As the old saying goes, health is wealth. And in this case we are referring to spiritual wealth. Whole food is good for our health because our body is able to absorb its full nutrients - the same with our life. When we embrace our life as a whole, savoring all the experiences and feelings in it, our soul will be able to absorb its full 'nutrient', grasping the full essence of our existence, and enabling us to live our life to the fullest. Masami Sato shares the magic of living a whole life in this excerpt from her latest book, ONE.

How come that many of us, (in fact, more of us) occasionally have a hollow feeling in our life? It is like the pangs of hunger. When we eat, the hunger is appeased and then we are not as much interested in food. But after a while, we become hungry again. Then, surprisingly we feel again enticed by the flavour and vision of food. We also experience some sort of a pining when we are not even actually hungry - just after we had some food. Some of us are perpetually hungry.

Constant emotional hunger is not the most pleasant thing to have. Then, how can we live our lives to the fullest? How can we be more satisfied permanently?

Maybe the answer is easy. Just live our lives totally. The word 'total' holds the meaning of fullness. Then the secret to live a full life is just to live it totally.

Let's start to look at one example of this 'wholeness' with something awfully close to our heart-our stomach.

Whole Food VS Semi Food

We are familiar with the word 'whole food.' It is said that consuming whole food is the secret to the health and fitness we need. What has whole food got more than 'part food?'

A complete grain pulsates with a life of its own. If one keeps the complete grain in water, drains it off and keeps it for a few days, it germinates. It has got a full life. When we consume such an item, our body absorbs the full spectrum nourishment. It has the ability to clean, cure and nourish various body cells.

And just like the example of a grain, most traditional eating includes eating whole animals as well. Eating whole fresh fish used to be more common than taking a part of fish and throwing the rest away. It was the same for meat and the same for vegetables.

'Semi food' at times is more sweet and aromatic but does not offer much nutrition. We may savour its taste, but we could become a victim of a long-time malady if we only ate 'semi food' every day of our life.

So, to balance the missing part, we started to take dietary supplements. We have been studying and researching for a long time to find the perfect balance. It gets more and more complicated as we chop the food up, preserve and transport, and even try to balance with other parts coming from different sources, regions and seasons. Some of the nutrients even come from non-food items. They are chemically generated. After analysis and testing, we approve it for human consumption. But no matter how hard we try; we cannot put all the 'bits' together to make it come alive.

Half Life-'Sweetness' of Life

So, if we perceive our life now, much of what we are doing can be similar to eating the 'part food.' Just enjoying the sugariness of life but jettisoning the real nutritious part. And if we put our 'part life' in water with other pieces and left it in the sunlight, could it germinate and grow into a beautiful complete life?

Whole food is not (as some people perceive it) poor in taste. It is actually tastier when we prepare it properly. But while the demand is low, it is more expensive. It is actually more economical in the long run though, as we have less medical expenses later on. When more people start eating it, it will naturally become cheaper because it is a simpler food with less processing and waste.

Our life is identical. When we are only conscious of the 'sweet taste' and discard the remainder into the dust bin because we do not realise its worth, we may be jettisoning the most important component. And that which we cast out could have the maximum power for the substantiation of our life and our financial system. It also needs more vigour and sources to throw it away. Better yet, that which we throw away comes at no cost.

So, what is that we are not looking at?

Imagine a life where we didn't really feel we were missing anything there.

The secret is right here. The secret of a complete life.

Entire Life-The Complete Life

When it is 'entire', it does not matter how large the entire is. It can swell concurrently. It can still hold within it all the parts to support itself as a full living being. Once it matures into a specific size, it can manage to live even without some of its components. Like plants can survive even after being consumed a bit by birds or trees can flourish even after they lose their leaves. But if we disregard the proportion for a very long time, ultimately it can begin creating a critical inequity. Then it could become too problematical to come back to normality.

We do not have to revert to Stone Age to find entirety. Entirety exists in the current. All we should do is watch intimately; watch intimately enough to actually see.

When we begin seeing our life in its fullness and stop casting out what nurtures our life the most, we start experiencing more and more satisfaction without looking for 'things' to fill the gaps and hollows of our life. Things finally fit into place. We now grasp the intricacies of our world in a completely different manner.

Yes, it is now time to learn how we can form (and find) this equilibrium constantly and manageably.

The actual sustaining element of our life is what makes us feel joyful deep down. It is like that component of food that makes our body strong in the long-term. Emotions we feel in our everyday life are the real solution to our permanent happiness. And there are emotions that make us feel more absolute.

The smiling visages we see when we acknowledge the merit of others. The happiness we feel when we give others gifts. The tenderness we feel when we see our children being happy. The motivation we get when we sense that our life is full of substance ..

Let's experience these moments of our life fully and enjoy the flavour of our whole life. Then we will see how it is not so necessary to continuously fill our mind (and stomach!) with temporal gratifications-those types of things that make us even hungrier afterwards.

We can actually experience this delight, thankfulness and affection in order to sense life as a whole at any minute irrespective of the circumstances. It is not about what we perceive, what we are told or how we act that conclude our life as a whole. It is about what we 'opt to' feel about our life.

Yes, our life in fact is already whole.

When we initiate taking actions based on this knowledge, we can have real control over the balance creation - enduring health, prosperity, enriching connection and delight.

Charity ratings are something so inconsistent that highly rated charities might easily find themselves outdone in rating by unknown ones that materialize out of nowhere. Charity Water is a representative though new sample of this. The power of the online medium and ingenuity are helping brand new charities to drive their ratings sky high. A charity that may not have any rating one day might be considered as one of the top of the chart charities by the New York Times the next day and their rating would then go through the roof in no time.

Because of the power the mass communication media have over the people, when a charity is in the good books of the media, it expands very quickly and manages to get a lot of charitable giving. By that same yardstick, when media do not have much interest in propping up a given charity, its rating also plummets in the same proportion.

Charity rating directory listings

With scepticism running quite high with charity watchdogs pinpointing charity problems such as misconduct, having exceptionally high amounts of funds spent on admin or the misappropriation of funds, charity rating directory lists are flourishing. It's so funny that philanthropic organizations that set out to give to others are now under the eye of charity watchdogs. Philanthropy is becoming a little complicated!

Institutions like Givespot.com, Guidestar.org etc. provide comprehensive listings of charity ratings. GiveSpot 100 list is the list of the 100 highest ranking charities that is provided by Givespot.com. Another one that provides similar data is charitynavigator.com which has a list of the top ten charities as well a charity check system. Finding out charities is made easy by this. The biggest charity director of US is Guidestar.org with lots of free data on charity as well as information that can be availed for payment. Though its name gives a different impression, Better Business Bureau is a charity directory that gives a list of both commercial and non-profit ventures of USA.

With enough charity rating guides, there is no data shortage for anyone who wants to get information on the 100 top charities, but what constitutes real rating is something different. What in reality makes a charity superior has nothing much to do with its ratings. There are characteristics that make an organization, whether charity based or otherwise, stand out from the rest.

Charity Ratings and belief in the public

A 2005 YouGov poll published that the majority of the British population - 56% - had only a 'fair amount' of trust in the global charities like Save the Children and Oxfam . Only 15% of the charities surveyed had 'a great deal' of trust - even in the ones that do well in charity ratings.

Charity Critics' Warnings are profuse

Trust in charities has dropped a lot in recent times. Yet who can blame the public. Charity watchdogs tell unsettling stories of very highmanagement salaries, charities taking as much as 60% of donations for overheads with their being little left for the actually charitable giving.

Recent studies show that the average costs of raising funds in the UK and Australia are'% or 22% respectively. In the USA, the Association of Fundraising Professionals found the statistic to be around 30%. These figures do not even include admin expenses, which are often much higher. Some charity givers see this as a key issue especially with charitable giving often in the media spotlight like it was in Singapore a fewyears ago. The additional negative focus tends to reduce charitable giving which is not good.

