Don't Buy Another Multivitamin Until You've Seen This One - Fortified With Premium Vitamins

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

For the longest time, I firmly believed that it was ideal to receive all your nutrition from whole, unprocessed organic foods.

I still maintain that philosophy, but have come to realize over time that a high-quality multivitamin could be a valuable complement to your diet, especially when the situations in your life make it challenging to eat consistently healthy meals.

But the key words here are: high-quality multivitamin…

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Get your back up off the wall

By Jewel Diamond Taylor

Whenever I teach and speak to my audiences about empowerment and improving the quality of life, I feel I have done my job if someone tells me that I made them uncomfortable.

After facilitating recent conference workshops in Orlando, I started receiving feedback by e-mail from the participants. Apparently, I made some of them feel uncomfortable.

After hearing my message about how our success, health and happiness are hindered by procrastination, fear, worry and living a life without meaning, purpose or direction, they felt the discomfort and dissatisfaction in their lives.

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Cabernet Franc wines from France, Napa and Columbia Valley

By Patrick Comiskey

Cabernet Franc has long been a blending wine in France. West Coast producers are exploring it now too. Sometimes the gallery of Bordeaux varieties resembles a dynamic trio of comic-book heroes: Cabernet Sauvignon is the beefy, muscle-bound brute -- Lord of the Medoc, as well as of Napa Valley and points beyond.

Merlot is rather willowy by comparison but pleasingly so, a relative lightweight that gets by on finesse, sometimes at the expense of character. Somewhere between Cabernet Sauvignon's intestinal fortitude and Merlot's all-purpose weeniness a third variety lurks, a tween called Cabernet Franc.

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The Only Two Questions You Need to Ask

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz

I'm going to make investing really easy for you. Smash your calculator to bits. Rip your valuation tables to shreds. Laugh at your know-it-all accounting buddy. Successful investing really boils down to nailing the answers to the only two questions that matter.

Numbers, schmumbersI don't mean to belittle the metrics. You'll often find me leaning on ratios such as price-to-earnings, interest coverage, and return on equity.

Metrics are a great way to value a company relative to the market's other alternatives at the moment, but you're not going to unearth hidden treasure simply by crunching numbers. Sorry to burst your bubble, Indiana Jones.

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How to Improve the Quality of Your Free Time

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

You may dream about having all the free time in the world. Yet, according to research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, most people are actually happier when they’re at work than during their off-time.

This surprising revelation is not so surprising when you consider that unstructured leisure time can lead to boredom and apathy. And many people, when faced with a truly free day, feel like a fish out of water, not knowing quite how to make the most of their coveted day off.

Well, this article from Lifehack has got some great suggestions. My favorites include:

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The Culinary Beauty of Belgium

By Stephen Beaumont

It has been said of the Belgians that they spend the morning contemplating what they had for breakfast and preparing for lunch, the afternoon reflecting upon lunch and readying for dinner, and the evening waxing poetic about what they enjoyed at dinnertime.

In other words, food is very important to them. As is beer. And given the intensity of these twin passions, it should come as no surprise that in Belgium, beer and cuisine frequently intertwine.

Enter any café in the land, be it in the centre of Brussels or lost in the Flemish countryside, and you will inevitably find, either on a page of the menu or chalked upon a slate hanging from the wall, a listing of the beers available to enjoy with your meal.

It may not be a lengthy list, but it will almost certainly be a diverse one, with flavours to enliven any item on the menu. And surprisingly often, the menu will also explain with which beer each item has been prepared, reminding you that these are the people who invented cuisine à la bière.

Belgian food and Belgian beer are not only complementary, they are also similar. With so many beers to choose from, there is quite literally a Belgian beer for every occasion, be it formal or informal, social or solitary, day or night.

And so, too, does their gastronomy run the full gamut of culinary possibilities, from haute cuisine – Belgian food critic Henri Lemaire once wrote: "I can state without foolish nationalism (that) we in Belgium eat better than the French" – to casual café fare.

Yet, while Belgium was once, and may still be, home to the greatest per capita number of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, it is at the cafes and brasseries that the marriage of beer and cuisine reaches its sublime, almost spiritual peak.

In captivating boîtes like the ornate, art nouveau Le Cirio in central Brussels, or plain village bars like Schepdaal's In De Rare Vos – or beautiful temples of fine cuisine like 't Truffeltje in Dendermonde, where I recently relished in a spectacular, multi-course, Bosteels Brewery-themed lunch – the visitor truly begins to appreciate why Belgian chef Ruth Van Waerebeek chose as the title of her cookbook, Everybody Eats Well in Belgium.

