Friday, September 30, 2011

s Land Banking Really A Sound Investments?I | Fishing Japan ...

Investing in land has proven to be one of the best ways to create personal wealth over the years. It?s not surprising that over 20% of the UK?s top 100 richest people are landowners and have made substantial profits from land banking. Until recently though, it was hard for the smaller investor to take advantage of land banking, now a number of companies have opened up this investment to a broader audience.

Land Banking ? What is it?
What is land banking? Simply put, it?s the process of obtaining and holding unimproved real-estate. Land banking is done for a number of good reasons. Local governments can participate in it in order to preserve stretches of land or to have the choice of changing their use at some time in the future. Individuals also utilize land banking as a potentially very financially rewarding investment.

Land Banking in the UK
In 2004 alone, agricultural land in the UK appreciated in valuation between 16% and 30%, depending upon its geographical area. In fact, over the past 20 years, the average increase in UK Land has been a staggering 920%! In many instances, individuals who have bought land over the right place at the right time have exceeded these average gains. Not only has land risen in value dramatically, it has risen in a smoother upward path with less downside volatility than either stocks or real estate.

UK Demand Exceeding Supply
The UK is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe and has a growing population driven by a great influx of migrants from overseas. Two facts will illustrate the future of land banking in the UK: There is a need for up to 3,500,000 new homes over the next 15 years, rising to 4,400,000 new homes across the next Twenty years. Over the last 30 years, the demand for new homes has increased by 30%. Throughout the same period, house-building rates have dropped by over 50%. Supply must catch up with demand, and buying land in the UK therefore offers investors a great chance to make high capital gains. If you?re in Singapore, you might concerned to view this before you decide to invest into a land purchase: land banking companies in Singapore selling UK land. Do not be rush by the salesman into an uninformed decision. You could lose tens of thousands of dollars with a horrible investment.

Location is the Key!
Under developed land, such as Greenbelt, agricultural and forestry, is less expensive than land that currently enjoys planning consent. The way to make significant capital profits in land banking, entails obtaining land in specified areas over the hope of potential development. Pre-planning acquisition of green belt, agricultural and forestry land is nothing new. Astute individuals have been doing it for years. Individuals simply need to study specific areas for the likelihood of foreseeable future planning permission being granted, which will lead to an increase across the value of the plot purchased.

How to Make Huge Land Banking Capital Profits
Every developer knows that each town and city must grow outward, and the land most available is agricultural, greenbelt and forestry. Land without planning permission which is subsequently included in a local authority?s unitary development plan (UDP), will probably benefit from a great increase in price. With the approving of a change of use, a site?s price can increase substantially. However, the change of use category granted, i.e. residential, commercial recreational etc, will finally dictate the change in valuation of the plot.

Land Banking Risks
Any investor considering land banking needs to give careful consideration to site selection, and purchase sites which are within the path of progress and foreseeable future urbanization, but also have a big probability of upcoming development. Land Banking is a long-term financial commitment, as resale durations and amounts will be variable.|Many firms are using the above statistics to get speculators to buy land (normally with a significant mark up on top i.e their profit) this means that they are already at a loss and need planning permission to realize a profit from their land banking investment.|Many of these corporations then sell the concept that planning permission is ?guaranteed? or a ?formality? which if it was they would not sell the land to you! They would keep quiet and make the money from UK land financial commitment themselves but they know by appealing to greed, they can make a great profit (they have the mark up) regardless of what happens to your UK land investment.

Land banking is an investments usually recommended for those financial savvy individuals, as you have to understand a fair bit of jargons, and able to wait for a medium period of time, before your investment matures. If you enjoy the article that we wrote, we recommend that you check out our land banking resources on our website.

Source: http://www.fishingjapan.net/news/s-land-banking-really-a-sound-investmentsi/

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Holly Madison insures breasts for $1 million (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Reality TV star and model Holly Madison has insured her breasts for $1 million with Lloyd's of London, she told People magazine on Thursday.

Madison, 31, said she took out the policy to protect herself and others in her Las Vegas production, "Peepshow."

"If anything happened to my boobs, I'd be out for a few months and I'd probably be out a million dollars," she told People. "I thought I'd cover my assets."

Madison has said she had plastic surgery in 2001 that took her from an A-cup size to a larger D-cup.

Madison, who gained fame as one of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's girlfriends on the TV series "The Girls Next Door," isn't alone in insuring famous body parts. Film stars Betty Grable and Angie Dickinson as well as TV stars Angie Everhart and Mary Hart each had their legs insured for $1 million.

Madison also was a contestant on TV show "Dancing With the Stars" before starting her Las Vegas show.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Jill Serjeant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oddlyenough/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110929/od_nm/us_hollymadison

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Insight: Blunt talk from China ex-premier stirs reform pot (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Crumbling flood dykes in China decried as "tofu dregs" built by "parasites." Erring bankers lashed as "half-wits" and crime "accomplices." Special hotels for Communist Party elite dismissed as wasteful piles of "golden splendor."

It is little wonder that the publication this month of former Premier Zhu Rongji's blunt comments from his years in power have become best-sellers, finding eager readers in a nation whose current leaders are seen as wary and cautious.

Yet the reaction to Zhu's four-volume selection from his time as vice premier from 1991 to 1998 and then as premier until early 2003 also reflects deeper anxieties coursing through China as it approaches a leadership transition late next year.

Reformist former officials and intellectuals have held up the 2,042 pages of Zhu's words, many made public for the first time, as an unflattering mirror to the conservatism and conformism of current leaders. Magazine editors and Internet users have scoured the volumes for any comments that offer a message for the present.

"If this government is one of yes-men, we owe the people an apology," is one from 1998 that has spread far online.

Another Zhu comment, this time from 2001: "I've been in charge of the economy for a decade, and still today 68 percent of state-owned businesses cook their books. I should be the first official dismissed."

Indeed, many of the problems that dog China's economy today dominate "The Authentic Speeches of Zhu Rongji": local government debt and reckless bank loans, inflation and feverish urban growth, and corruption devouring public trust and coffers.

"Our country faces many potential crises that could erupt at any time," Zhu said early in 1998. "Ordinary people are discontent about us in many ways. Especially, there is corruption among officials, the gulf between rich and poor, and the way some local officials act like tyrants."

Analysts disagree over whether Zhu, a grey-haired 82-year-old who rarely appears in public, issued his long-prepared collection at this time to obliquely scold China's current Communist leaders, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, whose terms in power wind down late next year, and to urge their likely successors to do more.