Charity ratings secret revealed

There is not much difference in the way in which charity organizations and commercial organizations try to get money. How they eventually use that money may be different, but their modus operandi for attracting that money is essentially the same.

To promote the charity rating and also to ensure better cash flow, there is a one and only formula - enticement.

When we look at something and consider buying it, investing in it or connecting with it, we make an instant decision based on how attractive it is to us. If the level of attraction is high, we are highly interested and take action quickly and of course if low, we take our time or decide no.

Charity Water is highly attractive and hence why it's charity-rating sky rocked so quickly and the media got behind the idea. The simple idea of selling a bottle of charity water for a premium price with the extra profit been giving as a donation to the needy to access clean water was highly attractive.

The factors that combine to make Charity Water so enticing, making it popular, are easily decipherable.

* First of all it has an ideal name, Charity Water, which strikes a chord in people's heart. The person behind the idea was obviously passionate about the image and about taking it to the people.

* The message and objective are clear, straightforward and singular - sell water and give water - Buy One Give One

* They focused on the solution and not the problem. This is the number one mistake that loses charities rating points lowering their charity rating in people's minds. No one wants to feel guilty and sad. They want to feel uplifted and happy. In this case happy to know they could make a difference in the lives of others by buying a simple bottle of water.

How to instantly reduce one's Charity Ratings

The fastest way in which a charity's ratings would go down is when it turns itself less tempting by centring its attention on the problem. People are by and large disinclined to listen to negative things. On the contrary, most people are keen on listening to positive things that involve verve, dynamism, motivation and effort to bring in a fresh vision.

To prove this, all we have to do is look at ourselves in the company of our kids and know how our response is positive when children make a request in an exuberant, polite and eager manner. The same request, if made in an irritating or maudlin way, might elicit a negative response.

The images that a charity uses will affect its charity ratings. Using uplifting and inspiring images will uplift and inspire people. Uplifted and inspired people give more and spend more.

Social Enterprises improve Charity Ratings and solve the problems in Getting Funds

Social Enterprise is a new business paradigm that arose some time ago. This endeavour combines in it a commercial enterprise and charity. This has been initiated by those who are enthusiastic of solving social problems but are not satisfied with the pattern of charity organizations.

Many socially conscious businessmen may find the ambience of a full fledged commercial venture and its decision making mechanism unpalatable. For such people a social enterprise is an apt field where they can use their business acumen and inspiration effectively to solve social problems and usher in changes. One of the best known among such socially aware entrepreneurs is Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was the first business man to be given such recognition.

Buy1GIVE1 commonly known as B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1), is a global organisation that is a recent entrant into the world of charitable giving. It is a perfect blend of business and valuable causes functioning at the global level. Buy1GIVE1 has so minimised its expenses of fundraising and management that it is able to give for charity all the funds collected. The institution is similar in its attributes to the online organization Kiva.org, which has been promoted by Bill Clinton; unlike conventional charities, Buy1GIVE1 involves direct giving to charities. Many people are convinced that it is a better way for contributing things and receiving richly in return.

Successful businessmen, who are searching for a chance to give back richly to the society and to provide for deserving charities, fully understand the importance and properly structured working credos of institutions like Buy1GIVE1. Every single sale is able to affect a change somewhere - not only altruistically. It has also the ability to forcefully influence things in such a way that each act becomes a unique marketing story. There is a world of difference in the way in which Buy1Give1 works and those charities which give away thousands and thousands of dollars work, because Buy1Give1 lets their customers know what the joy o f giving is. Buy1Give1 transaction-based giving is a perfectly beautiful way of giving.

Enterprises like Buy1GIVE1 provide details of charity requirements, especially those which are really needy causes, and these always manage to attract lots of donations. Entrepreneurs understand very well the fundamentals of these equations and so are more likely to help such causes rather than worry about the charity rating. They know very well that people have an inherent tendency to respond to a more touching requirement, than simply to media rating.

The Australian company Maple Muesli collaborates with an Indian charity called Midday Meals in the city of Mumbai. Whenever someone buys a bag of muesli, the contribution from it feeds a needy child there. A meal for a child costs only the equivalent of 30 US cents and the charity in this way feeds 125,000 kids in Mumbai every day. This makes the children desist from begging, keeps them away from streets, and makes them remain in school.

The company has managed to advertise the worthy cause of the charity Midday Meals in Australia. The inspiring story is continuously shared by Maple Muesli with all their buyers which has resulted in increased rating for the institution of Midday Meals in Mumbai, though all that the charity does is provide a daily lunch for those needy children. This is the era of Effective Giving - The sun has almost set on the Era of Plain Charity Donations.

In a matter of a few years, changes are bound to happen in the background of the top 100 charities as more inventive and effectual ways of giving originate. The current scenario offers very few choices on how to give for a charitable purpose. All the available ones are not good enough to make a dent in the existing problems.

Other choices in Charity Ratings

Methods of charity have changed over the years and newer ways are making their presence, some of which are rated below. Comparison Points of Charity.

We have compared and rated a few well-known and less well-known charities and Social Enterprises on areas that are important to their donors.

THE SALVATION ARMY

PATH TO GIVING : DIRECT GIVING

The Salvation Army is one among the most well-known 100 charities of the world - Both individuals and enterprises make contributions directly to it.

CANDOUR - B - Insufficient candour - Lots of money is donated - but result is not completely quantifiable.

MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS - C - Businesses' one-off contributions to Salvation Army may be mentioned in the press.

EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS -B - Heavy expenses are incurred for raising funds.

DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - B - There are many charities and the contributors can decide to which one they would like to give directly.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - C- Nothing new to offer in terms of market change.

PRODUCT (RED)

WAY TO GIVING: MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Product (RED) is a brand that enters into partnership with companies, which then creates products with its logo, a percentage of which goes to fighting AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa.

OPENNESS - B - Not sufficiently open - Plenty of money is being collected - but the results are not always completely clear.

ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS - A - People and enterprises by and large prefer to support it as it is promoted by popular idols like Bono and Oprah. End result of marketing is not correctly available.

FUNDRAISING COSTS - C - Spends hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising - could have just given that money to Africa.

DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - C - Limited choice for collaborators on deciding to which charity they should donate - all their charity work is in Africa.

ABILITY FOR EFFECTING A CHANGE - B - All those who collaborate with Products (RED) are big enterprises and all the income is spent on Africa.

THE BODY SHOP

ROUTE TO GIVING: BUSINESS TRADE & GIVING

The Body Shop has a purchasing program known as community trade to help Third World countries; and from the income they generate, substantial contributions are made to charities.

TRANSPARENCY - B - Lack of transparency - sum of money is contributed for every purchase - but result is not fully measurable.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - A-tve - Customers are interested in community trade and it increases their interest to do business with the venture. Visibility is not entirely sufficient.

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING - A -Comparatively low - It is a good business pattern that makes a lot of donations to charities and enhances community trade.

DONORS' CHOICE POTENTIALS - A - Ventures that donate has the option to decide in what way their donations are to be used.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - B - Businesses' giving back is great - but very few take the added effort to push for change like Body Shop.

LIVE EARTH

WAY TO GIVING: EVENT FUNDRAISING

Live Earth was a series of music concerts for a global audience held on July 7, 2007 which kick-started a three-year long campaign to fight climate changes across the world.

CANDOUR - F - As per the reports of the site Intelligent Giving, satisfactory accounts were not produced on the proceeds from the sales of tickets.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS - B - It was beneficial to business sponsors as they got good media coverage, but as it was a single event results are not easily measurable.

FUNDRAISING COSTS - C - Spent millions of dollars on advertising on what some say was an unsuccessful event, which had no real goals.

