The Continuous Improvement Formula

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Enhancing your Personal Success

Put Your Career On The Fast Track
There are many things you can do to put your career onto the fast track. You can set clear, specific goals for each area of your life and then make plans to accomplish them. You can plan your work and work your plan.

Ask For Greater Responsibility
You can accept 100% responsibility for everything you are and everything you become. You can refuse to make excuses or to blame others. You can tell your boss that you want greater responsibilities and then when you get them, put your whole heart into doing an excellent job.

Utilize Your Inborn Talents
In the parable of the talents in the New Testament, Jesus says, "Oh good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over small things. I will make you master over large things."

If you too will carry out every assignment to the very best of your ability, you will be given larger and more important things to do and you'll be paid more as a result.

Dedicate Yourself To Continuous Improvement
The key to long term success is for you to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to 1/1000th improvement per working day. Is that possible? Of course it is!

Improve A Little At A Time
If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to one half of one percent more productive each week. One half of one percent more productive each week amounts to two percent more productive each month and 26% more productive each year.

The cumulative effect if becoming a tiny bit better at your field and more productive amounts to a tremendous increase in your value and your output over time.

How To Double Your Productivity
Twenty-six percent more productive each year, with compounding, amounts to doubling your overall productivity and performance every 2.7 years. If you become 26% more productive each year, with compounding, times 10 years, you will be 1004% more productive over the next decade. That is an increase of ten times over ten years.

The Reason For All Great Successes
This is called the Law of Accumulation, or the Principle of Incremental Improvement. It is the primary reason for all great success stories. By the yard, it’s hard. But inch by inch, anything’s a cinch!

Become A 1000% Person
Make a decision, right now, to be a 1000% person. Commit yourself to continuous personal and professional development. Read, listen to audio programs and take additional courses. This process will completely transform your life.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.

First, make a plan to become a little bit better every single day. Learn and apply one new idea each day to help you to become more productive and effective at your work. The incremental affect will amaze you.

Second, be patient. Don’t expect overnight changes or instant results. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Become a little bit better each day and your future will take care of itself.

Twists on Bourbon Cocktails

Bourbon has been as sturdy and constant at the bar as the brass foot-rail over the years. Propping up sales like no other, it is a versatile friend for bartenders and a warm companion to all those chilly-evening drinkers.

But bourbon sometimes suffers from its unfailing presence, and many operators overlook it when they should be reaching for it. Here in this issue, Nightclub & Bar brings you a few new twists on that old rye and corn cohort.

Don’t forget about one of your most valuable assets –– there are undiscovered profits in the warm, golden hues of bourbon.

Bourbon Ball Martini
2 ounces of Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage bourbon
2 ounces DuBouchett Crème de Cocoa
1 1/2 ounces hazelnut liquor
Fill a shaker with cracked ice and shake. Strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with two Bourbon ball chocolates skewered on a pick. Makes multiple servings.
Courtesy of www.evanwilliams.com.

Woodford Cherries Jubilee
1 1/2 ounces of Woodford Reserve
1/2 ounce of Amaretto
Ginger ale
In a shaker with ice, mix Amaretto and Woodford Reserve. Shake well. Pour into a glass of crushed ice and top with ginger ale. Garnish with a cherry.
Courtesy of www.brown-forman.com.

McGillin’s Irish Mint Julep Martini
1 1/2 ounces Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 1/2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce simple syrup
5 sprigs fresh mint
Muddle 2 fresh sprigs of mint in simple syrup in Martini glass. Shake Bailey’s and bourbon with ice. Strain and pour over muddled mint. Garnish with remaining mint. Makes multiple servings.
Courtesy of McGillin’s Olde Ale House, Philadelphia, Pa., www.mcgillins.com.

Rue Bourbon
1 ounce Cointreau
2 ounces bourbon whiskey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sprig of mint and raspberries for garnish
Combine Cointreau, bourbon and lemon juice. Pour over ice in a double, old-fashioned glass. Garnish with mint and raspberries.
Courtesy of www.cointreau.com.

The Wealth Theory -- Parts 1 & 2

How To Attain Wealth Quickly And Effortlessly

How Not To "Get Broke Quick" Starting A Business

The Key To Taking Control

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Enhancing your Personal Success

Set Priorities
Stress management requires that you take complete control over the activities of your daily life. This means that you plan your day, set priorities and work on high value tasks.

The indispensable key to time management is concentration, the ability to focus single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and to stay with it until it is 100% complete.

Create Chunks of Time
This is not only the hardest challenge that a manager faces, but the ability to concentrate single-mindedly is probably the rarest single ability in the workplace. Most of our important tasks take large chunks of time.

We need to plan and organize our days in such a way that we allocate these chunks of time so that we can do the jobs upon which our success depends.