One can scarcely speak of classic Belgian bistro dishes like carbonade Flamande (Flemish beef stew) or waterzooi (a creamy seafood soup/stew, sometimes made with chicken instead of fish) without mentioning beer in the same breath.

For surely the rich, beefy flavours of a carbonade will suffer without an equally rich, malty ale like the Trappist monastery-produced Chimay Blue or Westmalle Dubbel or Achel Extra, available as both ingredient and table accompaniment.

And even if you elect not to use beer in the creation of your waterzooi, it will most certainly be a lesser dish without a glass of strong, spicy golden ale such as Duvel or Tripel Karmeliet at its side.

Indeed, as much as the Belgians appreciate fine wine – they are the world's second largest per capita consumers of Bordeaux and other French wines – a good deal of their native cuisine is more harmoniously paired with a glass of the grain rather than one of the grape, hardy surprising insofar as Belgian beer and gastronomy have been raised side by side.

Among the many possibilities are guinea hen cooked with sour cherries and served with a fruit limbic like the Lou Pepe Kriek of Cantillon; beef or horse steak grilled medium-rare and accompanied by the uniquely sweet-sour-bitter Trappist ale, Orval; or sautéed cod or halibut served on a bed of endive and covered in a cream sauce made with a Belgian wheat beer, always spiced with coriander and orange peel, enjoyed alongside an ale of the same style, such as St. Bernardus Wit, or for something quite different, the methode champenoise beer, DeuS.

For arguably the definitive word in Belgian café fare, however, one must turn to the perennial favourite, moules frites, or mussels served with twice-cooked Belgian fries.

When the mollusks are in season, it is virtually impossible to enter any café in the land without being immediately engulfed by the sweet fragrance of freshly steamed mussels, perhaps cooked in limbic, perhaps in white wine, with the subtle aroma of the beer or wine adding to the air's perfume, or in a heavier broth concocted with a potent, spicy golden ale.

Enjoyed with mayonnaise for the frites and a glass of the beer used for the steaming, it may be the ultimate in Belgian food experiences. Even with desserts does Belgian beer shine.

It should come as no shock that a country as famed for its chocolate as Belgium is should also boast a diversity of complementary beverages, from sweet, fruit juice-charged lambics like Lindemans Kriek to malty Scotch ales like that of the Brasserie Silly – which, despite their Celtic provenance, seem to be enjoyed more in Belgium than in Scotland – to perhaps the ultimate in chocolate-friendly beers, Rochefort 8.

By now, you should be hungry, and thirsty, as I am typing these words. Given that, allow me to suggest that, in the short term, at least, you quench your hunger and your thirst at a local Belgian-style or Belgian-influenced café, bar or restaurant.

In the long term, however, you should start planning a trip to Belgium. Begin with a visit to www.visitflanders.us and whichever airline you favor, and follow up with the purchase of a train pass, since travel through this pint-sized country by rail is so easy and affordable, and you don’t want to be driving with all that great beer at your disposal.

Then get your bags packed, accept that you will gain weight, and go. Trust me, you won’t be sorry.

Get Your Retirement on Target

By Mary Dalrymple

We're certain that you're smart and capable (not to mention good-looking), and so we're confident that you're the best person to make your own investment decisions.

As such, we're not always fans of mutual funds that make your investment decisions for you, based on your target retirement date. These funds can sometimes be too conservative, too racy, too costly, or too simplistic for your needs.

However, that doesn't mean it's never a good idea to put your 401(k) savings into a target retirement fund. Here are three reasons to take aim.

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Procrastination is a thief !

By Jewel Diamond Taylor

If you have unfinished tasks haunting you... that is a distraction. If you know you are dragging your feet on projects and paperwork...that is a distraction. If you avoid making decisions and dealing with unpleasant tasks... that is a major distraction.

Do you avoid the difficult tasks and only want to do what is fun or easy? That small issue you're ignoring today could be a bigger problem tomorrow. Once you break the habit of procrastination you can release more energy and focus to work on your dreams and goals.

Delaying doctor appointments, bills, paperwork, school work, taxes, exercising, finishing your creative projects, planning a vacation, starting your business, etc.

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Beer takes seat at table as books, events drive interest in pairings with food

By Stephen Beaumont

Fifteen years ago, when the late beer writer Michael Jackson first devoted a chapter of his book, “Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion,” to the topic of beer and food, it’s safe to say that, to the overwhelming majority of North Americans, the topic was foreign territory.

Beer was then primarily for drinking on its own, or at best with pizza or a backyard barbecue. To invite ale or lager to an elegant dinner table would have been, in a word, crass. How times change.