DONOR'S CHOICE OF CHARITY - C - Only three charities could manage to get funds.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - C - These events are usually held one-off or annually. Money is often given to larger, more established charities.

Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1 )

ROUTE TO GIVING: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

B1G1 is a brand licensed to collaborate with any enterprise - uniting them with any cause across the globe. A fully comprehensive model.

CANDOUR - A - By giving for particular causes, makes sure that funds go exactly for that which it is intended. Customers get information on how exactly their money has made a change - i.e. the children whom it helped, or the environmental cause it protected.

MARKETING VALUE TO BUSINESS - A+tve - Great marketing value because of:

* Calculable giving * Media interest * Effective stories * Person to person * Returning customers

EXPENSES FOR RAISING FUNDS - A+tve - No cost at all - B1G1 can look after a charity's fundraising requirements which will include a good percentage of management also. All the funds that have accrued go to the cause.

CONTRIBUTORS'CHOICE OF CHARITY - A - Business givers can choose their charity project or elect to give to a charity cause such as food or education, etc.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE - A - Exponential. If more businesses partner charities globally, the potential for real change is massive.

You Would Think Giving away Money Would Be Easy!"

You would think that giving money is easy - pull out a wad of cash, write a cheque or punch in your credit card details. Yet, billionaires philanthropists like George Sores , have gone on the record as saying that effective giving is one of the hardest things to do. Developing nations receive billions of dollars every year and yet it often seems like nothing changes much.

People make changes by asking probing questions about the problems they find in front of them. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mohammed Yunus, by his introduction of the new category of banking known as Microfinance has made groundbreaking achievements in solving social problems and is leading the way in showing how social enterprise and consumption of goods can positively change the world. Other such ideas worth emulating are that of Buy1GIVE1 or 'Trade - Not Aid' of The Body Shop. The overwhelming importance of social enterprise has to be fully appreciated.

Bill Gates, when asked how one can make a difference in the world, pointed to the Internet. Kiva.org and Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) are organisations that add value to the giver. With Kiva.org, people can receive email journal updates from the business they have sponsored. This happens with Buy1GIVE1 as well. Businesses also get the added benefit of marketing stories to tell their customers: buy a laptop with us, and we give one computer to someone who cannot afford it.

Other ways to improve your Charity Ratings

Make sure that you have an open attitude, use the laptop effectively, and keep apart a little time to observe the novel and wonderful systems of charity that are being born. These function through the internet and are mostly network based.

The present situation is that if a venture is not allied online with global networks of good standing, it stands to lose quite a lot whatever its charity rating is, by tomorrow things are likely to change -- completely.

Lots of companies nowadays make their appearance out of nowhere and are sold a few years later for billions of dollars. This was a scenario that would have been considered impossible a decade ago. But today this is a normal phenomenon. What every one of these internet companies primarily do is to tap into global networks or even perhaps create one themselves.

Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)

Buy1GIVE1 is a rather new entrant to the world of Social Enterprises and was launched in'97 by a Japanese lady called Masami Sato. Any business can avail a membership in Buy1GIVE1, and membership charges for smaller ventures will only be one dollar a day and donations can be as little as one cent on a sale. Buy1GIVE1 is in the forefront of the Buy One Give One transaction-based giving world movement. Joining hands with Buy1GIVE1 is totally uncomplicated for businesses as well as charity needs. The working pattern of Buy1GIVE1 is perfectly controlled and practical. It connects the products or services of any given business to a needy cause (Buy1GIVE1's or their own) and after that whenever a sale is closed, it has to be recorded and the contribution percentage sent to the charity at the end of the month or end of quarter year directly or through Buy1GIVE1.

You could be losing out a lot if you are not interested in forming an association with Buy1GIVE1and not persuading your business patrons to do so. Buy1GIVE1 is a unique and brilliant organisation whose impetus as well as global impact is huge.

A new era of charity giving

Companies that had no presence a few months ago are ravaging cyberspace with the echo of user acceptance. Services life Twitter , Facebook , MySpace , YouTube, NING and TipJoy are places you must have a presence in. Organisations like Change The Present, Kiva and companies like Buy1GIVE1 you should be building relationships with. These are all the new future and will all help maintain and build charity ratings. Today is a new opportunity to build a new future.

Property does not only comprise of tangible things like homes, cars, furniture, money, investments etc and such property are not the only kind that can be safeguarded by law. Other types of property which are intangible in form also exist. They are termed intellectual property and these are also protected by the law. The three main kinds of intellectual property rights are copyrights, trademarks and patents.

When the creator has brought out an original piece, he or she owns the copyright over this work and is granted protection for them. This right may be awarded for songs, films, paintings and other types of artistic expressions and not just the literary or published material. Under copyright law, the owner of the work gets a number of rights which include monetary rights to income arising from the work and acceptance as sole owner of that work.

In contrast, trademarks give the person who has registered it, the protection over certain graphical representations, words or marks which point to the creator or origin of products to thwart replication and misuse. Trademark protection gives the owner complete safety from unscrupulous use of his own symbol by others to mislead customers.

The final intellectual property right is a patent, which is granted to inventors to protect their original and useful creations and inventions. Patents are valid for a predetermined span within which the holder can enforce his exclusive right to sale and other commercial use of his invention.

There are some other less common types of intellectual properties that can be owned by people. Knowledge carried forward from generation to generation in a specific sect; exclusive and secret components or recipes which go into creating successful products like Coca Cola; and geographical position based descriptions, which refer to certain merchandise like Champagne, are some examples of this kind of intellectual property.

Though these forms of intellectual property are distinct from each other there are certain similarities between the three. All of these are protected within the provisions of the law and the rightful holders can take legal action in a court of law and claim compensation in case of any infringement.

Buy One Give One (B1G1) is the home of transaction-based giving.

STOP. Take a breath. And imagine you were part of a world where every transaction made a difference.

Imagine, for example, you purchased a television, and automatically a cataract-blind child got the gift of sight. Automatically. Or imagine if today you bought a cup of coffee and someone in Africa got access to clean, pure drinking water as a direct result. Again automatically.

It's all happening right now. Already Buy1GIVE1 (Buy1/Give1) has become a true global giving 'village', bringing together businesses, their customers and worthy causes in a way that's never been done before.

It's happening globally, every second, every day and in every way with a staggering 556 projects already underway and making a difference.

That's because in the Buy1GIVE1 world, every single sales transaction, be it buying a cup of coffee in Cape Town or renting a car in Reno (and everything in between) gives back in a well-defined, resonant and measurable way.

In this present economy, when both corporations and charities have seen a decrease in profits and donations, cause-related marketing appears to really be catching on. Cause-related marketing is a business scheme involving a partnership between a company with a product to sell and a charity with a cause to advance. As opposed to "corporate philanthropy," which merely includes a company making a tax-deductible charitable contribution, cause-related marketing benefits both the company (by helping to increase sales, and therefore, profits), and the charity (by bringing in contributions and calling attention to the cause.)

You buy a book, a tree gets planted. You dine out, a child gets fed. Buy One Give One - simple. The list goes on forever and the giving simply happens automatically, every second, every day and in every way.

And it is beautifully simple. Buy1GIVE1 is now becoming a global movement as more and more businesses jump on board and enjoy the incredible benefits of transaction based giving.

In Buy1GIVE1, they make it a point that in all cases, the consumer is not just engaged in CSR initiatives on a day-to-day basis. Buy1-Give1 generates solutions to that and it does it every second, every day and in every way.

We may think that recording intellectual property (IP) ownership rights are fairly new occurrence it is not. Even the Romans stamped bricks to show their sign of ownership. Trademark law is quite ancient dating back to the year 1266 in England. The old law known as the "bakers marking law" used to show the maker of a loaf of bread. Each baker would have their own registered mark.