A Burst of Energy
The wonderful thing about setting priorities and concentrating single-mindedly is that, the very minute that you do these two things, you will begin to feel a tremendous sense of control and well-being.

As you work progressively toward the accomplishment of your most important tasks, you will feel a flow of energy and enthusiasm. As you finish something that is relevant and significant to your company and to yourself, you get a burst of energy.

Your self-esteem improves. You feel good about yourself. You have a wonderful sense of making measurable progress toward greater successful in your career. You feel like you are making a difference.

On the other hand, working on small tasks or low priority items simply causes you to feel more and more stress. Even if you finish a dozen or a hundred of these minor and irrelevant low value tasks, you get no feeling of satisfaction or accomplishment.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two ideas you can use immediately to concentrate single mindedly on the highest value use of your time.

First, analyze your work before you begin and then ask yourself, “What one thing, if I did it quickly and well, would have the greatest impact on my work?” Whatever it is, go to work on that one item immediately.

Second, once you have begun on a high value task, discipline yourself by repeating over and over, “Back to work, back to work, back to work!” This will keep you focused and on track until you finish the job.

Spirits That Move You

Top-Selling Spirits Keep the Blitz On Sales and Profits

There is a lot more to stocking a bar than determining the latest listing of top sellers. If it were that simple, every bar could reap the benefits of stellar sales simply by perusing the latest “Adams Wine & Spirits Guide.”

In reality, a venue’s offerings in the way of spirits are influenced by any number of factors, including the customer base, the theme of the establishment, the season of the year — not to mention the budget and good old-fashioned bias on the part of owners and bar managers.

Know Your Clientele, and More

At the Voodoo Lounge in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Barmuda Corp’s Patrick Snyder does indeed pay attention to what is selling well in other venues and entertainment destinations beyond his own midsized market, yet top 20 status alone is by no means a guarantee that a given brand ultimately will be poured for his largely college-age clientele.

“People know what they want, and they want you to be able to give it to them,” says Snyder, the director of restaurant operations for the Midwest hospitality and entertainment company that includes venues offering everything from sushi and fine cuisine to upscale lounges, sports bars, music and comedy clubs.

“You really need to know your clientele and what works for you and for them.”
In addition to global sales rankings and sheer brand gravitas, Snyder weighs at least three other factors in buying his company and his customers into a given spirit.

First, he takes the measure of the brand from a profitability standpoint to see if he can sell the product at a price point similar to the ones he already has. Secondly, any vying spirit must pass a taste test –– something that usually represents the “fun part” he says. But even if it draws a pass on the first two, it also must have marketing legs as well.

“If I haven’t seen it on TV or a magazine, especially one that goes to my demographics, I am not interested.”
David Wallack, owner of the renowned Mango’s Tropical Café in Miami Beach, listens to his customers and his bar staff in stocking spirits for his retro-Cuban cabaret, cafe and bar venue –– one that hosts more than a million customers each year.

“What I do is I invite a lot of people to the best party in town with the best entertainment and see what they would like,” Wallack says. “Miami and South Beach are the most tropical nightclub settings in the Northern Hemisphere.

We are rum, and then we go from there.” And the likelihood that Wallack will carry a product is assured when the demand is there.“If I have someone who wants it and a bartender who wants to sell it … I tell them, ‘Let’s rock and roll."

Even the most careful compilation of top-selling spirits can’t replace the judgment of an individual owner or operator who understands his or her market. How do the spirits in your establishment stack up against the world’s top movers and shakers? Read on and find out.

Vodka
In the ever more crowded vodka category a few brands consistently stand out. Among the Adams Fast Track brands that have achieved double-digit growth and sales of 100,000 cases in recent years are Skyy, Grey Goose, Ketel One, Frïs and Ketel One Citgoen.

Other vodka brands bulleted for success on-premise of late include Boru, Seagram’s Vodka, Three Olives, UV Vodka, Level, McCormick (Flavored) Vodka, Cîroc, Polar Ice and Pearl Vodka. Established brands not to be overlooked include Smirnoff, Stolichnaya, McCormick Vodka, Barton Vodka, Skol Vodka, Aristocrat Vodka, Burnett’s Vodka and Belvedere.

Gin
For most of the 20th century, gin was the preferred base spirit for the Martini. Although it has been eclipsed by vodka as the world’s top-selling white spirit, gin nevertheless has held its own as a bartender favorite that is threatening a comeback among discerning patrons.

Along with Martini standards such as Beefeater, Tanqueray, Seagram’s Extra Dry Gin, two other winning gins are Plymouth Gin and Bombay Sapphire, an Adams Established Growth Brand.

Rum
In the chronicles of rum, Bacardi remains the top-selling brand in the world by far, with sales in the hundreds of millions of bottles worldwide.