"I would say, yes, he has intended this to send a message. He has used opportunities before to implicitly criticize the current government," said Zheng Yongnian, the director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore who wrote an earlier study of Zhu.

Even if the timing of publication is coincidence, the enthusiasm for Zhu's books reflects widespread impatience among many Chinese with their current leaders, said Chen Ziming, a Beijing-based political analyst who was imprisoned after 1989 for advocating democratic change.

Recent seminars, books and commentaries have echoed with a broad feeling among thinkers, both pro-market reform liberals and pro-party conservatives, that China's problems will demand more decisive responses from the next leadership, mostly likely led by current Vice President Xi Jinping, said Chen.

"Zhu did things, made breakthroughs, and there's a widespread feeling that the current leaders haven't followed his example," said Chen.

"I don't see this is directed personally at Wen Jiabao," he said of Zhu's books. "But Wen's calls for political reform have gotten nowhere, he hasn't had the influence to act on his ideas, and so there's nostalgia for Zhu Rongji and his style."

HISTORY LESSONS

Growing numbers of retired Chinese leaders have published books and memoirs with an eye on their place in history. Although party censors can block some content, seniority gives these leaders some sway over what they publish and when.

Zhu's collection offers a revealing but highly selective window into the reforms that transformed China from a beleaguered hold-out against the collapse of Soviet-style Communism in the early 1990s to an emerging superpower with economic growth rates envied by other governments.

Zhu dragged back the Chinese economy from over-heating in the early 1990s, and then as premier pushed through reforms that shut or privatized many state-owned firms and laid off workers, wrenched tax power from local officials to the central government, and launched housing ownership reforms that gave birth to a feverish real-estate boom.

Above all, Zhu coaxed and cajoled China's way into the World Trade Organization in 2002 through grueling negotiations. At the time, many Chinese officials feared he had made so many concessions to gain entry that China's economy would be hobbled.

By no means do all Chinese observers think Zhu's tenure was an unalloyed success. Some say mis-steps in grains policy, tax distribution and state factory shutdowns left messes that his successors had to clean up in quieter ways.

But with the publication of Zhu's books, liberal intellectuals and publications favoring market reform and political relaxation have cited him to suggest his successors failed to live up to his boldness and their promises.

That disillusionment is often aimed at President Hu and Premier Wen, whom critics say have failed to meet promises to rein in inequality and spread prosperity. Despite Wen's repeated calls for political reform, the Communist Party leadership has overseen tightening controls on political life.

"Zhu Rongji's work has become so popular, not specifically because of what he has done, but because of his leadership style and the progress he was able to make," said Zheng, the researcher based in Singapore.

"There's impatience, because there's been no progress, no substantial, meaningful progress, from this current leadership."

Others already have their eye on the next generation.

Zhou Ruijin, a former senior editor of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, suggested in a recent interview about Zhu's works that the leaders likely to succeed Hu and Wen had much to learn from Zhu.

"The Zhu Rongji era was one of promoting big reforms, and it nurtured a group of brave risk-takers who were at the forefront of pioneering a market economy," Zhou, a cheerleader for rapid market reforms in the 1990s, said in an interview with South Breeze Window, a pro-reform magazine published in south China.

"Today, with the atmosphere for reform deepening, there is still potential for big steps in reform."

(Editing by Brian Rhoads and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110927/wl_nm/us_china_politics_zhu

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Obama swats softball questions at LinkedIn snooze (Daily Caller)

President Barack Obama didn?t break a sweat today as he casually whacked away a series of over-the-plate softballs during a set-piece town hall hosted by the LinkedIn professional networking service.

The event was held at the company?s Silicon Valley headquarters. The picked audience?s minor-league questions came in slow and gentle, and were swatted away with a series of generalities that allowed the president to present himself as moderate, non-ideological and eager and able to help high-tech entrepreneurs.

?Would you please raise my taxes?? asked one retired worker from a successful start-up.

?What would be your statement of encouragement for those looking for work today?? said a laid-off technology manager.

The host, an executive at the professional-networking firm LinkedIn, ended the one-hour event with effusive compliments for his guest: ?I just want to say thank you and I want you to know how much we appreciate the work you?re doing ? On behalf of our country, thank you very much, Mr. President.?

Obama was similarly generous. ?These have been terrific questions ? I appreciate LinkedIn for hosting this,? he said, before moving into full campaign mode by proceeding to shake hands with many of the attendees. He walked off the set while the crowd clapped and an online band played ?The Stars and Stripes Forever.?

Obama attended the event in Silicon valley during a three-day, three-state trip through Washington state, California and swing-state Colorado. He is slated to attend seven fundraisers during the trip and is likely to raise roughly $3 million for his campaign. (RELATED: C-SPAN: President never requested to air Obamacare negotiations [VIDEO])

Since 2009, enthusiasm for Obama has flagged throughout the high-tech sector. For example, LinkedIn?s founder, Reid Hoffman donated $7,700 to the Democratic National Committee in 2008, but has since given only $2,400 to a Democrat running for a U.S. House seat in Ohio, according to the D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics. Linkedin?s other employees have donated no money this cycle, according to the site.

Similarly, Obama?s poll numbers have lurched downward in Colorado, where he won by 9 points in 2008. In August, a Democratic polling firm, Public Policy Polling, showed him getting 45 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval in the state. That?s down 10 points from February.

His speeches to donors during this trip show an increased urgency on his part. His language has been more strident and his charges more pointed. ?You?ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change,? he told donors at a Sept. 26 fund-raiser in San Jose. ?You?ve got audiences [at GOP debates] cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don?t have health care, and booing a service member in Iraq because they?re gay,? he declared.

In contrast, Obama?s answers during the LinkedIn event were laid-back and routine.

He blamed overseas developments for the economic slowdown, promised to spend taxpayers? money on education and high-tech research, reassured his listeners that he would not damage Medicare, boosted his new $447 billion stimulus proposal and said that ?the majority of people agree with the prescriptions I just offered.?

His criticism of Republican proposals were similarly routine. ?What I am not going to do? [is] voucher-ize the Medicare system ? we?re going to be pushing back against that kind of proposal,? he said. In Washington, ?the problem is that things have gotten so ideologically driven, and everybody is focused on the election, and putting party ahead of country,? he claimed, in yet another repetition of the controversial claim that Republicans are unpatriotic for disagreeing with his progressive, big-government policies.

?That [GOP disagreement] has got to change, and [that is] why your voices are so important,? he said. ?I need everybody here to be speaking out on behalf of the things you care about ? and to say to legislators you?ve elected, to say to them, act responsibly.?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20110926/pl_dailycaller/obamaswatssoftballquestionsatlinkedinsnooze

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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Why You Ought To Get Your Own Self Enchancment Video? Read ...