Trademark law is now well established internationally. Almost every single established company now has their own mark that uniquely defines their brand. Most people think that you have to legally register a mark to be able to use it but the opposite is true. You register a mark so that others cannot use it! When you register a trademark you gain the unique right to be the only one to use the mark or to control who can use it.

A trademark is a specific mark that permits customers to distinguish you without seeing your product or service. It is a unique part of your brand. Tests have shown that you can display just part of a well-known trademark and people know which brand it belongs to. This demonstrates the power of a good image and how the brain works at recalling such things. This is why it is important to legally protect important marks and words.

In most countries if you create something yourself you have the sole rights to use this. However if an idea is used by many people it very quickly becomes common property and cannot be registered. It is always best to legally register marks and ideas. Registration legally determines the date of ownership beyond any sense of doubt. In some countries common law gives some protection but at the end of the day you have more protection if you hire trademark lawyers to protect key intellectual property.

These days you can self-register a trademark but there are inherent hazards of doing this of course. Trademark lawyers of course know how to register and how to protect ownership if the rights are abused. They know the full story of registration and protection. If you self-register you may get a cheap registration but you may have left a loop-hole for somebody to misuse your rights later on.

Registration of trademarks can be done in one or more countries. Currently there is no such thing as a international trademark. You have to register in all the countries where you want protection.

Registration has become easier over the recent years with the creation of systems like the Madrid System of International Registration of Marks through the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland but global registration is still a tedious and fairly high-priced process.

Of course the benefits of registering a trademark outweigh the costs and challenges. If you are serious about your company you should be looking into at registration today.

When you need day care for your little one, finding the right place for them is very important. There are several things that you should think about while searching for Farmers Branch Texas day care. If you search carefully, then you will be able to find the child care center that matches your needs and your child's perfectly.

There are many different types of child care that all have their pros and cons. You need to match your needs, your child's needs and budget with what is available to you. There are day care centers, in home carers that come to you and in home carers that operate out of their homes, before and after school care and family member care.

One of the best ways to find day care at a center is by seeking recommendations from other parents that you know. You do not entrust your little ones to just anybody and other moms will know all about the centers where they have their children and be able to whether they are happy with them or not.

The right day care center for your child will accommodate their personality and needs. Some children might need more individual attention if they are quite shy and timid. A big center might be quite traumatic for them at first. Other children flourish in an environment where there are plenty of other children to play with.

You can get a list of registered and recommended Farmers Branch Texas day care centers by contacting the Department of Human Services. These centers have to meet stringent child care regulations and standards in order to retain their registration.

Once you have whittled down your list of day care centers visit the day care centers and check out the facilities and observe how the children are being cared for in the center. You should also meet the staff who would be responsible for your child and ensure that you have a good feeling about them: a mom's intuition is a very strong sense.

There are many different Farmers Branch Texas day care centers and many of them will be appropriate for your child. Once you know that you will need child care try to organize it as soon as possible because vacancies are very often limited. With a little research and preparation finding the right child care does not have to be stressful.

Many entrepreneurs and executives want to move forward with the process of going public merely for the ability to raise capital through the sale of stock. They usually don't think of the strategies necessary to keep the momentum going such as how much equity to give up initially, how much equity to sell ongoing, how to capitalize off of the use of the securities as collateral for loans and lines of credit and so on.

One of the most profound strategies companies can use to retain company equity while capitalizing off of their public entity is to put up portions of their securities as temporary collateral for loans and to use securities to grow through acquisition of strategic alliances.

Stock should be looked at as cash and designated for appropriate purchasing strategies. Stock monetized through collateralized lending can work wonders as long as the exit strategy is in place and secure. Your attorney should be well versed in this activity and audit the contract for convertible aspects which could strip the transaction of its advantageous nature.

Debt that converts to equity means giving up a huge bartering chip for future transactions. Don't give up equity unless you have to. There are scores of companies that will lend against your securities without having to give up long term equity. Use this strategy wisely and you'll never have a problem getting capital.

Also, using stock to purchase strategic partners is more relevant now than ever. Purchasing a company with stock that can be monetized over time is an incredible way to grow through acquisition. Going public on the OTCBB is a quick and easy way to start using the countless capabilities for capitalization with a public entity. Going public simply to raise capital with your market maker or broker dealer would be selling yourself short. Take advantage of the countless ways your securities can work for you.

Most companies who are on the venture capital trail are not set up properly to attract investors. When an investor looks at your business plan and private placement memorandum they are looking for certain things. Of course funding sources look for the obvious, a solid business model, positive cash flow, industry genre with solid future growth, recession proof business (if there even is such a thing) and minimal debt.

Countless companies are turned down for funding because they lack the basics such as: an advisory board, board of directors, solid executive staff with a well groomed pedigree, reasonable share price, business plan and PPM that spell out the risks for the investor and an original marketing strategy that covers all the angles. These are just a few of the most common mistakes that companies make out of naivety and by not taking the time to hire an expert to properly structure them to make the entity appeal to investors.

Seasoned expansion and turn-around consultants can step into a company and immediately zone in on the issues that will hinder a client's investment magnetism. Often times it only takes 2 to 3 weeks to completely reorganize a company to make it stand out like a beacon in the turbulent finance industry. If you are seriously considering the idea of raising capital with a private placement memorandum, traditional institutional loans, venture capital or a public offering don't be penny wise and dollar foolish.

Spend some money and hire a consultant who is completely submerged in the finance industry to take control of the elements of your corporation that are seen as 'black eyes' to investors so that you can achieve the capital you're seeking.

The reality is, raising capital for your company is easy and straight forward if you've taken the time to examine your business objectively and sought out the expert analysis of an industry expert consultant who will run your company through a formula and make the necessary changes to increase your ability to raise capital.

So many companies dream of going public to raise massive amounts of capital, as set up for an exit strategy, to make acquisitions with stock and for many other reasons. While your intentions may be pure and with genuine motives, you're entering shark infested waters of boiler rooms, crooked attorneys and underbelly consultants who have made careers off of taking well intentioned executives just like you for a 24 month rollercoaster ride while they take every penny you have as your company shrivels up like week old road kill.

Just and honest consultants in the 'public offering' industry are as rare as the illusive white elephant. This industry exists in a cesspool surrounded by rose gardens; from afar it looks amazing and an image of a dreamland but get up and close and the sludge and odor are enough to make you run and hide. So what do you look for in a consultant? The best consulting firms are the 'boutique firms' with minimal overhead that keep a low profile and are made up of 3 or 4 'partner' consultants.

These firms typically have the experience of working with the large consulting groups but for one reason or another have decided to leave and go out on their own. The great thing is, these small groups typically have massive contacts and process your entire public offering in-house. Offering a complete turn-key solution that is managed in-house offers a huge advantage because there is accountability and you can actually build a relationship with the people that are making your dream of a public offering come true.

These 'boutique' consultants will usually stay onboard as growth consultants for the life of the company in exchange for modest fees and a pre-IPO or pre-OTCBB equity position. The large firms will hack you out at the knees and gouge you with fees while they take massive amounts of equity in your company which takes away your bartering chip when you need to offer more stock to the public to raise capital.

The small firms will also work one on one with you to show you how to use your stock to grow through acquisition and other nifty ways to use stock to grow. Seek out the boutique consulting firm and save the attorney for spot audits. Hold on to your cash. Why pay outrageous fees to lawyers when you can pay 60% less with a small consulting firm that will add all the bells and whistles for free and actually get your stock trading, usually in half the time?

Discovering the 'thumbscrews' of investors is crucial to getting them to take action. In over a decade of dealing with global investors there are several elements that I've discovered to be universal truths about the mind of the private investor (angel investor, accredited investor).

