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We can mutually agree making the first million is tougher than the second. Why?

Becoming a millionaire for the first time consists of a lot of twists and turns on the journey. In other words, the road to wealth is not a straight line and key systems must be in place if you plan to attain and sustain your wealth in the future.

Some millionaires and billionaires have strong systems in place because they understand the value of protecting their assets. If you want to protect your hard earned assets you had better get a asset protection program that will protect your wealth.

Without asset protection you will put your family and business at risk. Putting the ones you love and the people that work for you at risk is a poor strategy for long term success.

Case in point, record home foreclosures in the United States exposed a lot of real estate investors and many of them are losing millions of dollars because they failed to follow the golden rule. The golden rule for real estate investors is to make your profit when you purchase a property and acquire asset protection.

In other words, real estate investors must take a long term view of the properties they invest in and factor in asset protection as a part of the equation. There are three key issues you must consider if you plan on remaining in your financial status.

The three legal pitfalls you must avoid include:

1. Lawsuits

2. Taxes

3. Death Taxes

Conversely there are three essential areas you must include in your planning:

1. Asset protection

2. Estate Planning

3. Tax Reduction

So how does one go about protecting their assets? There is only one way to protect your assets, you must treat them like a business, only then can you accomplish your long term objective of protecting your assets.

You must stop thinking like an individual and start thinking like entities. What would a wealthy person do?

Instead of thinking like an individual and being a sole proprietorship, wealthy people structure their business as an entity. What do I mean by this?

Wealthy people who have asset protection structure themselves as limited partnerships and or limited liability companies. They do this in order to capitalize on the benefits derived from asset protection, estate planning, and tax reduction.

The KEY is implementation!

You need a asset security system that will protect your wealth, our system provides the following:

- Limited Liability Company with 6 CD Home Study Course with forms

- Limited Partnerships 6 CD Home Study Course with forms

- Corporations 6 CD Home Study Course with forms

- Trusts 6 CD Home Study Course with forms

- Retirement Plans 6 CD Home Study Course with forms

Bonuses:

#1 Land Trusts Home Study Course on CD

#2 Corporate Maintenance Home Study Course on CD

#3 Nevada Corporations Home Study Course on CD

#4 Asset Security System Exercise on CD

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People attending the Asset Security System live training will learn the following:

• Guard your assets by properly transferring them into the appropriate entities
• Operate your asset security system for maximum profit and protection
• Structure your entities and assets through documentation dynamics
• Implement what you have learned and actually put your plan into action
• Implement corporate minutes and resolutions to gain added tax benefits
• Never worry about your estate plan again by fully funding your Living Trust
• Use your corporation as a management entity to split income and lower taxes
• Properly hold and document your corporate, LLC and LP meetings
• Never pay too much in taxes again by effectively structuring an overall plan
• Organize and hold effective shareholder and director annual meetings
• Watch your wealth grow tax-free through the use of a pension
• and much, much more!!!

Contact the Wealth Building Academy today to purchase this outstanding Asset Security System. You can reach me or my staff at (866) 337-2026. If you want to protect your assets and sustain your wealth for generations to come, call us today!

Paul Lawrence Vann is Founder and CEO of the Wealth Building Academy. We helps people learn how to make more money, save more money and embrace success principles to help you learn to live a higher quality of life. His company conduct boot camps, training, life coaching, and develop information products. Paul is the author of the highly acclaimed book, Living on Higher Ground. Email me at paul@paullawrencevann.com, or visit my website at http://www.paullawrencevann.com

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Silver - A Bright Metal

Today, women are seen wearing silver chains, silver pendants and silver earrings in the parties. Silver has become the trendy metal these days.

Silver has been widely used since the time immemorial. It is used in various forms like utensils, jewellery and currency. It is a soft lustrous metal which has its own look and shine which is widely admired by its users. Silver is a chemical element with a high electrical and thermal conductivity.