Other rum brands are netting profits aplenty on-premise as well, with Cruzan Rum and Appleton making Adams Fast Track Brands list of late and Captain Morgan and Mailbu holding their places on Adams Established Growth Brands list, with sales of at least 400,000 9-liter cases in 2004.

Whiskey
The latest figures on whiskey sales from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States tell the comeback story of this brown spirits category that includes scotch, Irish whiskey, bourbon, and American and Canadian whiskey.

Some 45 million 9-liter cases were sold globally in 2005 with iconic brands and a few newcomers as well leading the charge. Maker’s Mark bourbon and Jameson Irish Whiskey continue to be standouts, making a recent list of Adams Fast Track Brands, while Dewar’s Scotch made a similar Adams Rising Stars listing.

In fact, Johnnie Walker is now the top-selling scotch brand in the world, with Dewar’s holding the same distinction in the United States. With a revamped marketing strategy and expanded target demographics, Canadian Club is a market staple with promise for increased sales in the coming year.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey continues to be ranked high on the Adams Established Growth Brands year after year, along with Southern Comfort bourbon, Johnnie Walker Black scotch, Crown Royal and Wild Turkey bourbon.

Two additional Adams Comeback Brands are Jim Beam bourbon and Chivas Regal scotch, both of which posted strong sales in 2004 after slight sales declines in 2003.

Tequila
Tequila sales have proliferated in the last two decades as proprietors and patrons alike have discovered some of the top brands that Mexico has to offer. Patron in particular has posted phenomenal sales success, making Adams Fast Track Brands list in 2004 along with El Jimador.

Still, Jose Cuervo, a perennial Adams Established Growth Brand, remains the world’s most popular and best-selling tequila. Other tequila brand standouts include Sauza, El Tesoro, Tequila Corralejo, as well as Castillo, another Established Growth Brand, and Corazon, an Adams Rising Stars brand along with tequila-based ready-mix Tarantula Azul.

Cabo Wabo’s laid back image and pure quality taste give it a sales edge, as well.

Cognac, Brandy, Liqueurs
A number of top brands in the Cognac, brandy and liqueurs categories also stand ready to lift a venue’s sales. Hiram Walker’s introduction of Pomegranate liqueur is on-trend and innovating the category.

Adams Fast Track Brands include Jägermeister, Cointreau and Tuaca, with Hpnotic gaining Rising Stars status in 2004 and Courvoisier garnering a place on Adams Comeback Brands list.
As Established Growth Brands, such spirits as DeKuyper, E& J Brandy, Hennessy (Cognac) Baileys Irish Cream, Paul Masson Brandy, Remy Martin (Cognac) and Grand Marnier also continue to be money in the bank for operators. --- NCB

Too Much Exercise is Just as Bad as Not Enough

After a number of years in which almost no deaths were caused by heart attacks during marathons, at least six runners have died in 2006. Some physicians, including Dr. Arthur Siegel, author of numerous studies of Boston Marathon racers, believe that the extended races put the heart at risk.

A new study by Dr. Siegel and colleagues examined 60 Boston Marathon entrants. The runners showed normal cardiac function before the marathon.

But 20 minutes after finishing, 60 percent of the group had elevated levels of troponin (a protein that shows up in the blood when the heart is traumatized), and 40 percent had levels high enough to indicate the destruction of heart muscle cells. Many also showed noticeable changes in heart rhythms.

Another study, from Germany, showed that as many as one-third of middle-aged male marathoners may have higher than expected calcium plaque deposits in their arteries, putting them at a greater risk for heart attack. Just over 20 percent of a control group of non-runners had comparable calcium plaque buildup.

Circulation November 28, 2006; 114(22): 2325-2333

New York Times December 7, 2006

The (Lakeland, FL) Ledger December 7, 2006

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

You may recall the sad story of Grete Waitz, the nine-time champion of the New York City marathon and Olympic medal-winner, whose career as a runner may have played a huge hand in her continuing struggle to fight cancer. You might also remember Jim Fixx, a marathoner and author of "The Complete Book of Running," who died some two decades ago of a heart attack at the age of 52 -- while he was running. Now don't get me wrong. I am a major fan of exercising and have been an active runner for nearly 40 years. However, I just don't want people to make the same mistake I made when I started my exercise program. It is very easy to get caught up in the philosophy that if a little bit is good then more is even better. Unfortunately, this logic rarely is true, and with exercise, I believe there is compelling evidence to suggest otherwise. Exercise is a form of destructive stress and it tears your body down. But we absolutely need it to rebuild and repair because your body is in a constant flux or dynamic of repairing and rebuilding. However, what most people fail to understand is that it is easy to overdo exercise. Although it is common knowledge that too much of a good thing can be harmful for you, exercise is clearly no exception to this rule. The vast majority of people in this country are severely underexercised, but it is possible to overdo it and actually harm yourself. What you really need is a combination of endurance and anaerobic sprinting or strengthening exercises that help to increase the instantaneous and dramatic demands on your cardiovascular system and prevent heart attacks. Just one more reason, among many, for treating exercise like a drug that must be prescribed precisely to do the most good. On Vital Votes, reader Judy from Albuquerque, New Mexico argues in favor of moderation: "I feel that everything we do must be done in moderation. That includes exercise. It stand to reason that if you exercise to the extreme, you will deplete your energy reserves and will soon be run-down. In this state, it is easy for diseases to get a foothold. That is a real no brainer. We also need to remember that we are all different. What is extreme for me may be moderate for someone else. Listen to your body and do what feels right for you -- not someone else, even if that someone else is an 'expert'." Other responses to this article can be viewed at Vital Votes, and you can add your own thoughts or vote on comments by first registering at Vital Votes.