When talking to an investor for the first time, it's more important to listen than to speak. It's more important to ask questions than answer them. It's more important to discover their needs and wants than to exclaim your own. Your first conversation with an investor should be all about piercing the armor and finding the trigger points that prompt a reaction that gets to the center of their 'childlike' state.

What I mean by this is, investors, just like anyone else, has insecurities that are rooted in their childhood and what they are outwardly today, is typically a polar opposite of what they are on the inside. For example, an arrogant, chest beater seems proud and obnoxious on the outside but the reality is that they are over compensating for an insecurity that is rooted in an individual or collection of childhood incidents.

Maybe they were made fun of as a child, maybe they're father was verbally abusive, maybe their teachers would single them out in class opening them up to playground mockery. When talking to these individuals it's important to listen to their voice and intonation when the conversation topic changes. Take notes on their psychological adjustments to the conversation. After you feel you have discovered the triggers that induce the 'pleasurable' responses, end the call, and set your second phone appointment with them.

On that second call, you want to have your conversation ready to go using the triggers you found in the first conversation. Play off of those insecurities that you found, become their best friend without being chummy but it is your mission on this call to be the "guy that understand me" to the investor. You want the overall tone of this conversation to have the response from your target along the theme of, "wow, this guy gets me" , "I can see investing in this company".

By using this method and not coming across as 'fake', you have become an investment opportunity and a shrink all rolled into one. You want to be the one person that this investor can lower his guard to because everything he says, you seem to be the one person who understands him at his deepest level. You seem to naturally be tuned into his insecurities, emotions, needs and wants. Sound strange? Try this out on the next investor you talk to, I guaranty you will be shocked with the results.

Can anyone learn clairvoyance? The truth is that to a certain extent, yes! What exactly is clairvoyance, and what does it mean to try to learn it? This is something that you might want to think about!

First, let's define the term clairvoyance. There are many different definitions for this term, and it really depends on who you ask. One of the most common definitions is that you need to learn about remove viewing, that is, being able to see things as they happen from a distance without the use of tools or your five senses. It might also be described as the ability to see in the the future, which is referred to as precognition. Essentially, it means being able to know information that is gathered in a method beyond that of your five senses. This makes clairvoyance the elusive sixth sense.

There are definitely people out there who have amazing clairvoyance. They can see, hear, feel smell or even taste things that are beyond the normal human reach or they might be able to predict past or future events that there was no way that they would know through other means. The truth is that though this phenomena do happen, there is no way for science to understand them. There are many metaphysical explanations for why these things happen, but there is no culture of dominant belief and many of these beliefs are contradictory. One thing that you will find is that it is generally believed that to have these powers, you must be born with it.

Is it possible to learn to see things that are happening elsewhere or to see the future? Probably not. Can you develop and train your sixth sense? Most definitely yes.

Everyone has some degree of a clairvoyant sixth sense. Have you ever thought that you had a strong hunch or a strong feeling about a person, place, thing or situation? You might think that there was nothing wrong about it, but there was a feeling down there that did not want to be ignored. When you ignore your sixth sense in favor of logic or emotion, you'll discover that you are weakening it.

Science, to a certain degree, even acknowledges the existence and validity of hunches and instincts. Scientists claim, however, that there is nothing supernatural, paranormal, or psychic about this ability. Psychologists, for example, argue that this phenomenon is merely your subconscious mind picking up on little details, hints, and signals that your conscious mind is too busy to notice. Your subconscious mind then translates this information into emotions to help guide you"the proverbial 'feeling' mentioned earlier. Therefore, in order to develop your sixth sense, you have to learn to use and trust your subconscious mind.

Whether you believe in science or in the mystical existence of a sixth sense, you'll find that you can still take advantage of this concept. What you need to learn is that no matter what you believe, you can train your perception and that you can sharpen it a great deal. Just look at these three methods.

1. Improve Your Perception

The problem that many people run into is that they go through their day so very focused on their tasks that they never see anything else. There are so many small details that can tell us so much, but if you refuse to take the time to look, you'll find that you are letting your sixth sense wither. When you go to improve your perception, you will be able to take in more of the world around you. There are definitely advantages to being aware, so take a moment to really look around yourself.

This takes practice, however. There are a few things you can do to try to increase your perception. First, slow down a bit. Try to relax, clam yourself, and move at a more leisurely pace in your daily activities. Second, remove distractions designed to occupy your senses. For example, instead of listening to the radio in the car while driving, drive in silence. With nothing else to occupy your senses and thoughts, you'll become more aware of the world around you"the weather, the neighborhood you're driving in, and that car behind you moving into your blind spot.

A mini meditation session might be precisely what you need when you are thinking about clearing your head. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and make yourself relax. When your eyes open, you will be able to see a lot more with regards to the world around you. This can make a lot of difference .

2. Meditate

Take at least half a hour out of your day and learn to meditate. You'll discover that meditation will let you use your mind and clear it at the same time and you'll discover that this can be a great way to let your subconscious mind out to play. Remember that you are looking to feel more comfortable and more relaxed as you do this.

Of course, meditation is easier said that done. When you sit down and try to think about nothing, suddenly all you can think about is whether or not your thinking about nothing, wondering if your doing this all wrong"and then you're stuck in an endless circle of thought. The trick to overcoming this problem is to occupy your conscious mind with something to distract it. For this, you need two things: a focus, and a mantra.

A focus is simply something that you can use to keep your sense working for you instead of against you. If you are sitting in silence, you might find that every sound or movement out of the corner of your eye makes you startle. Instead, put a candle in front of you and watch the light dance. The flickering will keep your eyes engaged while your brain can float away and think of other things.

Remember that your brain never shuts down, and this is something that can work for you rather than against you. A mantra is a series of words, whether it is a phrase,a poem or a prayer, that you can repeat over and over again. It will let your brain occupy itself while you are meditating and it can trigger a meditative state for you if you practice it firmly enough. Some people will use the prayers that they learned as children while other people will simply use the song lyrics that they love.

Step 3: Trust Yourself

This is perhaps the most important element of developing your clairvoyant abilities. Don't doubt, second-guess yourself, dismiss your gut instincts as unimportant, or tell yourself there's no logical reason for you to feel the way you do. Your hunches and instincts exist for a reason. It's your subconscious mind trying to tell you something, something that your conscious mind hasn't noticed.

Appreciate the fact that it is not going to be easy. Remember that the more listen to your instincts and the more you trust them, the happier you are going to be in general.

Renato Babalu Sobral defeated Bobby Southworth by TKO to become Strikeforce light heavyweight champion in the co-main event of the promotions 'Destruction' card on Friday night. Despite leaving with the belt around his waist, it wasn't a highlight reel worthy finish.

A -350 wagering favorite despite his challenger status, Sobral was expected to use his world class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills and vast experience against superior competition to dominate the tough but limited Southworth. It didnt happen that way, as Southworth easily got the better of things in the first round.

The first round displayed Southworth's style in microcosm, with much of the frame spent pushing Babalu up against the cage or on the ground inside his guard not really doing much. Sobral had one effective strike the entire round--during a clinch against the cage wall the challenger rocked Southworth with a hard elbow strike that not only busted his nose but opened a huge cut over his right eye.

Upon seeing the gusher of blood Referee John McCarthy brought the ringside physician over to take a look. As Southworth's corner futilely worked on the gaping wound during the break the doctor once again took a look and better realizing the severity and placement of the cut recommended to McCarthy that the fight be stopped. The veteran official complied, awarding Sobral the TKO victory and the championship belt.

The other half of the co-main event was decided in much more decisive fashion as Scott Smith knocked out well traveled veteran Terry Martin in a mere :24 seconds. Unfortunately, Martin didn't adequately close the distance against a fighter dubbed 'Hands of Steel' and was caught with a perfectly placed punch that knocked him out cold.