History and Discovery

The discovery of silver was done after the discovery of copper and gold in around 4000BC. At that time, silver was popularly used in making jewelry and also as a means of exchange.

Silver is commonly found in nature in a mixed state along with copper and lead. The Spanish people claim the discovery of silver mines in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia. By the 16th century, the South and Central America became the largest silver-producing areas. By 2000 BC, the silver-bearing lead categories were smelted and mined and an impure silver-lead alloy was obtained from the lead ores that were smelted. Later, they were refined by using fire and that process was known as “cupellation”. The ancient silver mines were located in Greece at the Laurium lead-silver deposit.

With the advent of time, the “Patio” process was used for the new- world mines recovery. In this process, silver bearing ore was churned and mixed with roasted copper ore, salt and mercury. Therefore, silver was converted to a finely separated state and was finely dissolved by mercury. This was refined repeatedly by the process of cupellation.

In the 19th century, the Cyanidation procedures displaced the Patio process and Thum Balbach and Moebius electro refining procedures were introduced. A huge silver deposit was found in the mid 19^th century in Nevada. After that, by the end of the 20th century, the United States emerged as the largest producer of silver in the world.

Properties of Silver

The metal is a soft and mouldable metal that has superb lustre and is slightly harder than gold. Silver is white in colour and has the characteristic of having the highest optical reflectivity. Also, it remains stable in pure water and air. But, when silver is exposed to ozone, sulphur and hydrogen sulphide, it gets tarnished.

Silver jewellery- Girl’s Best friend

Silver is widely used in jewellery as a precious metal like in silver earrings, silver chains, silver pendants and silver necklaces. Women also prefer wearing silver earrings that comes in different colours and designs. Various kinds of stones are embellished on silver earrings to give them a graceful look.

With the changing fashion, sterling silver is used massively. As silver is a soft metal, it is prone to damage. For this, 92.5 percent pure silver is mixed with 7.5 percent copper so that it becomes stronger. Also, while some people are allergic to gold or other metals, sterling silver does not have any side-effects on the skin and the body. Silver rings and silver pendants are demanded more by women these days so that their style and status is enhanced in the social gatherings.

You can find more info on sterling silver and sterling silver jewelry at http://www.DreamlandJewelry.com

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As many of you know the media and many Catholics will mark the five year anniversary of the clergy sexual child abuse crisis January 7th. The majority of people, who have followed this story, see the first major story on Fr. John Geoghan by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team, January 6, 2002 as the ‘beginning’ of the scandal, at least in a national, public sense.

We all know that sexual child abuse crimes and cover ups have gone on for centuries, and that considerable work was done by many to expose the criminals and their supervisors long before the Globe began running stories.

This ‘anniversary’ is an opportunity to re-group and re-focus attention on protecting the vulnerable and healing the wounded.

SNAP — Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests—is organizing a vigil for Sunday, January 7th, 2007. The goals for these local vigils are:

– attract media exposure, which will help bring more survivors and whistleblowers forward.

– expose the continued corruption/insensitivity of the church hierarchy.

– educate/remind lawmakers that legislative reform (esp. statute of limitations) is desperately needed

– give our members and supporters a simple, low key, low stress but effective way to mark this anniversary

– remind everyone that, despite all the attention being paid to lawsuits and settlements and bankruptcies, many survivors are still deeply in pain, with few professionals trained to facilitate the healing process.

SNAP is the nation’s largest, oldest and most active support group for women and men wounded by religious authority figures (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns and others). SNAP is an independent, non-profit and confidential organization, with no connections with the church or church officials.

The SNAP mission is based on the belief that by sharing their stories, clergy sexual abuse survivors will recognize that they are not alone, that they are not guilty for what they experienced. Thus, each survivor will come to full knowledge of their empowerment to confront the truth and engage in a healthy healing process.