Related Articles:

You CAN Exercise Too Much!

Making Exercise Safe, Fast, Effective For Any Age, Body or Schedule

Stressful Work Tied to Heart Disease Death Risk

Finding A New Business Idea

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Enhancing your Financial Success

Look For Opportunities
How do you find a new product or service, recognizing that 80 percent or more will be new in five years? Here's a series of ideas. Number one, begin with yourself. Begin with your own talents, your abilities, your experience, knowledge, interest, background, education, and so on.

Look carefully at your current work, your current business, your current position, or your current product or service. Seek for what is called your own acres of diamonds. Look under your own feet.

Look Into Yourself
Here's a question. What qualities account for your greatest successes in life so far? What personal qualities and abilities have gotten you to where you are? And how could you apply those qualities and abilities to starting and building a new business?

If you already have a company, ask what are your companies' talents, abilities, experience, knowledge, interest, background, and so on. What qualities and talents and abilities have enabled your company to succeed up to now? Where can you specialize? Where can you make a difference?

Identify What You Really Enjoy
Number two is look for a product or service about which you can really become enthusiastic. Sometimes people become wealthy by translating or transforming their hobbies into a business. You will be most successful doing something or marketing something that you really love.

Every product must have a champion. Every product or service must have someone in the business who really, really loves the product or service and is eager to get out and tell other people about it.

Improve On Something Else
Number three, look for something that is an improvement on an existing product or service, not something brand new. Look for something that's cheaper or better quality. Or that has additional features or functions.

Look for something that's an improvement. Remember improving an existing successful product or service is the fastest and surest way to build a successful business. An idea only needs to be ten percent new and better to capture substantial market share. Brand new products or services are very risky.

Be Willing To Work Hard
The fourth key to finding a new product or service is this. Don't look for easy money. Don't look for gimmicks or useless knickknacks. Don't look for get-rich-quick schemes or rewards without working, because they're aren't any.

More people have wasted more time and more life and more money trying to find quick ways to make easy money than you can possibly imagine. So be willing to put in a lot of hard work before you start making real money in a business.

Success Takes Time
It takes two years to break even in the average business. It takes four years to show a profit. It takes maybe eight to ten years before it starts to generate real cash flow. So you have to be patient.

If you're impatient, what will happen is you'll end up setting yourself further back than you can imagine.

Action Exercises
First, be prepared to research a lot of business ideas before you make a final decision. The first 10% of time that you spend doing your homework will save you 90% of the effort in getting results later on.

Second, look for something that you can make an improvement upon rather than something brand new. You are surrounded by ideas and opportunities for improvement if you can just identify them.

Cocktail predictions: what's the next hot cocktail? Think foreign influences, flavor, freshness and food friendliness

by James Scarpa

Call them bartenders, mixologists, bar chefs or what you will. But be sure to call them creative and driven. The current crop of bar professionals is arguably the most curious and dedicated to their craft than any since pre-Prohibition days.

Their cocktails may take cues from the classics, but they taste and look like none that have been mixed before. To discover today's new cocktail sensations and glimpse into the future, Cheers tapped leading mixologists and prominent beverage authorities, who responded with an intriguing array of opinions and predictions about what will happen next at the bar.

Click Here to Read the Entire Article

Twelve Affirmations To Live By

By Herbert Harris, Jr.

1. I Have A Positive Self Image.

2. I Believe In Myself.

3. I Define My Purpose For Living.

4. I Think PositivelyWith Understanding And Faith That I Can Realize My Purpose.

5. I ConstantlyVisualize My Purpose, Seeing It Clearly In My Mind.

6. I Always Focus On The Positive.

7. I Have Confidence And Courage To Be Inner-Directed.

8. I Have Control Of My Mind, My Body, My Instincts, And My Emotions.

9. I Always Do It Now.

10. I Have A Plan For My Success.

11. I Persist In My Efforts,With Unshakable Faith In My Own Ability.

12. I Execute My Plan And Produce Desired Results.

©2004 LifeSkill Institute, Inc., P.O. Box 302, Wilmington, NC 28402; (800) 570-4009

From The Twelve Universal Laws of Success, 2nd Edition E-Mail: lifeskill@earthlink.net

Visit our website: www.lifeskillinstitute.org for weekly Success Message

How You Can Attract More Money Into Your Life - Starting Now – Part 3

By Greg Nicholls

Now that you have fantasized about having tons of money and have theorized as to how you made it, let's now understand how to turn your theory into fact.