In the semifinal event, Duane 'Bang' Ludwig defeated Yves Edwards by unanimous decision in a very closely contested bout. Edwards was originally slated to face lightweight champion Josh Thomson until a toe injury necessitated his withdrawal. Ludwig took the fight on two weeks notice, and after a takedown clinic by Edwards in the first began to control the fight with his superior standup skills. Edwards' superiority on the ground in the first two frames wasnt enough to sway the judges who obviously favored Ludwig's more effective striking. All three judges scored the contest 29-28 Ludwig, and he may have earned himself a championship match as a result.

Earlier in the evening, Kim Couture made short work of overmatched Lina Kvokov as she TKOd her foe in 1:44 of the first round. Couture, the wife of UFC legend Randy Couture, gained even more notoriety for the courage she displayed in her professional debut last June. After having her jaw broken early in the first round, she refused to throw in the towel and went the distance despite a horrific injury. She had a much easier time here"despite the fact that both fighters entered with 0-1 records Couture was significantly more polished as she put Kvokov on the defensive from the outset with her sharp punching combinations. Kvokov kept displaying the rookie mistake of trying to turn away from Couture's blows which prompted commentator Bas Rutten to question if she wanted to continue the fight. She recovered momentarily and survived the initial onslaught. The reprieve was only temporary, however, as Couture launched another barrage of punches prompting the referee to step in and wave off the non-competitive affair.

The Washington Redskins are a mess right now. Head coach Jim Zorn has a tenuous hold on his job at best and after Sunday's---6 loss to Kansas City was stripped of his offensive play calling duties. Management installed newly hired 'offensive consultant' Sherman Lewis as the new offensive play caller and the team has set up an awkward arrangement for him to get the plays to the quarterbacks. For that reason, starting QB Jason Campbell has some serious misgivings about the efficacy of the setup.

Lewis has only been out of retirement and with the team for two weeks, and has spent this week trying to ingest a crash course on the Redskins' offensive schemes. While he was learning on the job, head coach Zorn was trying to put the best spin possible on what can only be seen as a de facto demotion and vote of 'no confidence':

"I need to have composure. I need to understand what the reality of the situation is, and I think our players expect me to rise up. We expect them to play under adverse conditions. We expect them to risk it all. ... I'm conscious of what's going on. I'm not naive about what's going on, and yet I have to just hold back on any feelings and make the decisions."

Quarterback Campbell is more concerned about the convoluted system of getting plays from Lewis to him:

"There'll probably be a couple of plays I have in my head just in case if some reason it doesn't get in on time."

Here's how things are supposed to work-Lewis will sit in the coaches' box above the field and read the plays off a sheet. While Lewis has years of experience working in the so called 'West Coast Offense', Zorn left doubt that he really knows what he's doing at this point stressing that Lewis "doesn't know the protections" and "doesn't know the blitz schemes." Nevertheless, he'll be running the offense when the Redskins take on Philadelphia this Monday night.

Once Lewis figures out what to call, that's when it really gets tricky. He'll relay the plays via headset not to Zorn but to offensive coordinator Sherman Smith. Smith will then inform the quarterback what to run. Zorn is left in the role of a passive bystander on offense, though he will listen in to the playcalling on his headset.

Backup quarterback Todd Collins also shared his concern with the new arrangement:

"It is unsettling. I've never gone through this before. I've never had a play caller get changed in the middle of the season."

Lewis didn't exactly evoke a lot of confidence upon his hiring, where he revealed that he'd been calling bingo games at a seniors' center to kill time since his retirement in 2004. Still, Collins gave him a guarded vote of confidence;

"I know he's been studying last year's game against the Eagles and seems to have a pretty good idea how he wants to call the game this week. It's the same plays. He might coach them a little differently or highlight some different areas, but the offense hasn't gone under an overhaul or anything like that."

The Redskins haven't scored more than 17 points in a game this season, so maybe the thinking is that things can't get any worse. The NFL odds for Monday Night's game show the Eagles a -7 road favorite with the total set at 37'.

The Oakland Raiders scored the only touchdown of the game in the first quarter and then prevailed in the kicking duel that followed en route to a--9 upset of the visiting Philadelphia Eagles. Much maligned quarterback Jamarcus Russell played his best game of the season despite two interceptions, throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown. Oakland now stands at 2-4 while Philadelphia slid to 3-2.

NFL betting enthusiasts who backed the Raiders as a whopping +14 home underdog were never in any trouble as Oakland took the lead late in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Oakland evened their mark against the NFL pointspread at 3-3, while the Eagles dropped to 3-2 against the number. The 22 points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 40'. It was the Raiders' fourth UNDER in six outings, while it was the Eagles' first UNDER of the season against four OVER verdicts.

After the contest, Raiders' coach Tom Cable said for the first time all season his team focused their intensity in the right direction:

"We went out and threw a fight on somebody and said, 'Enough. Let's play. That's all you can say. There's no magic words or anything like that."

Last week's 44-7 loss to the New York Giants may have served a wakeup call to the Raiders. In particular, they were offended by comments made by Giants' linebacker Antonio Pierce that the game 'felt like playing a scrimmage'. Raiders' wide receiver Louis Murphy didn't dispute the comments but instead took them to heart:

"That gave me extra fuel. You have to look yourself in the mirror and man up. His comments were true. We played flat. We didn't play with any emotion. This game was totally different. We took those comments to heart."

The Raiders' defense received the bulk of the credit for the victory as they pressured Donovan McNabb all day, sacking him six times. The Eagles became the first team in three years to not score an offensive touchdown against the Raiders. Richard Seymour and Trevor Scott each had a pair of sacks, and Scott had the following observation:

"I'm sure they watched the Giants game and thought we were sorry. But all week coach Cable talked about persevering and forget the past and move forward so we can get to where we want to go."

After the game, McNabb had little to say:

"I'm embarrassed by the way we came out here and played. We're a much better football team."

The Raiders will try to put together an actual winning streak as they host the New York Jets next Sunday. They'll play their hated rivals the San Diego Chargers on the road the following Sunday before a bye week. Philadelphia will play the Redskins at Washington next Monday night. They'll return home for games the following two Sundays against the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

Decades before mixed martial arts became popular in the United States, events matching fighters of different fighting disciplines were very common in Japan. They weren't called "mixed martial arts" at the time, but that's essentially what they were.There's an entire history of pro wrestlers fighting specialists from other martial arts (particularly judo) that were leaving out, but during the'70's Antonio Inoki began to put the concept of "mixed martial arts" on the map with his matches against fighters from other disciplines.

Inoki billed himself as 'World Martial Arts Champion' and would frequently face other high profile fighters in contests that are generally believed to have had a pre-determined outcome similar to professional wrestling. Inoki faced a 'who's who' of the martial arts world, but none were more famous than heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

There are differing accounts of how the best heavyweight boxer in history found himself in a ring in Tokyo's Budokan Arena against a pro wrestler. One thing is certain--it was viewed as an easy payday for Ali, who'd lost a good chunk of his prime earning years to his controversial stance over the Vietnam war. That's what got him there in the first place, and that's what kept him there after the two sides began squabbling over the rules and the outcome of the fight. Some suggest that it was supposed to be a "fair fight" going in and once Ali saw Inoki spar he insisted on rules changes to tilt the fight in his favor. Another more likely version of the story suggests that Ali's handlers knew that the fight was supposed to be a "work" all along. They made the deal with Inoki's people based on this fact, and were all on board as to the outcome of the match and how it would "finish". The "original" plan was to have Inoki win in a controversial manner that would keep his undefeated streak in "MMA" matches intact while allowing Ali to "save face. The only person who wasn't aware of the game plan, however, was Ali himself. When informed that he was supposed to "take a dive", even in a convoluted fashion, Ali refused. No agreement was reached between the two camps and at the last minute a legit fight transpired. The promoters were left with a sold out Budokan, a worldwide PPV audience and two fighters who despite every effort to the contrary would actually have to fight each other.