Armed with the truth about what a clergy sexual child abuse survivors experienced, they can then use that power to bring about change. When they put their voices together, they become a strong voice that will be heard.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, “If I’d Only Known…Sexual Abuse in or Out of the Family: A Guide to Prevention, specializes in: Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life’s challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

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Music From Around the World

Kasai Masai was one of 16 groups to perform at the 11th annual Rainforest World Music Festival held at Santabong near Kuching, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Performers came from Gambia, Greece, Poland, the UK, Palestine, India, Trinidad & Tobago, Philippines, Portugal, Japan and from Malaysia. Some played traditional music, others original compositions, and there was the beautiful blending of the old with the new. “They even play hip hop,” moaned the manager of youth band Kani’d that plays traditional music from Central Borneo.

Biswasjit ‘Bonnie’ Chakraborty, headman of Oikyotaan, a group based in Chennai, India, would never be caught playing hip hop. “We are playing music that is 500 years old, so we don’t want to play sugary renditions of songs that have come down from that time. It is very important to us that we keep the aesthetic value intact.”

1000 Harmonious Notes

Chakraborty sees the music as bringing people, and indeed the universe, together: “We see our music as bringing harmony in confluence. We have a saying that 1,000 notes come together to make one song.” The music of Oikyotaan, which was a big hit with the Rainforest audience, is very much about breaking down barriers of caste, religion and culture to make a more harmonious world.

While Bonnie was very serious about his music, mandolin player Jan Kubek of the Polish group Beltaine had a very different perspective about the music he plays. “It is just for fun!” he enthused. Asked why a Polish group plays Celtic music, he replied, “Polish music is very sleepy. So if you want to dance and have fun, you have to look to music outside of Poland for that. For us, the Irish, Scottish, Celtic music is fun!”

However, Jan did admit that music is not only fun, but serves a deeper purpose. “The Russians have a saying: ‘If you play music, you can’t think bad.’”

High Expectations Were Met

Nobody was thinking bad, even when the rain descended on Friday night. “We set an attendance record for Friday nights,” noted Benedict Jimbau, Chairman of the Organising Committee, “despite the rain.” Prior to this, it had only rained once through an entire evening performance in the ten years of the Festival.

“Expectations are very high,” Benedict said before RWMF began, and throughout the three days, those expectations were met as could be seen from the enthusiasm of the audience.

People showed their appreciation and energised the performers with their loud expressions, dancing and calling for more at the end of every set. From the main stage the Voodoo King told the steaming crowd; “Don’t tell anyone this, I’m telling you this in confidence - the Rainforest Music Festival is the number one music festival in the world!” Most of the musicians told the audience that they were the best they’d ever performed for.

We Need the Music!

When Randy Raine-Reusch conceived the idea of doing the festival, one of his goals was to reintroduce the people of Borneo to their own music. Through the 1970s and ’80s, the traditional music of the indigenous people was ignored and was in danger of being totally forgotten. Thanks, in part, to RMWF, young people are once again taking up the instruments and playing the music of their ancestors.

Kani’d (meaning ‘cousins’) consists of 12 teenagers who have been inspired by the ancestral songs of the Kelabits from Central Borneo. They draw upon the wealth of the musical and dancing traditions of the Orang Ulu tribes along the Baram River. They have learned original compositions from their grandparents, uncles and aunts that have evolved into dynamic improvisations and arrangements of traditional styles bridging the ancient and the contemporary.

“We are one of the smallest cultural groups in Sarawak,” says the group’s manager Nikki Lugun. “There are only 4,000 of us. There are 4,500 orangutans. We are all fighting for survival.”

A Unifying Force

One advantage the Kelabits have is their music. “Our music has been passed down from generation to generation, but it skipped our parents. Now we are trying to revive it. It is the music of the community. It is the music of celebration when the head hunters came back victorious; it is lullabies, it is love songs, it is songs of mourning.

“We will pass the music on to our children, and we hope that it will be a unifying focus not only for our people, but for our tribe and for all people.”

Hisoshi Motofuji, a Taiko player from Japan, admitted that his drumming “is accepted by people, but I can’t say it influences them. What I can say is that it unites them.” And unite them it did as the audience responded to the power of his drumming.