If you really find this article helpful Give it a PLUS from below and help us to spread it.

It can?t be denied that what works for one does not work for another. If what your folks say and what you read doesn?t appear to encourage you to enhance yourself, then it?s time to reckon about self improvement videos.

It can?t be denied that some folks can better comprehend one thing after they see it on screen. That is the psychology behind these videos. Getting the focus of the particular person watching them like no different methods can do.

The need for self enchancment is now an issue many individuals are focusing on. There are already a variety of self improvement articles out there. Not solely that, numerous specialists are also lending their expertise and experience in serving to people develop themselves.

With the internet came the best means of in search of self improvement recommendation from different people. For individuals who took pleasure in reading, they turn to articles and different types of writing. But for those who simply likes to sit down back, see and pay attention, self enchancment videos are those chosen.

There are websites that are capable of providing you with all of the self enchancment movies which might be essential to get your dedication power out and utilize it to whichever change or improvement you want to make with your personal person.

These movies consist of data and exercises. Whenever you start these readings and exercises, you will instantly feel the desired change inside yourself.

And with repetition of the workouts the change or enhancements will turn out to be automatic. Repetition is the vital thing to a life lengthy improvement of your personality.

These movies are supposed to aid in eternal self-improvement and private development in all areas of life. Some are targeting just a few areas that many people may feel especially vital and hard to improve.

For instance, the individuals behind may help you along with your effort for self worth improvement. Low self-esteem and confidence are the reason for many personal in addition to inter-personal difficulties.

Self enchancment movies will help you take command of your profession in addition to your monetary freedom and independence. You will get the career you would like as well as the wealth and prosperity that you simply determine you deserve.

They?ll also help with constructing positive relationships and finally show you how you can apply the tools inherent for you to change habits.

These movies may not come low-cost for some who would relatively have self improvement tools that come for free. The one advantage in getting self improvement movies is that will probably be out there anytime you need to watch them.

Movies on self improvement will not be the one instruments you should use if you?re intent on attaining private improvement. There are also e-books and e-programs available.

Try to also see take a look at the opposite self improvement instruments provided by these sites. More often than not, the merchandise supplied are effectively reputed and researched thoroughly for high quality and effectivity.

When to get a self enchancment video? When it got here to the purpose that the advices you get from family, pals and even on the web should not getting by way of your head. This might also be your choice if you happen to want a device you need to use anytime and anyplace that will help you on your self improvement.

Likelihood is, when you?ve got seen these self enchancment videos twice or thrice, you?ve got most likely memorized all the issues it had to say and show.

In case you crave more data with regard to what is happiness, stop by Sandraa L Koryaitz?s web page instantly.

Source: http://www.myarticlepoint.com/why-you-ought-to-get-your-own-self-enchancment-video-read-on.htm

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'Fried Egg' Nebula Cracks Open Rare Hypergiant Star (SPACE.com)

First came the "Running Chicken" nebula, and now comes a cosmic "Fried Egg." A European telescope has captured the best image yet of one of the rarest classes of stars in our universe, and astronomers playfully point out that the cosmic scene resembles an egg white around a yolky center.

The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, spotted the monster star, which is called a yellow hypergiant. The star is located about 13,000 light-years away from Earth, but is the closest yellow hypergiant found to date.

The new image, which ESO scientists dubbed the "Fried Egg Nebula" shows the central hypergiant star, officially known as IRAS 17163-3907, surrounded by a huge dusty double shell, making up the egg yolk and white. [See the photo and video of the "Fried Egg" nebula]

The massive star is so large it has a width that is about 1,000 times larger than our sun. In fact, if the Fried Egg nebula were placed at the center of our solar system, the Earth would be positioned deep within the star itself. The orbit of the planet Jupiter would be just above the star's surface.

But that's not all. The much larger neighboring nebula would engulf all the planets, dwarf planets, and even some comets that orbit way out beyond the orbit of Neptune. [Top 10 Star Mysteries]

The new observations from the Very Large Telescope show that the Fried Egg nebula also shines approximately 500,000 times brighter than the sun.?

"This object was known to glow brightly in the infrared but, surprisingly, nobody had identified it as a yellow hypergiant before," Eric Lagadec, of the European Southern Observatory, said in a statement. Lagadec led the team that produced the new images.

The new observations of IRAS 17163-3907 were made using the Very Large Telescope's VISIR infrared camera. The image's release comes a week after ESO officials unveiled a photo of the so-called "Running Chicken" nebula, which got its nickname from the birdlike shape that some people detect in its brightest region. [Gallery: Strange Nebula Shapes, What Do You See?]?

The images are the first of the Fried Egg nebula to clearly show the material around it and reveal two nearly perfectly spherical shells.

Yellow hypergiants are stars in an extremely active phase of their evolution. These rare stars experience a series of dynamic and explosive events that cause the star to eject four times the mass of the sun in only a few hundred years.

The spewed material from these explosions, which consists of dust and gas, make up the extensive double shell around the nebula.

The extreme activity of yellow hypergiants shows that the star will likely die an explosive death, potentially as one of the next supernova explosions to occur in our galaxy. Supernovas blast much-needed chemicals into the surrounding interstellar environment, and the resulting shock waves often spur the creation of newborn stars.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcomand on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110928/sc_space/friedeggnebulacracksopenrarehypergiantstar

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Gluconeogenesis | 1-Internet-Courses Online

This course is part of a series taught by Kevin Ahern at Oregon State University on General Biochemistry. For more information about online courses go to ecampus.oregonstate.edu 1. Glycerol is a breakdown product of fat metabolism. Glycerol can be metabolized in glycolysis by conversion to glycerol-3-phosphate and then to DHAP, a glycolytic intermediate. 2. Gluconeogenesis accomplishes the reverse of glycolysis ? synthesis of glucose from pyruvate using four different enzymes to replace three energetically unfavorable reactions in glycolysis. 3. Gluconeogenesis does not occur in all tissues of the body. The primary gluconeogenic organs of the body are the liver and part of the kidney. 4. The enzymes unique to gluconeogenesis Pyruvate Carboxylase and PEP carboxykinase (PEPCK) instead of Pyruvate Kinase of glycolysis, Fructose 1,6 Bisphosphatase (F1,6BPase) instead of Phosphofructokinase (PFK) from glycolysis, and Glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) instead of Hexokinase from glycolysis. 5. F1,6BPase and G6Pase act by similar mechanisms, clipping a phosphate from their substrates and thus avoiding synthesis of ATP, which is what would be required if the glycolysis reactions were simply reversed. 6. One reaction of gluconeogenesis occurs in the mitochondrion. It is catalyzed by pyruvate carboxylase and yields the four carbon intermediate, oxaloacetate. The carboxyl group is added in forming oxaloacetate thanks to the coenzyme biotin, which carries carbon dioxide for attachment ?