Many conspiracy theorists have noted that these rules were never announced to the crowd on fight night, leaving many with the impression that they were being made up as they went along. Action in the fight would further validate this view, but there actually were rules that both camps agreed to heading into the fight. Not surprisingly, most of these were designed to protect Ali. In fact, they were so one-sided that if Inoki hadn't been so concerned about preserving his big payday he would have been justified in not fighting. Inoki was prohibited from punching with a closed fist or striking Ali in the head (ostensibly since he wasn't wearing gloves). Inoki was prohibited from using any sort of submission maneuver. The most absurd limitation was that Inoki was prohibited from "grappling or trying to take Ali to the ground". A few observers noted that this was like not letting Ali throw a jab.

The result was an absolutely horrible fight. Neither man showed much interest in engaging the other, with Inoki spending most of the time on the ground doing what he could under the one sided rules. Inoki threw kicks at Ali's legs, Ali threw an occasional jab and tried to protect himself from his opponent's leg strikes. The fight ended a 74-74 draw, with the real losers being the fans.

The fight was officiated by former pro wrestler "Judo" Gene Labell, a legendary tough guy considered at the time to be the 'baddest man on the planet'. He could have easily beaten up both men, possibly at the same time. That might have provided some much needed entertainment to liven up the tedious charade masquerading as a fight.

After the fight, Inoki's popularity in Japan was greater than ever. He became something of a hero for trying to fight despite having the rules so decidedly in his opponent's favor. He'd continue his fights against other martial artists and remain one of the country's most popular sports figures for years to come. His 'worked' martial arts matches can be credited with sparking later hybrid promotions showcasing pro wrestling and martial arts that evolved into PRIDE, RINGS and the major Japanese fight promotions of today.

Online nursing education is a sort of distance education that provides with the necessary skill to take up the nursing profession. As a profession, nursing is considered as a reasonably high paying profession with a noble attitude. Their dedication to ailing humanity during emergencies is recognized by the entire society.

It is of extraordinary importance when they serve during war or in epidemics in all the corners of the world. Several people are drawn to this noble profession and in the recent times, the online nursing school has opened gateways to fulfill their long cherished dreams to become nurses. The online nursing institutions present several kinds of programs for the students.

It includes public health, safety procedures, medical with administrative wings, mental health departments, rehabilitation sector and so on. Thousands of qualified nurses have graduated out from the online nursing schools and are currently serving the nation with pride. Most of the cities have found the services of online trained nurses equally useful for their programs on health plans.

There are a few accredited online nursing schools who impart outstanding learning courses and students are able to lean the skill of nursing of very high quality. These courses include several essential subjects like the sciences relating to society, physical science and biology. These courses also take care of humanity science and give the students sufficient knowledge of several cultural aspects relating to the profession for understanding the ethos of the society and its people.

There are several courses and as a result degrees are presented to qualified student nurses. The online nursing schools distribute the associate degree and bachelor's degree for the nursing category. They also have preparations for the entry level programs for the master's degree in nursing. The duration of the online nursing courses vary from two to four years for completion depending on the specialization and acquisition of the degree of a registered nurse.

This is possible only when the student attains a fixed qualification score in every terminal examination held during the entire duration of study. The qualified student should be able to finish the administrative course to become a registered nurse. Degrees received from accredited online institutions assist students immensely in their career building.

It has already reached pandemic proportions and childcare locations across the country are looking for ways to manage the outbreak of H1N1 virus. The Centers for Disease Control is working closely with the National Association for the Education of Young People to protect children in daycare as well as the staff members at childcare locations across the country.

The only sure-fire way to reduce the spread of the virus is to sanitize everything before for the outbreak occurs. Brilliance Preschool & Academy provides top-tier sanitary measures that insure that all toys, materials, equipment, and common areas are sanitized at the end of each school day. It should be common practice, that all measures go far and before to insure a germ-free environment. As the administrators understand, the health and safety of your child should be the number one priority.

Schools should follow the published guides by the CDC on how to protect their student body. Anyone who handles children under the age of five years of age are encouraged to get vaccinated; since this age group has the highest risk levels for the H1NI virus. See if your child's school has plans to have all their staff members receive their shots. It would also be wise to check with your pediatrician to see if your child needs to be vaccinated.

The CDC also recommends that all preschools have an emergency plan in place in case there is an outbreak of swine flu in the building. The plan should include provisions to immediately notify all parents and that communication should advise parents that it is essential to keep students home if they begin to display flu like symptoms. The CDC reports that the "symptoms of 2009 H1N1 flu virus can include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting."

When you visit your preschool you should see posters around the building encouraging the children to practice good hygiene. Materials are available from the government and the NAEYP free of charge, which reinforce the importance of hand washing and covering the nose and mouth when sneezing. Despite the best efforts of any school it still may become necessary at some point to close to control any outbreak. The CDC says if too many children or staff members become ill the best course of action will be to shutdown for 5 to 7 days.

Have you ever thought about having the ability to see things, people, even places that are not within the range of your five senses? The thing to remember is that we have more than just five senses and it is entirely possible to reach out with your own innate psychic ability and to make observations that are otherwise impossible!

Remember that remote viewing is not the same as an out of body experience. With an out of body experience, which is also called astral travel, you travel in a spirit form to see things or places far from you.

On the other hand, with remote viewing, you are looking at a form of psychic dowsing, where you can use your innate psychic power to find out what you need. Essentially, you will be using ESP to find out what you need.

The truth of the matter is that all people are capable of it. While it is easier to develop when you are young, you will find that you can easily learn it when you are older as well. When you think about the fact that you only use ten percent of your brain, there is a lot of potential there that is going untapped.

Do you like the idea of being able to reach out and to reassure yourself that your children are okay? This kind of security and peace of mind can be used to make remote viewing that much more beneficial for you and your family.

The interesting thing about remote viewing is that just about anyone can learn how to do it. Even with people who do not show off psychic traits, the ability can be developed once they are taught to enter a trance-like state. After that, they could engage in remote viewing with the same positive effects as a psychic.

There are some simple techniques that you can try.

*First, sit yourself down in a quiet comfortable place and close your eyes. Get rid of as many distractions as you can.

*As you feel your body relax, start to breathe through your nose. You might want to make it easier for yourself by pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth; happily enough, this will also keep you from yawning!

*You need to believe in your own ability to succeed. Remember that as you put yourself deeper into your relaxed state that you need to tell yourself that you are capable o seeing things that you are not physically seeing.

*As you get started, start by thinking of a very simple target. One good exercise to get you started is to think about viewing your relaxing body from the side or from straight ahead. Construct the image of yourself slowly and carefully. While it can be difficult to view yourself this way, just remember that it will come with patience. Think about where other people stand when they view you and think about how you must look to them. This can be a good regular exercise for you.

*One you can view yourself from a remote perspective, take a moment to think about how you can cast your viewing eye even wider. Think about a location that you know very well, whether it is a park that you are very familiar with or the home of a friend. Look for details, like where the books are or what is playing on the television. After you have finished, consider going to the place or calling to see if what you saw was correct; this will really allow you to check your results and to see what is going on.

One interesting thing that you might be interested in doing is to see how these remote viewing exercises can involve two people. Start with you and your friend sitting in different rooms. Your friend performs a simple movement and as you concentrate on what is going on, you should try to see your friend doing this. Then let them do the same or you. This can be something that allows you to instantly compare results.

Once you have gotten some practice under your belt,you will find that it is much simpler to enter the relaxed state that you need. Getting into this state is much easier than you might think it is, and you can think of it as hypnotizing yourself. You might be wide awake, but your body is relaxed enough to allow you to access your full potential.