Music Shouldn’t be a Steamroller

Adel Salameh and the Ross Daly Quartet offered something completely different, appealing to an audience who appreciate beauty and complexity to their music. Of Irish descent, group leader Ross Daly plays a variety of Eastern music on a number of different instruments.

The diversity of the performers at the RWMF playing cultural music appealed to him. “The mainstream music industry is not interested in culture. What they want to do is make one kind of music that they can sell to the whole world. Music shouldn’t be a steamroller to make us all the same. Modern technology offers us the opportunity to come together while retaining our individuality.”

Old Timey & Bizarre

And as different as they could be was the New Rope String Band. Pete Challoner said their music is very hard to describe. “It is a big assortment of things and all sorts of hoe-down, pan-Celtic, old timey, up-beat down home music. All this combined with bizarre physical nonsense and clowning about. And singing. And dancing.”

Using their fiddles to play musical ping pong with the notes, they gave reality to Ross Daly’s comment “Music exists everywhere in our world, but, for the most part, we unfortunately don’t hear it.”

It is difficult to hear the music from the many corners of the world, and even their home countries’ musicians are not always appreciated. After getting a hugely enthusiastic response from the audience, vocalist and electric guitar player for Fadomorse, admitted that at home in Portugal, they are not very well known. “We are not famous there: we are just another band among many who play similar music.”

Diminutive Dynamite

Coming from the Philippines, where everyone and their ‘bruised chicken’ sings, Pinikpikan might have an equally difficult time making an impression, but Carol Rodriguez Bello, noted for her primal Manabo singing style, does. ‘Diminutive but dynamite’ comes close to describing the power of her performance.

Sammy Asuncion, Pinikpikan’s front man and lead guitarist, says, “She’s a natural. Even in the Philippines she stands out. She is eerie.”

New Events

Adding to the festivities this year were two new events: the World Craft Bazaar and the Folk Art Forum and Exhibition that drew good crowds, as they not only got to look at how some of the crafts are made; they were able to purchase local and imported crafts from the likes of Kyrgystan, Japan and other countries.

“It is a beautiful blend of music and cultures,” said Gracie Geikie, Co-chairman of the Organising Committee and CEO of Sarawak Tourism Board. This is a tourism-driven event which brings people from many countries in Asia Pacific as well as some from Canada, the United States and the UK. “From our tracking, we had people coming from 36 countries,” Gracie stated.

The official attendance numbers showed record-breaking first and second nights, with 22,573 attending over the three days. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, and First Lady, Datin Sri Jeanne Abdullah joined the Saturday night crowds.

A Sublime Setting

The Sarawak Cultural Village is a delightful setting for RWMF, with traditional native buildings serving in many capacities, from food and drink venues to hosting the afternoon workshops where the audience can get up close to the performers who provide insight into their music. Packed houses were often the result.

People lounged along the walkways and at the food venues and watched the performances on big screens that made being in front of the stage not a necessity for enjoying the festival.

An Eye-Opener

The organisers urged the visitors from all those countries to take the time to see more of Sarawak and meet the people who are ‘warm and welcoming’. Not only is the festival a great audience draw; the festival has become a great attraction for the performers, as the Committee had 462 applications for 14 slots on the programme.

Kasai Masai’s manager, Andy Richardson, was enthusiastic not only about the event and the great show the group put on, but about Asia. “This is a real eye-opener,” he stated. “It is a beautiful place, the audience has been superb, the organisation has been great. It has really been a terrific time. I would really like to come back here again.”