Source: http://www.1-internet-courses.com/gluconeogenesis/

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Cuba seeks normalization with US (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/140541700?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

OBAMA TO BUILD INTERCONTINENTAL ... - Weekly World News

DENVER ? President Obama plans to build an Intercontinental Railroad between New York and Paris.

At a fiery speech in Denver, ?President Obama unveiled his plans to build a railroad between New York City and Paris, France. ?The President had mentioned this idea last week and some in the media thought he committed a gaffe. ??It?s no gaffe, it?s his vision,? said White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney.

?President Kennedy dreamed of going to the moon, I dream of going to Paris ? by train!? Obama told the Denver crowd.

President Obama wants to put Americans to work building an elaborate array of tunnels of bridges that start at Grand Central Station and end at Paris Nord Train Station.

?It?s going to take a lot of manpower to get to Paris, but I think we can do it. ? We are Americans! ?We know how to build bridges and tunnels!?

President Obama plans to build 3,628 miles of tunnels and bridges between New York and Paris starting at the beginning of 2012. ??Imagine waking up in New York, catching a bullet train to Paris and being home with your kids for dinner. ?That?s the future I envision. That?s the new American dream.?

Will the French help finance Obama?s ?intercontinental railroad? project? ??Not a chance,? said French Prime Minister Sarkozy.

Most train experts predict that even with a ?bullet train? it will still take about 50 hours to travel by train to Paris from New York. ??It?s going to be hard to get up in the morning, work a full day in Paris and be home in dinner. ? You would need a 120 hour day to do that,? said Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief, Tom Hillstrom. ??I?m not sure going to Paris by train is worth it.?

?Let the naysayers nay say,? said Obama. ??We can get to Paris. ?I know it. ?And we will build a train, we will build bridges and we will build tunnels. ?And we will save our economy by putting people to work. ?It?s all in my American Jobs Act.?

?He?s completely lost the plot,? said British railroad engineer Ian Blackborn. ??It?s impossible to build a system of tunnels and bridges that traverse the Atlantic. ?And it?s foolish. ?He?d have just as much success building a bridge to the moon.?

?So, let?s build a bridge to the moon!? said Obama when told of Blackborn?s comment.

He has a dream..

Source: http://weeklyworldnews.com/politics/38789/obama-to-build-intercontinental-railroad/

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Video: Video shows quake inside DC Monument

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44682945#44682945

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Gloss Challenge: Making the Perfect Sandwich | Recipes ...

185682 10150148157759853 123151319852 8069864 796601 n 300x222 Gloss Challenge & Giveaway: Making the Perfect SandwichNational Sandwich Day 2011 is coming up and to help promote the day, I?ve partnered with Oroweat Breads (who also make Arnold and Brownberry breads in other areas) to create the perfect sandwich?which will then be entered along with sandwich recipes from other well-known foodies and writers where sandwich fans will vote for their favorite.

I?ve been torn ? I have two recipes I?d like to enter and I can only submit one. That?s where you all come in ? I?m counting on GLOSS Readers to tell me which sandwich you all like best. The one with the most votes will be the one I place into the ring (or, eh, onto the plate).

Before I dive into the recipes ? some back story. Each recipe is fairly different?a combination of my favorite flavors and need for textural components in my sandwiches?I don?t do mushy. They have two things in common: bold flavors and a satisfying crunch. Most of all, they are simple ? as a busy mom and entrepreneur, I can?t spend too much time in the kitchen so my goal is always recipes that pack a lot of flavor but also take minimal time to prepare. So, take a look at the recipes, try them if you can and PLEASE vote for your favorite before 12:00pm PST on Tuesday, September 27!

Turkey, Brie and Hot Pepper Jelly Sandwich with Arugula

Growing up in an East Indian household, the lunches my mom packed for me in school weren?t the classic ham & cheese or peanut butter & jelly my peers brought in. I had to beg her to stop packing (in retrospect delicious) curries with rice and start making sandwiches.

While the sandwiches still weren?t traditional, they at least looked like everyone else?s meal which was my goal. One of my favorite combinations that mixed traditional with an East Indian kick was a turkey, cream cheese and spicy jam sandwich. So, my first recipe is a spicy sandwich reminiscent of my mom?s with some modern upgrades?Thinly sliced turkey breast, creamy brie and a touch of Hot Pepper Jelly on a rustic white bread.

Turkey, Brie and Hot Pepper Jelly Sandwich Recipe

Ingredients

  • 8 slices Smoked Turkey Breast, thinly sliced
  • 4 thick slices Brie Cheese
  • handful arugula
  • 2 tablespoons Hot Pepper Jelly (I prefer Stonewall Kitchens)

Cooking Directions

  1. To assemble the sandwich: spread 1 tablespoon Hot Pepper Jelly on 2 slices of bread
  2. Top each with 4 slices of Smoked Turkey Breast
  3. Then. layer on two slices of Brie on top of the turkey slices
  4. Finish off with a generous bunch of arugula
  5. Spread remaining two slices of bread with remaining Hot Pepper Jelly and top off the sandwich!
  6. Slice sandwiches in half and enjoy!

Middle Eastern Tuna Salad Sandwich

Here?s a classic tuna sandwich ? but with a zesty twist. I substitute tahini sauce (made from sesame seeds) for mayo and add spices for a subtle and tasty upgrade to the typical lunchbox staple. I like to top this sandwich with spicy radish sprouts, but if you can?t find them, alfalfa sprouts are just as good!

Middle Eastern Tuna Salad Sandwich Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons Tahini (can be found at most supermarkets)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil (I like to use greek olive oil)
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 6-ounce can albacore tuna, drained
  • 1 small tomato, sliced
  • 1 bunch alfalfa or radish sprouts
  • 4 slices Oroweat Health-full Hearty Wheat bread
  • pinch Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Cooking Directions

  1. First make the Tahini Aioli (I usually make a bigger batch to have on hand in the fridge). Mix Tahini paste, lemon juice, ground cumin, garlic and pinch of cayenne (optional) in a blender or food processor and drizzle in olive oil until emulsified to resemble a thin mayonnaise. Season with salt to taste.
  2. Toss aioli in a bowl with tuna to desired consistency, reserving some of Tahini Aioli for bread.
  3. Spread remaining Tahini Aioli on slices of Oroweat Health-full Hearty Wheat bread.
  4. Top 2 slices with even amounts of the tuna mixture, followed by tomato slices and a generous handful of sprouts and remaining slices of bread.

