or personality. Visual identity (that’s the logo) is a pretty big part of it.

So how deep into corporate identity do you want to go? Let’s really confuse matters.

The public, customers, employees, the city, all have a vastly different image of the same company. The image is an accumulation of a company’s past and present identity. Each and every encounter we have with it (by phone, in person or through the media) alters our impression. First impressions (what psychologists call the “primacy effect”) are vital to how we see the company in the future, and extremely difficult to change. Future encounters with the company and its products will only add to the mosaic already constructed in our mind (the “recency effect”), rather than replace it.

But the multi-nationals have bought far more than just a logo. They buy a carefully designed face - corporate plastic surgery, an appearance, an identity. And they’ve paid for a lorry-load of thinking behind it. They have funds and enough at stake to really do the job properly. The logo isn’t plucked from the sky, but selected with precision from thousands of others which were cast aside during its design.

A research team identifies the company’s needs (they are all so very different). A corporate ID programme uses the results and a design team is briefed. Ideas lead to solutions, and stage by stage presentation to the client for discussion and refinement.

Once completed, the ID is usually ‘rolled out’ gradually, strictly enforced by lengthy guidelines covering all possible applications. The advent of desktop publishing has both helped and hindered in-house bastardisation of corporate identity. Without consistency, the identity is ineffective, probably damaging.

There are companies in the UK still unconcerned by their image. Some feel the company is not developed enough to begin work on its image; others perceive astronomical costs, or just don’t care that their corporate communications look like the office dog ate them. And some just slap a logo on everything in sight.

You don’t have to spend millions on corporate Identity

Many household names would not exist without painstakingly designed and instigated schemes that we as customers seldom even consciously consider.
So what of those companies who don’t have millions to outlay on corporate identity programmes? Fortunately, the corporate identity for a smaller company tends to be far simpler.

Your corporate identity programme can be conducted in-house, just as the research and much of the development. Always keep it very simple, and brief an appropriate designer not a print company. Make sure you get on with them, and see some of their past work. Get a rough quote before you start. Cut down any wrong trees they are likely to bark up. Inspire them. Be direct. Be patient. Be decisive. Give them ‘creative freedom’. Ensure they get to know and understand your business. Try to see your company from the point of view of your target market.

Keep the number of presentations they make to you to a minimum. This adds importance to those meetings. Don’t compromise, but do stay open-minded. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and an investment in a well thought-out corporate identity for your business will reap its cost many times over, not to mention giving you a massive advantage over your badly-dressed competitors.

Next time you walk down the street, look out for Sainsbury’s which is certainly tasting better at last. It took their designers nearly three years to lose the ‘J’ and find a replacement for that ghastly orangey-beige. Check out Barclays’ gorgeous new global eagle. And while you’re there, you might remember that Tesco not so many years ago looked a little bit like Kwik Save does today. Next time you decide to skimp on the presentation of your company, think how much you spent on your best suit. Don’t turn up to the ball in your jeans!

Written for In Business Magazine by Jonathan Foster-Smith from Shine Design., graphic design and corporate identity consultants in Oxford. Distributed by Whatprice.

Under a new regulation, auto maintenance shops in San Diego and the rest of California will have to check the air pressure in car tires and those of all vehicles they service, inflating them to their proper level. The rule will take effect in 2010, part of the effort to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that a quarter of the cars now on American roads have at least one tire that is seriously under-inflated. Car tires that are run without proper inflation waste fuel, cause greater wear and increase the safety risk to drivers, issues of great concern in a city like San Diego, where driving is so necessary to get around. Officials estimate that the new air pressure rule could save the state 75 million gallons of fuel a year and add some 5,000 miles to the running life of a tire.

There’s another change coming down the road for car tire sales. It’s a green move to go orange. A new tire has been developed by the Yokohama Tire Corporation that infuses oil from oranges into the rubber compound. The oil is squeezed from orange rinds at a juicing plant in Japan and then mixed with natural rubber. The result is something the company has named “super nanopower rubber.” While the mixture won’t turn a tire orange or give it a citrus smell, it will make a tire lighter and more flexible, giving it 20% less resistance as it rolls down the highway. Less resistance means less energy lost as heat and that translates into improved fuel efficiency. The new compound also uses less petroleum, which means the orange oil tires will be easier to recycle.

Super nanopower rubber will make its debut in car tire sales this summer. The orange oil compound will be available in tires that fit the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight and other vehicles that automakers consider part of their green fleet.

In a 2002 study, a group of researchers used oral Beta Glucan to treat mice infected with Bacillus Anthracites. With the high incidence of anthrax vaccine complications, an alternative preventative approach is sorely needed to deal with this frightening disease. Non specific immune stimulation methods, such as macrophage activation would be an excellent option.

The way that anthrax works is by secreting two toxins: edema toxin and lethal toxin. The first of these stimulates an outpouring of fluid into the lungs, while the latter inhibits nuetrophil phagocytosis and triggers destructive intracellular reactions, destroying macrophage cells. This is especially threatening because of the fact that the lethal toxin prevents the macrophages from releasing their immune messengers, including TNF-alpha.