Get your tickets early for the 12th annual event that will be held July 10 - 12, 2009. To hear live interviews with the performers go to xl-radio.net and check out the official site at www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com

You can read more about XL Results Foundation at http://www.resultsfoundation.com We also provide a unique profiling system with which you can discover your path of least resistance to wealth. This is a very powerful tool for any company manager or entrepreneur. Thousands of people have already discovered their path, now you can do the same: http://www.xlwealthdynamics.org

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When we think of silver, the first thing that comes to mind is sterling silver jewelry. Yet, the history of silver and the uses for silver are rich and varied. According to The Silver Institute, a worldwide association of silver miners, refiners, fabricators, and manufacturers, the area today known as Turkey was the first location where silver was mined. That was around 4000 B.C. Around 1200 B.C., the center of silver mining moved to an area near Athens. According to The Silver Institute, during the height of production, the mines near Athens produced about one million troy ounces each year. Over the first millennium A.D., Spain became a prominent producer of silver, which was vital to the Asian spice trade. From 1500 through 1800 A.D., Peru, Mexico, and Bolivia produced most of the world’s silver. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the discovery of silver deposits in Nevada, Colorado, and Utah caused production to explode. According to the Silver Institute, “Production over the last quarter of the 19th century quadrupled over the average of the first 75 years to a total of nearly 120 million troy ounces annually.”Today, the vast majority of silver is used in industrial applications ranging from the medical use of silver sulfadiazine to treat burn victims to solar energy’s use of silver paste in crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. Still, over 250 million ounces of silver are used each year to make silverware and silver jewelry. Your silver chain, silver bracelet, locket, silver earring, and wedding ring are all part of a rich history of silver. Sterling silver jewelry comes in a variety of forms. One of the most popular uses of sterling silver jewelry is in silver chain. Silver chain is made in a number of different styles, including curb, cable, figaro, rope, box, snake, and herringbone. Some artisans use custom styling and may make silver chain in shapes like the rolled anchor, figure eight, alternating short- and long-link, diamond cut, and double rope. Silver chain provides the perfect backdrop for a locket or charm bracelet. A simple sterling silver necklace, bracelet, or ankle bracelet can also be worn on its own for understated elegance. The craftsmanship of sterling silver jewelry is apparent in the glint of a silver earring or the selection of a once in a lifetime wedding band. Used as the setting for any number of pieces, today’s most popular sterling silver jewelry items include Celtic designs, pentagram and pentacle designs, handcrafted glass bead designs, and Bali designs.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Visit this Jewelry Website and Majon’s Jewelry directory.

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Remember the film the Chronicles of Narnia? Albert Park in Auckland, New Zealand is a real life park that is almost as unreal and scenic as the movie set. Albert Park is actually the site of the earliest volcanic eruptions in the Auckland area, a volcano is believed to have erupted here between 60,000 and 140,000 years ago.

A Maori settlement called Rangipuke flourished here before the arrival of European settlers and later the site became a defense post when the Albert Barracks were built in 1845. Later the Auckland city council decided to clear away the barracks and pathways and gardens were laid out, the gardener’s cottage was given a facelift and was turned in to the Albert Park House. In 1887 the newly constructed park opened to the public, it was designed in the French Renaissance style and a new building was built to house the Auckland Art Gallery.

The tasteful and beautifully carved Victorian fountain has been described as the centerpiece of the park by many visitors; the nearby statue of Queen Victoria was unveiled in 1899 in celebration of the 60th year of her reign. Two muzzle loading guns can also be seen on display here, they were originally brought to New Zealand in 1879 to protect the Auckland harbor. The guns were later hidden during the Second World War to hide them from enemy planes and were finally unearthed in 1977. Among the park’s more eccentric attractions is the Laidlaw floral clock; this electrically powered clock has a number of beautiful and fragrant flowers around the dial.

Among the more contemporary works of art that can be seen here are Neil Dawson’s Throwback sculpture and Chris Booth’s imposing Gateway sculpture. The private collection of Bruce Wilkinson can also be seen here and features a vast collection of ceramics and clocks. An interesting fact about Albert Park is that it is literally riddled with underground tunnels and bunkers that were dug during the Second World War as air raid shelters. Though plans were underway to open them to the public, the project has not yet transpired.