While there do remain areas of stubborn opposition to the idea of partnering fine cuisine with appropriate styles of beer, for the most part, consumers and restaurateurs alike agree that where fine food is served, beer should be available as well, even if only as a backup to King Wine.

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Is Your Happiness Set in Stone?

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

Two new studies suggest that happiness is out of your control. Rather, they found that genes and age impact your general well-being more than daily attempts to be happy.

In one study of nearly 1,000 pairs of adult twins, researchers at the University of Edinburgh suggested that genes account for about 50 percent of the variation in people's levels of happiness.

The underlying determinant was genetically caused personality traits, such as being sociable, active, stable, hardworking or conscientious.

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5 Investing Mistakes to Avoid

By Bruce Jackson

If you're a stock market investor, chances are your portfolio has been hammered over the past few months. Few sectors have been spared.

Big companies such as Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), small companies such as VASCO Data Security International (Nasdaq: VDSI), banks such as Citigroup (NYSE: C), insurance companies such as American International Group (NYSE: AIG), and even technology companies such as RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK) have all been taken to the cleaners.

The list could go on and on. Watching a lot of hard-fought gains being wiped out in a matter of days or weeks could turn anyone off the stock market for life.

A friend of mine is considering just that. He invested $3,000, and that investment is now worth just over a grand. He's waiting to sell until it reaches $1,500, and then he plans to retire from investing forever.

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Older California Cabernets are within reach at auction

By Corie Brown

The global market for older wines is overheated, but if you skip the cult Cabs, some California Cabernets vintage 1985 and older are relatively affordable.

Beaulieu Vineyard, Inglenook, Chateau Montelena, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Heitz Wine Cellars: The online auction catalog reads like a who's who of Napa Valley pioneers, vintners who made the first world-class wines in California.

The list includes bottles from the region's legendary vintages of 1974, 1978 and 1985. The surprise? Most of these storied Cabernet Sauvignon wines are priced to sell for a relative pittance.

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7 Ills That Don’t Need Pills

In the April 2008 issue of the Harvard Health Letter, researchers explained how in many cases, the non-pharmacological approach can accomplish as much, or more, than pills.

In more recent years, a growing body of studies are showing that simple lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise are effective remedies for many ills.

These seven common conditions can be managed without medication:

Arthritis

Cholesterol

Cognitive decline

Depression

Diabetes

High blood pressure

Osteoporosis

Sources:
Live Science March 25, 2008

7 Things That Will Block Your Growth

By Jewel Diamond Taylor

What do you know and believe? That is your guiding philosophy.

How do you feel? That is your attitude.

Who do you trust? That is where your faith resides.

Who adds to your life? They will expand your possibilities.

Who drains you? They can steal your joy, peace, health and success.

How do you spend your time? That is your activity.

Opportunities are driven by your attitude and actions.

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Considering Oysters & Beer

By Stephen Beaumont

Recently, a bivalve-o-phile by the name of Patrick McMurray, champion oyster shucker and proprietor of Toronto's Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill, released a highly attractive and informative book called "Consider the Oyster."

Since Patrick is a friend and World of Beer is principally about beverages rather than bivalves, I'll not embark here upon a review, save to suggest that it really is a book well worth buying. Instead, I'll use Patrick's efforts to kick start a topic close to my heart, specifically the pairing of oysters and beer.

It's a partnership that began quite organically. Back in the day, oysters were plentiful in the dockland pubs of London, England, where they were often served cheaply, or even as free bar snacks.

Since porter was the beer style of choice at the time, it's hardly surprising that many a pint of this roasty, ebony ale ended up being downed alongside teeming plates of oysters on the half-shell.

Happily, the relationship made gastronomic as well as economic sense. Roasted malt tends to have a slightly salty taste to it, which of course gives it a character complementary to the brininess of a raw oyster.

Further, the dry or off-dry and only mild to moderately bitter taste of a porter or dry stout provides a palate-cleansing counterpoint to the creamy, delicately fruity character of many bivalves.

The harmonies continue. It is suggested that, at one point, brewers used beds of crushed oyster shells as filtering agents, a practice that ultimately led to the addition of whole oysters and/or their liquid to the conditioning beer.

Although it might sound odd, the flavour impact is actually quite wonderful and produces a silken, vaguely briny and fruity-sweet delight, as anyone who has sampled Starfish's trademark Patrick's Oyster Stout will attest.

For those lacking a passion for stout, the Germanic black lager known as schwarzbier makes a perfectly acceptable substitute, although the light fruitiness of a stout or porter will be sacrificed.