Believe it or not, this is actually the easiest part. Having a fantasy that you choose to believe in as reality and spending the time on theorizing as to how you made that money is the "hard" part.

It is quite a bit of fun to do, but most people just do not know how to do it. If you have not read my first two parts of this article, go there now by visiting the link in the Authors Bio at the bottom of this article

OK, to turn our theory into fact, so you can begin to truly have the money you fantasized you already have; do the acid test on your theories to see if they are possible.

In other words, if no man or woman has ever done it before, (like doing something such as "beaming up" someone like in StarTrek) then you know it is possible and if it is possible, then you can do it.

The real trick to this is to keep it simple, pick the theory that involved the least amount of work, effort, or resources.

If there is a system that you can develop that becomes almost self perpetuating or some way that you can leverage your time, then the prospect of making $300, $3,000, $30,000, $300,000 or even $3,000,000 per hour, yes per hour, is possible.

Each of these amounts of money are being made per hour right now; all you have to do is decide that you are worth that amount of money and you will be.

If you think I am nuts for suggesting it, then stay broke, the choice is yours.

There are a Billion ways of making money that have not even been thought of yet, and there are a Billions of ways of making money that have been thought of but not acted on yet because of lack of belief.

You can do whatever you put your mind to, it is a choice and it is as easy as choosing to believe that you already have earned tons of money; you just now have to figure out how you made it.

Once you have done all this, you will attract money into your life by simply deciding to do it.

Take action on the best ways that you have determined you can make money. Without action, nothing will happen and your ideas will then be among the Billions of ideas that people never acted on to make money.

Because YOU Deserve Money

Why Money Is Good

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Enhancing your Financial Success

The way you think about money will determine how much of it you accumulate more than any other factor. Your attitude toward money affects your emotions and your motivations.

Do You Feel That You Have Enough?
In psychology, money is what is called a "deficiency need." This means that it only motivates you when you feel deficient in it, when you don't feel that you have enough. Above a certain level, when you feel that you have enough, it is no longer a motivator. Put another way, when you have enough money, you don't think about it very much. But when you have too little, you think about it all the time.

Determine Your Attitude Toward Money
The effect money has on your emotional life depends on your attitude toward it. If you feel that you have too little, money can become an obsession for you. It can dominate your thinking, feelings and actions.

Arguments over money are a major reason for marital breakdown. Problems with money are the primary reason for business collapse, the ruination of friendships and psychosomatic illnesses of all kinds. It's not uncommon for people to even kill themselves over money problems.

Practice The Reality Principle
The Reality Principle applies especially to matters of money. This principle states that, "You must deal with life as it is, not as you wish it were, or could be." Most people live in a world of partial self-delusion, or even fantasy, with regard to money.

They wish, hope, and pray about their financial futures while at the same time, deep in their hearts, they know their dreams will never materialize. In Lewis Carroll's book, Alice in Wonderland, one of the characters says quite happily that he is quite capable of believing several impossible things before breakfast each day.

In the same way, many people believe quite impossible things about money and then they wonder why they are having so many financial problems.

Overcome Deep Seated Beliefs
One of the most common obstacles to achieving financial independence is a deep-seated belief that somehow money is wrong and that people who have a lot of it are inherently evil. This belief is not based on any factual foundation.

It goes back to early childhood conditioning when the growing child is often told this because of other people's desire to rationalize away their own financial failures.

Money is Good
The fact is that money is good. It takes money to buy homes, cars, clothes, toys, food and most of the good things in life. Money has an energy of its own and it is largely attracted to people who treat it well.

Money tends to flow toward those people who can use it in the most productive ways to produce valuable goods and services, and who can invest it to create employment and opportunities that benefit others.

At the same time, money flows away from those who use it poorly, or who spend it in non-productive ways.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to improve your attitude toward money:

First, be perfectly honest to yourself with regard to money and to the amount you want to acquire in life. Pretending that you don't care about money when you really do will only make you unhappy.

Second, begin today to think about all the wonderful things that you could have in your life if you had more money. Then, begin to think of all the things that you could do to increase the amount you earn and the amount you keep.

Trendier Latin drinks may be the rage, but margaritas adapt to keep edge

By James Scarpa

Although trendy Latin-themed libations like the mojito and capirinha are reeling in the sales at the bar, neither drink has surpassed the margarita, according to restaurant operators and insiders in the business.