Located close to this relaxing park in the middle of this busy city are Auckland serviced apartments which are a great accommodation option for long stay travelers to New Zealand.

Naveen Marasinghe is an Online Marketing Executive at eMarketingEye which is a search engine marketing company that offers integrated Internet marketing services and specializes in hotel Internet marketing industry. (http://www.emarketingeye.com/)

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History unveils right before your eyes when you take a leisurely stroll along the Boston Freedom Trail A tribute and memorial to the American Revolution, the Freedom Trail is a pathway linking all the historically important sites in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Freedom Trail is essentially a red brick path, winding through downtown Boston. It passes sixteen important historical sites and stretches two and half miles, starting from the Boston Common and ending at the Bunker Hill Monument. An original concept thought out by local journalist William Schofield in 1958, the trail is meant to connect the most significant landmarks in a way that’s accessible to pedestrians. The Freedom Trail is part of the Boston Harbor Walk tour and a unit of Boston National Historical Park.

Boston, Massachusetts plays a massive historical role in the United States and it’s fitting to have every significant site linked via such a pathway as the Freedom Trail Tourists visit by the thousands every month and this has led to the set-up of several sidewalk cafes and restaurants for them to enjoy some delectable American contemporary cuisine.

The Freedom Trail begins at the Boston Common and falls alongside the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Benjamin Franklin Statue, former site of the first public school, Boston Latin School, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground and ends at the US Constitution Bunker Hill Monument.

Providing an in-depth view into the American Revolution and its aftermath, there’s no better place to learn about the country’s history than along the Freedom Trail Tours are available for student groups, public groups and corporate groups, and visitors can opt for these guided tours provided by the Freedom Trail Foundation. The tour guide will be in 18th century costume, and explain everything about how the Colonialists were driven away by early Bostonians. It’s a history lesson outside of the boring books and been at the actual sites where all of it happened can be an enthralling experience.

When you visit Boston, you might want to tour the other sites as well. Staying at a Boston hotel of your choice, you can explore the city and everything it has to offer for visitors. A centrally located Downtown Boston hotel would be the best choice of accommodation, as it provides easy access to all the attractions. Check out the Millennium Bostonian Hotel Boston for a great hotel stay.

Naveen Marasinghe is an e-marketing executive at eMarketingEye(Private) Ltd. eMarketingeEye is an search engine marketing company offering integrated Internet marketing solutions, specializing in serving the online travel and hospitality industry. ( http://www.emarketingeye.com/ )

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Some folks really enjoy owning unique and special jewelry pieces. Something that makes a piece special is if the jewelry contains a rare and unusual gemstone. One of the most underrated and little known gemstones on the market is chrysoberyl. Although it is rare, this stone is very hard and durable and well suited to any jewelry use, including rings. It has a hardness of 8.5 on the Mohs scale which goes from 1 to 10. The most common colors of chrysoberyl range from honey yellow to yellow green, and the colors are quite intense.

These can be very beautiful, but as I noted, these gems are somewhat rare and not often seen for sale in commercial jewelry stores. The prices for these transparent gems are not especially high because they are little known, and as a result, demand is accordingly low. However, two other forms of the mineral chrysoberyl provide some of the most fascinating and most valuable of all colored gemstones: Alexandrite and the cats eye. Alexandrite is one of the very few gems that actually changes color from a green shade in daylight to red shade in incandescent light. Gems that change color in different kinds of light are called photochroic.

The Chrysoberyl cat’s-eye is by no means the only stone that shows a cats eye effect, however it has by far the most dramatic eye because of the dense, fine fibers that can occur in Chrysoberyl (it is these inclusions that form the “eye”). The line or “eye” effect in this gem can be very strong and it seems to float across the surface of the stone. It is similar to a star sapphire or star ruby, but with those gems, there are 3 lines that intersect, where in a cats eye, there is only one line. Translucent honey colored cats eye gems can be very striking and are also very valuable. The better the color and the stronger the eye effect, the more valuable the stone will be. The cats eye is probably the most commonly seen form of chrysoberyl, and high quality stones command a high price.