Ok ? so there they are! Please tell me in the comments below ? which sandwich do you want to see win? Tell us before noon PST on Tuesday 9/27 and you may be one of three commenters to get a handful of Oroweat / Arnold Brownberry Bread coupons too!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post as a part of my involvement with Oroweat for National Sandwich Month. Oroweat / Arnold / Brownberry is providing GLOSS with compensation for a series of posts on this campaign, but all the opinions and recipes therein are my own.

Source: http://mygloss.com/yum/foodies/gloss-challenge-making-the-perfect-sandwich/

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Monday, September 26, 2011

Internet Marketing Growth ? Business Networking that Works ...

You must master business networking if you want to grow your influence, form lots of new partnerships and get plenty of new clients. However, even Internet Marketers and Webmasters would be well served by expanding their business networking to offline ventures too. You should make it a point to ensure that you?re focused on creating a strong business network in every possible way, whether it?s doing something online or offline. Your goal should be to never allow yourself to let any opportunity for effectively enhancing your business network pass you by. Keep reading to learn a few things that you can do to build an even better business network for yourself. Whether or not you?re in the Cincinnati SEO niche or any other niche, it is genuinely essential that you focus on quality company networking.

Cast a Wide Net: Perhaps the biggest mistake you can make in business networking is prejudging others and avoid networking with them. Don?t make this mistake because there is no way to tell which people can help you and how they will help you or how many referrals they will send in your direction. Even though targeting can be useful and a good concept when you are marketing, this shouldn?t be taken too far when you do business networking. In other words, your net should be casting as wide as you possibly can and network with as many people out there so that you can see how many benefits can be derived from them.

Don?t Confuse Networking for Prospecting: Understand that there is a difference between networking and prospecting; don?t make the mistake of treating every person as a prospect, it simply doesn?t make sense. What should your goal be then? You are going to want to start and build at least some basic form of relationship with the people that you are going to meet. There are different levels of knowing people and leveraging them as a business contact; when you get in touch with somebody during your business networking, try to analyze how they could be helpful to your business, rather than zeroing in on them as your prospect. As an Net marketer, you are going to need to understand the value of company networking if you want to dominate a niche like Cincinnati search engine optimization.

Know Whom You Want to Meet: If you?re hoping a specific person will introduce you to his/her network you first need to know who that person is. You need to have a crystal clear idea about which kind of people you would like to make contact and you think can best benefit your business. This particular aspect will help you give out a clear description to the people you know, who would in turn help you reach out to the right people in their network. This might seem pretty inconsequential but it really helps in the bigger picture.

If you remember one thing in business networking let it be your focus. If your focus isn?t good or if you give up easily you won?t get anywhere with your business networking. The more effort you put into building your business network the happier and more success you will find in the long term. So if you want to be better at business networking, now is the time to start working on that. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and apply these company networking suggestions to grow your Cincinnati Website Design~Cincinnati web design on-line company.

Tagged with: internet business ? internet marketing ? online marketing
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Source: http://www.mogulista.com/internet-marketing-growth-business-networking-that-works/

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Standardized Tests ? Dogeared Jewelery Are Known To Be The ...

All of us know what women like as a gift a new chan luu bracelet that has been made from the finest pearls in the market. zeeberry have been in this market for years and have now decided to make the most of the internet boom by opening their brand of jewellery that will maked every woman go mad as all the bracelets and rings and ear rings are all of the top quality and the best part is that there is a 30 day money return guarantee period where in if a viare feels that the good that are received are not of the quaility that is expected then the customer has all the right to return the jewellery and get the entire money back for the amount that was paid towards the jewelery. satya is one designer who has been with the zeeberry for some time now and their work together have been loved by the people so much that chan luu now decided to create a line of designer jewelery specially for this website so that the customers get the most out of this offer and there are not many people who would not like the work of this website as most of the work that is done is of the top order hence make sure that you select your product well and go ahead with the purchase of your rings and ear rings at any given point of time at time the purchase could be difficult as there are so many options making the right option from that could be a tiresome affair. Buy the dogeared bracelets as they are one piece of genius and most of the people who have used it would say that they have not seen any thing better than this hence get your bracelet today from zeeberry.

Source: http://standardizedtests.info/2011/09/26/dogeared-jewelery-are-known-to-be-the-best-in-the-world-in-terms-of-pricing-and-quality/

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Could You Insure Horses similar to Regular Pets ...

Finding a quality home insurance provider should be simple, however sometimes it can get tricky. If you look online by employing a regular search engine including yahoo you shall view literally hundreds of home insurance companies, so which is the superior one? By utilizing a home insurance comparison site you can refine your quest. The majority of quality comparison services are managed by companies who look at every product and evaluate it for you. This eliminagtes the difficult section from the quest for a quality financial service! Make sure you employ an independent comparison service, this means they are not attempting to barter products that you do not want or need.

It might be thought of as a little unimportant to be looking for life insurance contracts when you are yet in your youth. Yet it is really wise to seek out a means of looking after you and your dependents in the event that you cease to live. This gets more important as soon as you are working full time and looking after a family, possibly children and pets. If you were to die, the financial weight may be large for your loved ones to cope with, besides the personal sadness of losing you. Life cover means you are addressing this risk and making sure that your dependents get a payout to tackle funeral costs.

Irrespective what your reason for travelling overseas, be it your gap year in distant places or a short weekend trip on the mainland, it is seriously important to obtain a decent travel insurance policy organised before you go. We might not like considering it yet things can go wrong when we are abroad. This might be an aspect such as your luggage going missing, which is annoying enough if you have costly belongings, to an injury on vacation. Trip insurance may tackle these costs and ensure you are brought home securely.

My daughter wants to have a pony for her 12th birthday and my partner Martin and I are keen to present her with a quality one. We have discovered one which has been reared by a trainer who also owns high class racehorses. Dobbin may not be a professional racer but she is an attractive pony and we need to know if you may receive pet insurance for horses similar to cats. The majority of animal insurance firms seem to focus their services at dogs, because they are more common in UK families. Yet what about people such as ours who have a more rare pet?

Source: http://www.portlandcoffeetime.com/could-you-insure-horses-similar-to-regular-pets/

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Sunday, September 25, 2011

(* LEGAL SHIELD *) Plans Call 916.370.2653 Small Business Legal ...