There's a consensus that the tangy, sometimes fruity tequila cocktail remains the star performer of the tropical drink genre.

In fact, the margarita is evolving into new flavors, appearing in upscale guises with premium spirits and mixers and performing in such promotional gambits as celebrity-named drinks.

"It's the No. 1 cocktail — no ifs, ands or buts," said Philip Raimondo, director of development and training for Patrick Henry Creative Promotions, a food and beverage marketing agency based in Stafford, Texas.

"Look at the sheer number of Latin restaurants and fusion concepts that are all doing something with the margarita. I'd say they're taking it to new heights."

The drink has transcended its Mexican cantina roots and now appears virtually throughout the restaurant spectrum. Credit its compatibility with many types of food, the parade of new tequila brands on the market and the efforts of operators to keep the margarita vital by whipping up new variations and promotional techniques.

For example, margaritas with diverse flavors and spirits are a major focus of the bar menu that Bennigan's Grill & Tavern rolled out earlier this year.

That menu includes a quartet of frozen margaritas in strawberry, mango, peach and wildberry flavors, each made with gold tequila and prepared fruit bases. Strawberry is the leading flavor by a wide margin, reported Buddy Naber, Bennigan's director of operations services for the 320-unit, Plano, Texas-based casual-dining chain.

Featuring the flavored margaritas "makes our cocktail menu more varied, which is the trend today," he said.

But even with their newfound popularity, the flavored offerings are not challenging Bennigan's traditional lime-flavored versions. The best seller "far and away," according to Naber, is the Emerald Isle Margarita, made with gold tequila and offered on the rocks or frozen.

Not far behind in sales is D. Bennigan's Margarita, a step up to a reposado tequila, a grade that has some barrel aging for a mellower taste than the unaged silver tequilas typically mixed in margaritas. The D. Bennigan's also sports a premium orange liqueur in place of triple sec.

The novel Irish Rita sports 100-percent blue agave tequila and a nip of Irish whiskey. The 100-percent blue agave designation means that the tequila is derived exclusively from the fermentable sugars of the blue agave plant, giving it a more distinctive flavor than tequilas made from blends of agave and cane sugar.

The Irish Rita "fits well with our identity as an Irish-American tavern," said Naber.

Margaritas range in price from $3.50 to $7, depending on the market and choice of spirits used.

Lime and strawberry are hot-button choices for flavored margaritas at Tampa, Fla.-based Cheeseburger in Paradise, OSI Restaurant Partners' 39-unit tropical-themed casual-dining chain.

However, grape, kiwi, red apple, mango and tangerine are attracting customer attention as well, the company reported. The best-selling 'rita overall is the Classic Margarita, prepared on the rocks or frozen with Cheeseburger's margarita mix, which is made with fresh lemon, lime and orange juice, priced at $5.50.

Also noteworthy is the signature Cheeseburger in Paradise drink: a colorful layered concoction of frozen margarita, pina colada, rum runner and daiquiri plus a splash of blue curacao for good measure.

For those who would like to sip a trio of flavors, the chain offers Shakka Ritas, a sampler of three small portions of red apple, kiwi and grape frozen margaritas, delivered to the table in a metal carrier, priced at $6.50.

Nowhere are margaritas more esteemed than in the Southwest. "Mojitos and other flavored rum drinks would be hard pressed to take share away from margaritas here," said Jeff Myers, general manager of Alice Cooper'stown, a restaurant and sports bar in Phoenix and owned by rock star Alice Cooper. "I don't see any drink gaining on it."

The signature margaritas at Alice Cooper'stown have whimsical names referring to prominent figures in the worlds of sports and entertainment, two of the personal interests of its celebrity owner.

Among the favorites are the Fox Sports Net Best Damn Margarita, $6, made with gold tequila and named for a popular sports TV show; the Steve Nash Razzle Dazzle Rita, $7.50, honoring the Phoenix Suns basketball star, made with 100-percent blue agave silver tequila, premium black raspberry and orange liqueur; and Sammy Hagar's Wabo Rita, $8.50, a nod to rock 'n' roller Sammy Hagar, also made with 100-percent blue agave silver tequila and splashed with blue curacao and orange juice.

Each is hand-shaken to order with freshly prepared margarita mix purchased from a local vendor and served over ice in pint glasses. "We firmly believe the best way to serve a margarita is shaken and on the rocks," Myers said.

Diet or Exercise: Which One Works Better to Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes?

According to a new study by researchers examining whether a calorie-restrictive diet can extend the human lifespan, both diet and exercise provide profound benefits to reduce the risk of diabetes.

The researchers, who initially thought that exercise would produce greater benefits, examined 50 to 60 year olds whose body mass index was between 23 and 30 (at the high end of normal weight or overweight, but not obese).