The cats eye is commonly used in men’s ring jewelry as it is a hard a durable stone that can stand up to some abuse. Good sized chrysoberyl cats eye gems of a carat or more can command prices of several thousand dollars per carat. Because of this, many times the forms of cats eye seen in commercial jewelry stores are not actually chrysoberyl, but lower cost simulants and synthetic stones. This is important to know when considering a purchase of this beautiful gem. Genuine chrysoberyl cats eyes come from several locations in Asia, as well as Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and from the alluvial gravel deposits at Tunduru in Tanzania, East Africa.

Alexandrite has a distinguished and glamorous past: it was discovered in 1830 in Czarist Russia. Since the old Russian imperial colors are red and green it was named after Czar Alexander II on the occasion of his coming of age. Alexandrite can be found in jewels of the period as it was well loved by the Russian master jewelers. Master gemologist George Kunz of Tiffany was a fan of Alexandrite and the company produced many rings featuring fine Alexandrite in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including some set in platinum from the twenties. Some Victorian jewelry from England features sets of small alexandrites. Cats eye Alexandrites are extremely rare, and good quality color change stones command very high prices.

Alexandrite is also sometimes available as an unset stone but it is extremely rare in fine qualities. The original source in Russia’s Ural Mountains has long since closed after producing for only a few decades and only a few stones can be found on the market today. Material with a certificate of Russian origin is still particularly valued in the jewelry trade. Some Alexandrite is also found in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Brazil but only a small percentage shows a dramatic color change. For many years, good quality Alexandrite was almost impossible to find because there was so little available. Then in 1987, a new find of Alexandrite was made in Brazil at a locality called Hematita. The Hematita Alexandrite shows a striking and attractive color change from raspberry red to bluish green. Although Alexandrite remains extremely rare and expensive, the production of a limited amount of new material means that a new generation of jewelers and collectors have been exposed to this beautiful gemstone, creating an upsurge in popularity and demand.

When evaluating Alexandrite, pay the most attention to the color change: the more dramatic and complete the shift from red to green, without the bleeding through of brown from one color to the next, the more rare and valuable the stone. The other important value factors are the attractiveness of the two colors - the more intense the better - the clarity, and the cutting quality. Because of the rarity of this gemstone, large sizes command very high premiums. Stones that show only a minor change in color may be called a color change Chrysoberyl, but these are not truly Alexandrite. Alexandrite is an expensive and rare gemstone. Prices of $2000 to $3000 per carat for stones less than a carat are not uncommon. As noted the price directly reflects the intensity of the color change and the desirability of the colors that are present.

For more information on the gem chrysoberyl, see the author’s website at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Encyclopedia_pages/Chrysoberyl.htm

The author has an entire set of web pages which are devoted to providing information about the world of gemstones. His gemstone information Encyclopedia page can be seen at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Encyclopedia_pages/Gemstone_Encyclopedia.htm

Chris Ralph writes on small scale mining and prospecting for the ICMJ Mining Journal. He is a rock hound and prospector and owns his own turquoise mines in Nevada. His website on gemstones and jewelry can be viewed at: http://nevada-outback-gems.com

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Jobs are an important factor when looking at a real estate investment. You want to buy in an area where jobs are common because no one wants to move to a place where they cannot find work. Looking at the U.S. Payroll Survey, the greatest job growth percentage during 2006 occurred in Phoenix, Arizona; Austin, Houston and Dallas, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada. Notice something? The greatest growth percents all occurred in Sun Belt states, where the cost of living is lower.

Let’s single out one of these high job growth areas, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). DFW Metroplex is the leading market in the South and the ninth largest in the nation. It has one the largest concentrations of regional or national corporate headquarters and is known as Silicon Prairie because of the great numbers of electronic, computing and telecommunication companies.