El Dorado Hills, CA ? June 17, 2011 ? There?s no way to know when the advice of an attorney will be required, and most people don?t have the funds to keep a lawyer on retainer. Legal shield plan membership provides immediate help when legal representation is needed. Jason Whigham, independent associate and owner of BlogSacramento.com offers information on a wide array of legal shield services.

?We?re helping families and small businesses across North America and Canada have access to the justice system,? said Jason Whigham, owner of BlogSacramento.com. ?We?re helping them make a difference while making a living.?

Legal shield memberships allow users to gain access to a legal professional 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even on holidays. Legal shield services are available in a wide variety of plans for families, small business owners and commercial drivers, along with providing identity theft protection.

Leal shield family plans in addition to small business plan provide members with access to an attorney that can review legal documents and contracts, and provide written communications to resolve an issue. Attorney?s can assist members with wills, living wills and a healthcare power of attorney, along with a wide range of typical legal issues that families plus small businesses encounter.

Employers and small businesses can benefit from legal shield services with real estate questions, criminal background checks, and labor and employment laws. Business owners with questions about gift card laws, family medical leave and a host of situations that arise during the regular course of doing business have immediate access to professional legal advice.

Commercial drivers can come under scrutiny for a variety of reasons and a legal shield plan can help members reinstate a license and assist with issues involving moving and DOT violations. Tragic accidents, minor personal injuries and property damage can all be handled by the firm?s capable team of legal experts.

Vehicle insurance providers pay out millions in repairs each year, yet have clients who are the victims of shoddy workmanship or practices. Insurance companies can utilize a legal shield plan membership to prosecute unscrupulous companies, settle suits when wrongfully charged for services and recover money erroneously paid out in claims.

Identity theft continues to increase, despite more awareness and sophisticated security. Those with a legal shield membership have the valuable legal assistance they need should their bank accounts and assets be frozen or a crime is committed in their name. Legal shield services help members eliminate debts they didn?t incur and reclaim their lives.

A Legal shield membership plan offers peace of mind when legal issues arise. Plans provide protection for families, individuals and small businesses. No one knows when they?ll be faced with a legal matter that requires the assistance and intervention of an attorney. BlogSacramento.com (legalshield.com) helps clients protect themselves before their reputation, finances or livelihood is compromised.

For more information, visit the website at http://jensandjason.com/legal-shield-plans-916-370-2653-online-sign-up-legal-shield-membership/

Source: http://organicxpression.com/15-areas-of-influence/business-profit-and-non-profit/legal-shield-plans-call-916-370-2653-small-business-legal-shield-plan-reviews/

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Good Reads: Ahmadinejad and the UN theater, Hollywood's machine gun preacher

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech sends a third of the UN to the exits, while Hollywood introduces us to a 'Machine Gun Preacher' on the hunt for an African warlord.

In the annals of global diplomatic craziness, it?s quite an accomplishment when a world leader can top the antics of Muammar Qaddafi and Hugo Chavez. By most accounts, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 15-minute speech ? which prompted a walkout of about one third of the diplomats at the United Nations General Assembly ? did just that.

Skip to next paragraph

Joby Warrick of the Washington Post captures it all in his piece yesterday, including Mr. Ahmadinejad?s assertion that Osama Bin Laden could have been captured alive to finally answer the question of who was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Ahmadinejad implies that Mr. Bin Laden was merely an agent, and that Washington itself ordered the attacks.

?Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea,? Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad is not the only man to say strange things at the UN General Assembly, of course, a fact that Joshua Keating of Foreign Policy magazine reminds us of. There are some real gems in his ?Top 10 Craziest Things Ever Said during a UN Speech,? including Mr. Chavez?s assertion that the podium at the UN still smelled of ?sulfur? a day after US President George W. Bush had given his speech, as well as Russian Premier Nikita Krushchev?s shoe-beating tantrum.

Continuing the lunatic parade, development blogger Brett Keller uncovers the real story about Rev. Sam Childers, a gun-toting Harley Davidson riding preacher who claims to have taken up arms to hunt down African warlord Joseph Kony. Sadly, but understandably, Mr. Childers has become the subject of a new Hollywood movie called Machine Gun Preacher.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/9IP-hUNRJeo/Good-Reads-Ahmadinejad-and-the-UN-theater-Hollywood-s-machine-gun-preacher

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Remains of satellite may never be found, NASA says (Reuters)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) ? A six-ton NASA science satellite crashed to Earth on Saturday, leaving a mystery about where a ton of space debris may have landed.

The U.S. space agency said it believes the debris ended up in the Pacific Ocean, but the precise time of the bus-sized satellite's re-entry and the location of its debris field have not been determined.

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, ended 20 years in orbit with a suicidal plunge into the atmosphere sometime between 11:23 p.m. on Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT on Saturday (0323 to 0509 GMT Saturday), NASA said.

The satellite would have been torn apart during the fiery re-entry, but about 26 pieces, the largest of which was estimated to have weighed 330 pounds (150 kg), likely survived the fall, officials said.

As it fell to Earth, UARS passed from the east coast of Africa over the Indian Ocean, then the Pacific Ocean, across northern Canada and the northern Atlantic Ocean to a point over West Africa. Most of the transit was over water, with some flight over northern Canada and West Africa, NASA said.

"Because we don't know where the re-entry point actually was, we don't know where the debris field might be," said Nicholas Johnson, chief orbital debris scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We may never know."

Stretching 35 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, UARS was among the largest spacecraft to plummet uncontrollably through the atmosphere, although it is a slim cousin to NASA's 75-tonne (68,000 kilogram) Skylab station, which crashed to Earth in 1979.

Russia's last space station, the 135-tonne (122,000 kilogram) Mir, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2001, but it was a guided descent.

NASA now plans for the controlled re-entry of large spacecraft, but it did not when UARS was designed.

The 13,000-pound (5,897 kg) satellite was dispatched into orbit by a space shuttle crew in 1991 to study ozone and other chemicals in Earth's atmosphere.

It completed its mission in 2005 and has been slowly losing altitude ever since.

With most of the planet covered in water and vast uninhabited deserts and other land directly beneath the satellite's flight path, the chance that someone would be hit by falling debris was 1-in-3,200, NASA said.

"The risk to public safety is very remote," it said.

The satellite flew over most of the planet, traveling between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator.

UARS was one of about 20,000 pieces of space debris in orbit around Earth. Something the size of UARS falls back into the atmosphere about once a year.