The study in question showed that orally administered Beta Glucan greatly stimulates the levels of TNF-alph released from the macrophage, which overcomes the inhibition caused by the anthrax lethal toxin. Because of this, the mice that were treated with Beta Glucan experienced a significantly higher survival rate.

Beta Glucan was also shown to stimulate the effectiveness of neutrophils. In fact, one study indicated that the efficiency of neutrophils was increased as much as 50-fold by this powerful supplement, allowing for much faster and more precise immune reactions.

About the Author

About the Author: Jeremy Maddock is the webmaster of Immune Wellness, your source for high quality information about Beta Glucan and other health products.

(BNN) The tradition of the bridal party began in ancient Rome with a bride selecting close friends and relatives to accompany and protect her on the journey to the marriage ceremony. Times have changed, of course, and while bridesmaids have less of a bodyguard role these days, their participation is no less important.

Bridesmaids offer faithful support and generous advice as wedding plans take shape. As a remembrance of her cherished friendship, the thoughtful bride always presents each bridesmaid with a gift as an expression of esteem, love and gratitude.

Jewelry and accessories will always be a reminder of that special day and treasured for a lifetime. They also complement and enhance the bridesmaid’s dress.

Diamonds, still a girl’s best friend, add dazzle to bridesmaids’ dresses. Diamond Essence, one of the world’s best-known makers of artificial diamonds, has exquisite simulated stones. A stunning 2.0 carat pendant on a 14K gold chain is $69 and 2.0 carat studs set in 14K gold are $45 at www.diamond-essence.com/bridal.

Personalized jewelry is also an enduring gift. Lillian Vernon’s sterling silver bracelet with a heart charm can be engraved with a bridesmaid’s monogram, including engraving for $20 at www.lillianvernon.com. Ross-Simons engraved sterling silver locket on a black silk cord brings a dash of romance to a bridesmaid’s neckline. Inserting a picture of the bride and bridesmaid personalizes it even more. Including engraving for $60 at www.ross-simons.com.

Dainty pearl and crystal earrings accent dressy, swept-up hairstyles. $45 at Fortunoff. If the bride registers at a Fortunoff store, she also receives a 10% discount on gifts for her wedding party. www.fortunoff.com.

Bridesmaids will delight in luxurious pashmina shawls sprayed with Swarovski crystal beads in soft lilac, pink, champagne or black. Wear to the wedding and for years to come! $119 www.pashminaboutique.com.

The gift a bride chooses reflects the strong bonds of friendship celebrated on this joyous occasion

About the Author

None

On the assumption that you do not understand gaming room gambling, do read on —

Let it Ride

Most commonly a gambling house is a house that accomodates card-playing. Here, clients will gamble by operating slot-machines or plenty of other betting pastimes. Gaming establishment games habitually have logically derived chances incorporated which ensure the casino reserves its against the customers. More often than not, gaming room games can encourage you to become far too infatuated very speedily. A case in point: the archetypal 1 armed bandit, a cash operated appliance with 3 plus cylinders which revolve when an arm on its flank is pulled. The machine customarily remunerates in correspondence to an array of glyphs asvisible on the panel of the machine. Regrettably, gambling saloon games furnish a delusion of power, conning the gaming devotee — the victim is granted choice, but in reality they can’t truly nix the client’s handicap. That is caused by the the betting establishment not paying up the full stake as expected. This tactic is notoriously seen at work in well known casino games like five card stud, craps, roulette or blackjack.

Straight poker is a very a very popular casino pastime. The patrons, holding either fully or partially covered hands, place their stakes into a principal pot that is finally paid out to the last punter blessed with the leading hand. (As everybody knows, the shameless bluff may actually win too!) Just like seven-card stud, blackjack too is an incredibly popular casino game. A good part of its reputation is thanks to its peculiar mix of luck and skill and choice making, not to forget a practice titled “counting”. It is a particularly complicated mode of playing gambling tactics in which gambling fans can skew the odds of the card game in their interest both by wagering & procedural decisions in correlation to the cards deployed. “Craps” is a very popular gambling hall game where people place bets on the roll of two dice. Gamblers are placing bets on the outcome of of one spin, or on a sequence of rolls of two dice. Dissimilar to blackjack, there is no practicable sustainable winner betting system you could capitalize on to boost the odds. Roulette is an extremely popular game of chance - a croupier will rotate a roulette wheel featuring precisely 37 (French roulette) or thirty-eight (American roulette) differently tagged pockets in which the ball will settle, which establishes the winner and the other chances that come with it. Whenever a player has bet on any given number and strikes it in other words they’ve got a lucky hand, the set accolade is going to be 35 to one, the original pledge itself being paid back. Thus in totality it is increased by 36.

Persist in being emphatically watchful nevertheless because these gambling saloon gambling pastimes may well be categorically habituating. Many lives have regrettably been wasted by reckless gambling & although it can be fun, do your best to practise self-governance.