And if you are, indeed, afraid of the dark, consider a lightly-hopped golden or amber ale, along the lines of a kölsch, a proper American-style cream ale, a light-bodied brown ale or dubbel, or one of the fruitier, less bitter versions of the tripel style.

And while we're on the subject of fruitiness in beer, I should add that some fruit beers can also work well with bivalves, but care must be taken to avoid overly sweet versions. Something like the children's cough syrup-sweet Belle-Vue Kriek, for example, will simply overwhelm the oyster and leave you wondering why you paid $2.50 apiece for your selections.

On the "what to avoid" front, I'd advise staying away from any beer that is overly hoppy and bitter, from German-style pilsners to pale ales and India pale ales. Bitterness can seriously conflict with the minerally taste of some oysters and turn their flavour metallic and off-putting in your mouth.

Finally, just for fun, it's worth venturing occasionally to the other side of this column's mandate and enjoying a whisk(e)y with a plate of oysters, sweeter Irish whiskeys with delicately-flavoured oysters of the species Crassostrea sikaema and salt air influenced Scottish malts with bolder, cold water Crassostrea virginica oysters.

And don't ask me what kinds of oysters are in those two families; it's all in Patrick's book.

Invest Where the Jobs Are

By Colleen Paulson

While trading stocks based on speculative employment figures doesn't make for a sound long-term Foolish investment strategy, paying attention to where jobs are being added and taken away can guide investors toward sectors that may stand strong during dismal economic times.

After all, rising unemployment is a key indicator of a recession, so keeping a close eye on industries that aren't rapidly losing jobs could provide a great starting point of where to invest when the economy isn't in its healthiest stage.

The March employment report was pretty grim, with 80,000 jobs lost during the month. As one would expect, job losses occurred in the construction, manufacturing, and employment services, while health care, food services, and mining continued hiring.

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13 Random Health Facts You Never Knew

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

I love sharing lists like these that are both educational and entertaining. Well, some of these “health facts” are more like “un-health facts” (especially #6), but they’re interesting nonetheless.

1) Motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunk drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding .08.

2) Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories an hour.

3) In some parts of the world, they protect their babies from disease by bathing them in beer.

4) The word ‘gymnasium’ comes from the Greek word gymnazein, which means ‘to exercise naked.’

5) There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee; of these, only 26 have been tested, and half caused cancer in rats.

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A Texas barkeep takes on the Manhattan

By Gary Regan

I was in Dallas recently, and although Cowboy Dave doesn't work on Wednesdays, I dropped by the Windmill Lounge anyway. The Windmill, for my money at least, is the best little cocktail house in Texas.

When I'd stopped by there on the previous evening, bartender "Cowboy" Dave Wright fixed me a couple of very special Manhattans, made according to a recipe that he'd fashioned for a Windmill customer, a man who goes by the name of Bookie Bob.

I thought it might be interesting to meet a man who could consume these high-test cocktails on a regular basis, so I was at the Windmill again in the hopes of a sighting.

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Dividends That Double and Redouble

By Selena Maranjian

We're all looking for stocks that will double for us, and then double again and again -- aren't we? Well, here's another thing you might look for: a dividend that doubles and doubles. Even better, the doubling dividend might actually be easier to find since it's contingent on a company's operations and not the whims of the market.

Find dividends that will double regularly

A good place to start looking for dividends that are likely to double is at companies with superior past rates of dividend growth. These companies already have a tradition of returning cash to shareholders. And if the underlying companies are in good shape, then that tradition is likely to continue.

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Ladder of Success

By Jewel Diamond Taylor


The higher you climb up the ladder of success...
the more you are exposed to the playa haters and critics.
This is one reason why some people procrastinate,
suppress their talents and dreams or sabotage their
own success.

In my own hindsight, I can see where, in
my past, I put on the brakes, slowed down my progress
and hid my light under a bushel because of fear, low
self-esteem and the arrows of criticism.

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5 Proven Steps To Easily Master The Art Of The Interview And Get The Bartending Job Of Your Dreams!

By Jeremy Sherk

Your mouth is dry, your palms are sweaty, your heart is beating so fast it feels like it is going to pop out of your chest!

Sound familiar?

For most people, interviews are uncomfortable. The mere thought of them causes anxiety and nervousness... and this is the last impression you want to give a bar manager during an interview!

The competition is fierce in this industry, so why do you always "bomb" during your interviews?
You probably walk out of them and after the fact think of all the things you could of said, how you could of answered certain questions, but this does not matter, its how you perform during the interview that gets you the job.

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