(Editing by Todd Eastham; reporting by Irene Klotz at 321 432-0220)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110924/ts_nm/us_space_debris_nasa

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6 Disadvantages of HR Outsourcing ... - How to Start a Small Business

Every experienced entrepreneur or business man knows that whenever a business gains something new, it loses something in exchange of that. All entrepreneurs know that everything has its disadvantages and running a business is a matter of weighing the combination of all the advantages and disadvantages that every business strategy has; and HR outsourcing is of course not an exception to that. So it?s my aim to use this article to highlight the downsides of outsourcing HR. Below are disadvantages of HR outsourcing.

1.??????????? One of the foremost possible disadvantages that can be brought about by HR outsourcing is that it can reduce the efficiency of a given division, at least for a while until the newly outsourced employees have successfully adapted to the work environment. This isn?t to say that the only way to deal with this disadvantage by letting time pass by until the new employees have finally adapted. The management can provide support teams through the old employees of the company or by providing written instruction about the work environment in order to hasten the adaptation period of the employees.

2.??????????? HR outsourcing also requires the maintenance of a good standing between the business and the agency that provides the human resources. Although highly damaging conflicts between the businesses and providers seldom happen in reality, this isn?t really the issue.

3.???????? HR outsourcing also requires additional tasks in maintaining external relations with other companies in order to get more favorable trades between the two entities.

4.??????????? HR outsourcing can also affect the aggregate learning curve of the employees; that is the sum of all the respective learning curves of each employee in a given sector of the business. Since, as it has been stated on the first disadvantage, that newly employed human resources aren?t familiar yet with how things work in the given business, more learning are still required, thus, the progress of efficiently improving each tasks has been held back.

5.??????????? The previous disadvantage also leads to another, which is the possibility of impairing the formation of a highly integrated and efficient working process. Since learning and practice come hand in hand in businesses, when the aggregate learning curve of the employees are being held back, the creation of an efficient integrated process will also be held back. There are two possible ways to deal with this disadvantage. The entity may either provide additional training for the new employees through mentorship or written instruction, as provided earlier, or the business may also require the /HR outsourcing/ agency that they provide a set of sufficiently experienced employees.

6.??????????? Lastly, because of the easy process of adjusting the level of employment through HR outsourcing, the morale of the employees are definitely impaired. This impairment in the morale will be manifested in the work performance of the employees, because humans undeniable require a moral booster in order to bring them at an optimal level of performance. However, because of the insecurity in their jobs caused by the easy process of lay-off provided by HR outsourcing, the chances of damaging the employees? morale are very high. This, so far, can only be dealt generally by the employee himself.


Related posts

Source: http://www.strategicbusinessteam.com/outsourcing/6-disadvantages-of-hr-outsourcing-for-small-businesses/

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

CEO: Fuel efficiency a top consideration at Ford

NEW YORK ? At his first news conference as CEO of Ford, Alan Mulally was asked how he could run such a complex company with no experience in the car business.

The former Boeing executive responded that cars, which have around 10,000 parts, are indeed very sophisticated. Then he smiled and noted that a jumbo jet has 4 million parts ? and it flies.

If there were doubters when Mulally joined Ford in 2006, there aren't many now. The year he took over, the company lost $17 billion. Last year, it made $6.6 billion, its biggest profit in 11 years. Within weeks of arriving, Mulally took out a huge loan and began pushing through a restructuring that continued even as the recession sent rivals General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy.

Behind his sunny demeanor and fuzzy red sweater vests, the 66-year-old Kansan had the steel to rein in the bureaucracy and infighting at Ford. He promoted managers who could work together and fired those who couldn't. He shed money- losing brands like Jaguar, Volvo and Mercury. He closed six U.S. plants, cut thousands of jobs and saved billions in engineering costs by developing fewer cars for the global market, such as the Fiesta and Focus, instead of unique models for each region.

Mulally still faces big challenges. Ford is struggling to overhaul Lincoln, which was the nation's top-selling luxury brand a decade ago but fell victim to underfunding and more stylish rivals. Its sales in China, the world's biggest car market, are about one-sixth of GM's. And slow growth in the U.S. is hindering a comeback in car sales.

Mulally spoke with the Associated Press about the economy, the car industry and his management style. Excerpts appear below, edited for length and clarity.

Q: What are your biggest worries about the economy?

A: We're generally on the right track, but it is going to be a slower recovery than we've ever had before. The private sector leading us out of this recession is the most important thing.

Q: President Obama called you when he was on Martha's Vineyard. Did he ask for advice on the economy?

A: What he wanted to know, because we interact with so many customers, (was) how consumers (are) feeling about everything. They're looking for both near-term action on jobs and the economy, but they're also looking for longer-term solutions on our debt, on our budget deficits, our trade imbalances. They're looking for more clarity on where the United States is going, so that they can plan their near-term actions against the long term.

Q: Why aren't companies using their cash stockpiles to hire more?

A: The consumer has pulled back. We're ready with the products and services that people really do want, but we're going to match our production of goods and services, cars and trucks, to what the real demand is. We're very disciplined about that. The worst thing you could do is make more than what the market wants, which our industry has done sometimes in the past. The demand is still very, very low.

Q: Is it a permanent trend that people want more fuel-efficient cars?

A: I sure think so. Most of us in the United States and around the world know that we are going to pay more for energy going forward. There will be ups and downs but, in general, it is more expensive to find oil and bring it to market than ever before. So fuel efficiency has just continued to move as the number one consideration. It doesn't make any difference whether it's a new Ford Fiesta or an F-150, the customers want the most fuel-efficient vehicle.

Q: Take us through how, inside your company, that changes things.

A: If you look at Ford historically in the United States, we were about 70 percent trucks and bigger SUVs and made 30 percent cars. Around the world, the percentage is the opposite way. But in the United States, we are moving to a tremendously balanced portfolio of small, medium and large vehicles. Over the next few years, we'll be at the place where nearly 60 percent of our vehicles are small- or medium-sized cars, and about 40 percent will be the larger SUVs and trucks. It really is a tremendous transformation of Ford.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/24/2030135/ceo-fuel-efficiency-a-top-consideration.html

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Libyan oil flows, foreign workers wait (Reuters)

BREGA, Libya, Sept 23 ? Scribbled in blue marker in Arabic on the walls of Brega oil terminal of Brega is a message meant to cheer returning workers: "Gaddafi is gone and the place has been checked."

Oil production has restarted in some Libyan fields including Sarir in the east, but the near-deserted Sirte Oil headquarters to the east of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown is testament to the damage the conflict has done to the country's main industry.

Amidst a cluster of crude oil storage tanks, gleaming white in the Mediterranean sunshine, stand at least two charred grey ones. The chimney of the site's power plant lies in a gnarled wreck in the courtyard. A warehouse used for weapons storage, hit by a NATO bomb, is a tangle of wood and piping. A stash of missiles nestles in a petrochemical site, stored there by Gaddafi troops who took the gamble that NATO would not target expensive infrastructure.