The scientists were looking at diabetes development because the disease is one of the main causes of premature death.

The study participants were divided into groups and treated with either an exercise regimen or a calorie-restricted diet. All participants had their insulin action and glucose tolerance evaluated at the beginning and end of the study.

The ultimate goal of the diet group was to cut the number of calories they ate by 20 percent, while the exercise group was charged with burning 20 percent more of their calories.

Glucose tolerance and insulin levels improved to roughly the same degree in both the dieters and exercisers. Both groups also lost weight.

EurekAlert November 8, 2006

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition November 2006; 84(5): 1033-1042

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Dr. Mercola's Comment:

I've found it very interesting reviewing the number of reports that have surfaced over the past two years attempting to determine whether diet or exercise works better. I have always argued that this is not a fair question as they each are vitally important, and it will be very difficult, if not impossible in many cases, to control diabetes without using both. It's especially interesting to me that the fitness experts who created the regimen for the exercising group prescribed 90 minutes of daily exercise, a typical treatment dosage that shows how effective treating exercise like a drug can be. I wonder, however, if the diet group would've performed better still, had they modified their eating habits according to their body's unique metabolic type. You may not realize that you can now comment AND vote on articles at Vital Votes. Your participation will actually help select the articles that are sent out in this newsletter. And if your comments are good enough they will be posted in the newsletter. If you aren't registered make sure you do so resiter now at Vital Votes. You have a chance of having your comment posted like Dr. Fielder from Scahumburg, IL, "... what if we tried to asses which is more important to wilting plants sunlight or water? They are both as equally necessary for a plant to express its fullest health potential ... we need to eat a metabolically sufficient diet and we need to move regularly in many dimensions through exercise. We have to be doing these things for ourselves continuously, there are not only the individual benefits for our system but a synergistic relationship as well. If we eat well, move well and think well all at the same time for a period of time I think we would see a complete transformation of health. Remember, as light returns the darkness leaves!"

Related Articles:

Diet and Exercise Reduces Risk of Diabetes

Diet, Exercise Work Hand-In-Hand

Lower Your Obesity Hormone with Diet and Exercise

The Determinant of Your Success

from

Enhancing your Personal Success

Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality.

What Successful People Believe
Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality. What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed.

And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.

Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing
You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals.

We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful.

The Foundation of Willpower
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles.

And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success.

The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.

Beat the Odds on Success
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1.

The only way that you're going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.

Resolve To Achieve Greatly
Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in.

See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don't want for 24 hours. Then you'll see what you're really made of.

It's a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire:

First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.

Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.

A bounty of guides that get into holiday spirits; From primers on wine to tips on mixing drinks

Linda Murphy, Chronicle Wine Editor

The next-best thing to receiving a bottle of wine as a gift is getting a good wine or spirits book -- one that keeps on giving long after the bottle is empty.

This is a vintage year for wine and drinks books, with several new releases timed for the holidays. From primers to glossy coffee table books to what-to-buy handbooks, there's something for everyone this year.

One of the best wine reads today is Matt Kramer's column in Wine Spectator magazine. You may not agree with his opinions, yet they are intelligent, informed and thought-provoking. So is his book, "Making Sense of Wine," first published in 1989 and updated this year (Running Press, 240 pages, $19.95).

Kramer, who also writes for the Oregonian in Portland, has long held the opinion that the best wines have "somewhereness" -- that they taste of the place where the grapes are grown and the wines are made. This theme continues throughout the book as Kramer covers viticulture, production, marketing, serving, tasting and matching wine to food.

He also addresses how wines and the industry have changed since his 1989 edition. It's a period he calls "the most transforming 10-year span in the history of fine wine. Everything essential to fine wine -- winegrower ambition, a passionate, informed audience, and abundant money -- coalesced."

In "Making Sense of Wine," there are no lists of high-scoring wines, no florid tasting notes, no vintage charts advising when a wine is at its peak consumption. It's a book of essays that represent how Kramer makes sense of wine, and it's sure to help others on their path to wine enlightenment, too.

The easy-reading primer "Wine for Dummies" (John Wiley & Sons, 432 pages, $22) is highly recommended, particularly to those new to wine. Updated this year by Mary Ewing-Mulligan, a Master of Wine and co-owner of the International Wine Center in New York City, and her educator/author husband, Ed McCarthy, this is a friendly, unintimidating read with a sense of humor and a good deal of solid information.

Chapter titles capture the tone of the writing -- "These Taste Buds Are for You," "Pinot Envy and Other Secrets About Grape Varieties" and "Is It a Grape? Is It a Place?" -- yet there is proper depth and detail. Especially useful are the chapters on imported wines and those that offer advice on navigating restaurant wine lists and the aisles of wine shops.