The past few years DFW has been one of the top areas in the U.S. for business and corporate expansion. In the last year or so, it landed new and expanded corporate facilities including Countrywide Mortgage, Del Monte, Home Depot, Pier 1, AutoZone, Radio Shack, D.R. Horton, Cott Beverages, Williamsoni-Dickie and Washington Mutual to name a few.

According to the Greater Dallas Chamber of Economic Development Guide (November 2006), the top 20 DFW employers, in order, with employee numbers ranging from 29,237 to 9,700 are as follows:

Wall-Mart Stores, Inc.; AMR corp./American Airlines; Dallas ISD; Texas Health Resources; Raytheon Co.’ Verizon Communications, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.; Baylor Health Care System; AT&T; U.S. Postal Service; HCA Healthcare; Albertson’s Inc.; City of Dallas; Countrywide Home Loans; Kroger Food Stores; Citigroup, Inc.; Brinker International, Inc.; TTI, Inc.; Fort Worth ISD and Texas
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You want to invest in a high growth, affordable area with a diversified job base, DFW being one example. With job loss there is an exodus of people to where the jobs are. If the town is heavily influenced by one job sector and that job sector has a problem or relocates from that city, your investment property will suffer. Some examples from our nation’s past are areas where jobs were heavily weighted in energy, defense or the military. If we purchased in an area that’s primary a military town and the base is the main supply of jobs for the people, and that base relocates or closes down then real estate in that town is in serious trouble. Jobs are the gateway to our future so use them to help with your decisions for future property investments.

To learn more about how Real Estate Investments can help secure your family’s financial future, go to Dr. Alan Rosenthal’s website at http://www.FinancialHealthRealEstate.com where you can find more great investment information. And while you’re there, please sign up for your FREE Financial Health Real Estate Starter Package full of tips, newsletters and much more. Plus, you are cordially invited to attend one of his real estate investment workshops by visiting http://www.FinancialHealthRealEstate.com/UpComingEvents.html

For additional information listen to one of Dr. Alan Rosenthal’s investment talks at http://www.FinancialHealthRealEstate.com/InvestmentTalks.html

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Commercial flat screen installations are really taking off in urban centers as more and more screens are being installed in bars, restaurants, malls, shops, airports, beauty salons, waiting rooms, boardrooms and on and on. Many people are against the idea of ‘idiot boxes’ being so intrusively prevalent everywhere, but there is much to be said for a silver screen at every turn of the head.

At bars flat screens have become almost a permanent feature as people love watching the latest news or scores over an evening drink. It also helps them break the ice, enabling them to meet new people and be more social. What more perfect way to do that than by bonding over your favorite sports team’s triumph over their opponent? And bars do great business with happy people made happier, and more social, by a flat screen. It more than pays for itself manifold times over.

At malls and shops they display the latest advertisements and news related to the venture itself. At hair and beauty salons, airports, hospitals and waiting rooms in general they help people pass time while waiting for appointments. At boardrooms they have practically become a necessity for meetings and presentations as well as tele-conferences. Commercial flat screens are making big headways into almost all public spaces, being present even in outdoor town squares with the latest advertisements (and occasional news flashes).

There are plenty of installation companies out there that do both domestic and commercial installations. The more professional ones do extremely reliable and thorough work, advising you where to put the flat screen as well as the best form of installation for your environment. A good installation company will be there promptly, do a clean, efficient installation, test it for you and then clean up afterwards.

So if you were thinking about getting a commercial flat screen installation done for your business venture or enterprise, then rest assured it is an excellent idea and there are plenty of installation companies out there that will do a more than satisfactory job. The best way to find a good one is through word-of-mouth, as recommended by a trusted friend or associate. Finding them online also works but get the credentials and testimonials checked out before settling on any particular one.

And remember, many installation companies also offer appliance repair and layout customization services so if you have a specific requirement they will be more than equipped to handle it. Lastly, most companies will do both commercial and residential installations for flat screens so if you like how they handle your business install then you can easily get one done for the home.

For further information, please visit Commercial Audio/visual Installation

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