Brega is one of a cluster of export terminals and Libyan oil companies are eager to get things started in a business worth about $176 million a day before the conflict. The country provides only around 2 percent of global oil consumption but its oil is prized for being easy to refine.

Some oil workers have marvelled that Gaddafi did not inflict damage to Libya's oil facilities on the scale of Saddam Hussein, who ordered hundreds of oil wells to be set ablaze on his retreat from Kuwait in 1991. There has been no comprehensive survey of the Sirte Basin, which holds most of the country's oil and gas fields, but interim oil minister Ali Tarhouni estimates the war has left 10-15 percent of Libya's oil infrastructure damaged.

Yet safety remains a major concern, especially after militia killed 17 guards at the nearby Ras Lanuf refinery last week. Brega is probably out of range of even the most sophisticated rockets in Gaddafi's arsenal. But the area is full of mines, and the country is strewn with ordnance dating back to World War Two. SPECIAL REPORT - How to win business in Libya

LETHAL COMMUTE

Fathi Issa, chairman of the management committee of state-owned Sirte Oil, waves a small, disk-shaped anti-personnel land mine the color of milky tea, and tells reporters that 6,000 of the explosives have been found on Brega beach.

"We will bring all the workers back when it's safe. We find something new every day," Issa told Reuters last week.

According to official figures from the National Transitional Council (NTC), 40,000 mines were planted around the Brega area during this year's fighting; Military spokesman Ahmed Bani told Reuters an order for 120,000 from Brazil was placed by a Gaddafi officer during the conflict, suggesting the number could be much higher.

Rabea, an engineer at Sirte Oil who only gave his first name, commutes daily along the Brega-Ajdabiya coastal road which is flanked on both sides by war graves. He has tried three times to re-establish his daily routine since the war began, most recently in late August. "I'm not afraid. The mines are mostly on the seaside," he said, his stoicism typical of many Libyans who have witnessed months of destruction.

IF IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR LIBYANS...

Foreign oil companies are less nonchalant.

"I know many think we are cynical people ready to do anything to earn some bucks, but we are not going to put our staff in harm's way. We need to make sure security is there," said a French oil industry source.

Sirte Oil's Issa says that besides mines, one problem has been sabotage to the Hateiba gasfields south of Brega. The tops of wells were found exposed, causing gas to leak out. Looting has forced many companies to order new equipment. Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Company, or Rasco, told Reuters its tugboats were stolen by Gaddafi troops who used them to shuttle arms back and forth to Misrata when it was under siege.

Accommodation is hard to find. Some of the houses in the workers' barracks are little more than sunken husks and there is no electricity or running water. An upturned armchair with loose stuffing is parked in the middle of the street. The forest-green uniform of a Gaddafi soldier lies on the pavement, apparently abandoned by its owner.

Still, spirits are high in the oil-rich east, one of the spearheads in the military campaign against Gaddafi. For people here, restarting oil output is a matter of pride.

In Benghazi, Yousef Mahmoud, an engineer at National Oil Company subsidiary Jowfe, has set up a society called the February 17 oil group, named to commemorate the day Libya's revolt began. It has 4,000 members from Libyan oil firms. As well as restarting output, it wants to purge former Gaddafi sympathizers from the business and move the country's umbrella oil firm NOC away from Tripoli and into the east.

"We are trying to push people to work again and we try to make a full report of the damage," he told Reuters, sitting in the Benghazi office of U.S. oil services company Baker Hughes.

There was not an American to be seen in the office. Foreign oil firms have yet to return to Libya on a large scale. Economic sanctions have deterred many U.S. firms, even though the United Nations Security Council voted last week to ease them. Security is the main concern.

International oil firms are accustomed to working in hostile environments, but as a general rule they rely on their own security firms. This grates with Libyans, who feel they are capable of securing the country after ousting Gaddafi. That's turning into a sticking point in negotiations.

"If security is good enough for Libyans it should be good enough for foreign workers," said interim oil minister Ali Tarhouni. An oil official in the NTC told Reuters the country is planning to create a force of 5,000 security guards to secure oil and gas infrastructure.

RISK OF ATTACK

Libya's oil industry can restart without foreign firms, but analysts say a speedy return to pre-war output of 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) will depend on their return.

In the short term, the priority for oil production is to serve the Libyan people, says Abdalil Salah, an official in the oil ministry. Imports are costing Libya's interim administration around $330 million a month. Blackouts and fuel shortages at service stations are still common.

Abdusalam el-Madani, head of administration for German oil company Wintershall in Libya, has visited his company's oil sites which have not been mined or suffered major damage. "The facilities are ready to start operating and our foreign workers will be back by early October," he said.

Official estimates of how quickly Libya's oil output can recover range from a year to 15 months. That may seem slow, but Iraq's oil output has yet to return to its late-1970s and early-1980s levels eight years after the fall of Saddam.

In messages broadcast from hiding, Gaddafi has threatened devastation similar to Saddam's in Iraq. Until he is caught or killed, that remains a risk, particularly in remote desert areas like the Sirte Basin. In theory the area is under NTC control. But soldiers from Gaddafi's desert strongholds could easily move eastwards.

Despite their concerns, Libya's oil companies take solace in the preparations they made ahead of the crisis. Libya's crude in the Sarir field is particularly waxy, and when in the late 1970s British oil major BP was forced out by nationalization, the company told the Libyans it would leave behind clogged pipelines.

"They said they would leave us with the world's largest candlestick," said Younis Feituri, a member of Agoco's management committee for exploration and production. This time around, the company mixed the crude with a thinner variety of oil and it is now flowing to the Tobruk export terminal. "We haven't forgotten BP's words."

(Additional reporting by Marie Maitre in Paris; Edited by Sara Ledwith, Simon Robinson and Christopher Johnson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110923/bs_nm/us_libya_oil

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US oil and gas rig count up by 6 (AP)

HOUSTON ? The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by six this week to 1,991.

Houston-based drilling product provider Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday that 1,071 rigs were exploring for oil and 912 for natural gas. Eight were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week the rig count stood at 1,650.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained eight rigs, North Dakota gained six, Colorado gained two and Wyoming gained one.

Louisiana and Pennsylvania each lost four rigs and Alaska, while New Mexico and Oklahoma each lost one.

Arkansas, California and West Virginia were unchanged.

The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. A low of 488 was recorded in 1999.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110923/ap_on_bi_ge/us_rig_count

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