The truth of the matter is that your psychic abilities are much easier to get to than you might think, and remember that practice is the key!

The Main Exam comprises of two part- Theory and Clinical skills. Certified Nursing Training Program is even obtainable online, which can be took up by you at absolutely reasonable price from the comfort of your home. The duration of this training program can go from 2 weeks to 6 months even, depending upon the requirement of your territory or state.

The experimental or hands-on training may take place at a nearby nursing home or hospital. It will definitely help you to obtain fair clinical expertise. Right upon the completion of Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program, you become ready to hit the floor as a professional CNA to look after physically impaired, mentally ill, weak and wounded patients.

Undergoing Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program will enable you skilled enough to perform the subsequent tasks assertively, such as- gauging patient's vital signs like blood pressure, pulse, temperature, respiration etc, tracking the record of every patient's case history, helping the physically disabled patients with moving, bathing and feeding, dressing the injuries, assisting the patients with their regular exercises as prescribed by the physician, sanitizing patient's stuffs and his room, slotting in catheters and taking it out as recommended, maintaining good relation and interaction with the patients and finally reporting the daily progress in patient's health to the licensed nurse or visiting doctor.

Learning these health care tasks proficiently will help you further to pass the final test too. The theory part can be cleared effortlessly with what you have studied so far. Whereas in the practical test, it's not just the matter of testing your intellect, you will be evaluated for your common sense and presence of mind. Your ability to face diverse situations, your confidence and audacity while doing your daily tasks and your efficiency to keep the environment neat and clean are thoroughly checked by them.

Concisely the Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program will arm you with all the requirements expected from a CNA and brushes you up for passing the CNA test successfully.

Past life regression therapy has proven to be an effective and popular tool many people are taking to heart in order to improve their lives and better their futures. Past life regression therapy is not a gimmick to turn you into the person you used to be, but a technique to help you learn from your past.

In order to help you change your way of thinking, past life regression therapy will show you how to remember back to a previous existence and take a deep, long look into the person you once were. There are so many advantages to learning from your past, and only two primary steps to take on your new path.

Keeping a Past Life Regression Therapy Journal

The first tool in using past life regression therapy is actively keeping track of your life through journaling. There is more to keeping a journal than simply keeping track of what happened today or what you ate yesterday. Instead it's a valuable tool that requires that you be open and honest with yourself to truly gain results.

Start out with journaling by listing your thoughts, emotions, and even trival experiences that happen in your day to day life. Record how you feel about those situations and what you did to resolve them. Perhaps the most important part is to be honest with yourself about the emotions that you're feeling as these are the strongest clues that you'll see about yourself when you look back into your past life.

This journal will also help you come to certain realizations about yourself and the patterns you fall into. Using this knowledge you can effect changes upon how you react to a situation, and turn your path towards something more healthy and more fulfilling.

Using Meditation

The most difficult tool you will learn to use in past life regression therapy is meditation. It requires patience and dedication, trust in yourself and the ability to find inner serenity and peace.

Many people begin meditation by using a music CD or DVD that has certain imagery, music, or sound recordings that help them get into a calm state of mind. Meditating correctly can take patience, strength of will and concentration, but once you learn how, you will find meditation becomes easy and restful.

While you are meditating you will find your mind is free to linger on what truly matters to you in life, drifting to thoughts and feelings about friends, family, and even work. When you have come out of your meditative trance, write in your journal the thoughts and feelings you have had.

Benefits of Past Life Regression Therapy

There are numerous benefits to getting involved with and starting life regression therapy. Looking back on your past and even your current self, you'll be able to understand yourself much better than before. It can help uncover hidden thoughts, feelings, and emotions that you didn't think you had. Your subconscious will be free and you'll be able to think more clearly than you had before.

Past life regression therapy can also help you resolve those issues which have hampered you throughout your life. Perhaps you have unresolved issues with your parents, a sibling or a child; this therapy can help you come to peace with those issues and help you to become a better person in the process.

All in all, a greater understanding of yourself and your ability to change is what you'll achieve through life regression therapy. By examining yourself through the years and making observations about your inner self, your attitudes, thoughts, and personality will improve for the better.

The Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada met its demise on Superbowl Sunday of 2000 when 75 pounds of explosives packed inside the structure's support columns brought it to the ground. The controlled demolition came despite years of effort by a number of groups within the community to preserve the building with lawsuits, redevelopment proposals, and grass roots lobbying efforts. The National Turst for Historic Preservation even took up the cause, challenging the destruction in a lawsuit that eventually reached the Nevada Supreme Court.

While the efficacy and justification of demolishing the Mapes is debatable, one thing that is not is the glorious history of the hotel. It was built in'47, and signaled the start of the modern era of casino gambling. Despite the notoriety of Bugsy Siegel and the Flamingo in Las Vegas, it was the Mapes that became the first building in the nation to have a hotel, casino and live entertainment under one roof. It also became the hotel of choice for celebrities staying in Northern Nevada. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe stayed at The Mapes during the filming of 'The Misfits'. Joseph McCarthy, America's famed anti-Communist crusader, admitted to a reporter over cocktails in the Mapes Lounge that he really didn't have a list of Communists in the US despite his frequent and vitriolic insistence to the contrary.

In the 50s and 60s it became, along with Lake Tahoes Cal-Neva Lodge the place to be seen in Northern Nevada. The top floor, window-walled Sky Room showcased performances by the legends: Sinatra, Louis Prima, Mae West, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis, Jr., and the Marx Brothers among others. Subsequent years were not kind to downtown Reno but the Mapes prospered during the 60's and 70's. The hotel finally closed in'82, due more to financial difficulties experienced by the Mapes family caused by one of their other Northern Nevada gaming properties than anything else.

While the last twenty years brought an amazing boom in the population and economy of Southern Nevada, the Northern part of the state didn't see much of it at all. For that reason, the urgency of destroying the Mapes is even more questionable. In the Las Vegas area, its easy to justify the demolition of older hotels with simple economics--the older properties simply can't compete in the current mega-resort dominated marketplace. Furthermore, the insane valuation of the land on which they sit makes it financially unfeasible to preserve them as pop culture museums.

This is not the case in Reno, where land and buildings for development in virtually every casino area are abundant. The official reason that the Mapes had to come down was that the city needed the land--which sits along the banks of the Truckee River--to expand its riverside district of art galleries, restaurants and shops. The revitalization of downtown Reno is definitely needed and a legitimate goal, but at the same time it is hard to think that the Mapes was a barrier to this. Indeed, a number of proposals for redevelopment including office space, artists lofts and upscale senior housing would have probably served to enhance the livability of the downtown area. For whatever reason, the City Redevelopment Authority wouldn't approve any of the proposals and the fate of the Mapes was sealed.

The role of the City Redevelopment Authority was questioned throughout the process. Overlooking the Truckee River, the hotel was on a prime location between the downtown casino area and the riverfront district. A number of sound financial proposals were presented that would preserve the integrity of the structure including condominiums, office space, and perhaps most viable, upscale senior apartments. Oddly, all of these proposals were turned down by the citys Redevelopment Agency which continued to maintain that demolition was the only viable option despite copious evidence to the contrary.

After the demolition of The Mapes Hotel, the lot remained vacant for almost a year until a temporary ice skating rink was constructed in the winter of 2001. The site now houses a permanent ice skating rink which, while not a bad use for the land, brings into question the insistence by the City Redevelopment Agency that none of the proposals to preserve the building were viable. Clearly, they had no specific plan or even general idea of what to do with the land but for some reason wanted to see the hotel come down. This has led to all manner of speculation, ranging from financial self interest to a rumor that the structure was 'haunted' and needed to be destroyed to forestall future paranormal activity in Washoe County. Whatever the reason, the city of Reno lost a valuable landmark of a more civilized era.