A small-by-dimension book (6-by-8 inches) about a wine grape with a large following is Charles L. Sullivan's "Zinfandel: A History of a Grape and Its Wines" (University of California Press, 246 pages, $24.95). Each January (Jan. 24 in 2004) more than 10,000 people show up at Fort Mason in San Francisco to taste nothing but Zinfandel at the ZAP Festival, presented by Zinfandel Advocates & Producers.

Noted wine historian Sullivan traces the history of California's signature wine and reports on the fairly recent solving of the mystery of where Zinfandel originated. It's Croatia, yet the story is quite complicated and Sullivan fully plays it out until the end.

This is a must-read for Zin fanatics and those interested in the history of California winemaking.

If I had a dollar for every time a winemaker said that great wines are made in the vineyard, I wouldn't need a job. Yet the statement is true, and in honor of the vineyard, the University of California has published "Wine Grape Varieties in California" (188 pages, $30).

Meant to be a reference for grape growers and winemakers, it's also an outstanding introduction -- with detailed color photography -- for anyone wanting to learn about 36 grape varieties and how they're grown in California.

Take Cabernet Sauvignon. There is a full-page photo of two Cabernet grape clusters, two shots of the leaves (which make for easy identification in the vineyard) and text on the variety's origin, description of its clusters, berries, leaves and shoot tips, its soil adaptability, preferred rootstocks, clones, production volumes, harvest calendar, pruning regimen, canopy management and insect/disease problems particular to this variety.

A glossary defines such terms as "must" (unfermented grape juice, skins, seeds and stems) and "veraison" (the period when the ripening green grapes begin to soften and change color).

There are many technical aspects to "Wine Grape Varieties in California," yet it's written in plain language and presents a wealth of viticultural information that any grape geek can appreciate.

For lovers of Portugal's fortified wine, port, there's "Rich, Rare & Red: A Guide to Port" by Ben Howkins (Wine Appreciation Guild, 169 pages, $19.95). This updated third edition covers all the basics of port -- its history, how it's made, viticulture and how the port trade operates throughout the world.

Howkins profiles the major port houses, suggests which ones to visit, offers tips on how to taste these sweet, sumptuous wines and which foods to serve with them. He also includes a chapter on port-style wines made in other countries, including the United States, plus vintage charts that show port's best production years.

On the spirits shelves is Gary Regan's "The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft" (Clarkson Potter, 386 pages, $30).

Regan, a Chronicle Wine section contributor, is the author of several spirits books; this one is written for those wanting to graduate from bartenders to what he calls "cocktailian" bartenders -- those familiar with the history of drinks and able to take standard recipes and put individual touches on them.

Although home mixologists and beginners will get a lot out of this book, including 350 recipes and advice on tools, glassware and techniques, its beauty is in the way Regan categorizes drinks not by the base liquor used but by grouping cocktails in families.

The margarita, for example, is a member of the New Orleans Sour family; the kamakaze is a margarita with vodka instead of tequila. The Cosmo has the same formula, with citrus-flavored vodka and a splash of cranberry juice. Regan contends that knowing the families makes recipe memorization much easier.

Whereas Regan's book has only a handful of illustrations and no color photography, "Rum" by Dave Broom (Wine Appreciation Guild, 176 pages, $45) is a gorgeous coffee table/reference book packed with 155 color photos, plenty of solid information on the origins of rum, how and where it's made and an A-to-Z directory of producers.

Jason Lowe's vivid photography captures both the process and the personality of those who produce rum. There are several rum cocktail recipes, most of them using metric measurements.

For stocking stuffers, look for these pocket wine guides, all of them highly recommended: "Daniel Johnnes's Top 200 Wines: An Expert's Guide to Maximum Enjoyment for Your Dollar" (Penguin Books, 400 pages, $17); Food & Wine magazine's "Wine Guide 2004" (Food & Wine Books, 320 pages, $11.95) by Jamal Rayis, and "Andrea Immer's 2004 Wine Buying Guide for Everyone" (Broadway, 272 pages, $12.95) and "Oz Clark's Pocket Wine Guide 2004" (Harcourt, 320 pages, $14).

E-mail Linda Murphy at lmurphy@sfchronicle.com

Learn the Secret to Staying Healthy this Cold and Flu Season

http://www.mercola.com/2006/nov/25/learn-the-secret-to-staying-healthy-this-cold-and-flu-season.htm

Solving Problems Effectively

from

Enhance your Personal Success

Your ability to communicate is the most important skill you can develop to get on to the fast track in your career. Perhaps the most important thing you do in business is to solve problems and make decisions, both by yourself and with other people.

Use a Systematic Process
A major type of communication in the business organization is meetings for problem solving and decision making. The key to effective problem solving and decision making discussions, is for you to all go through the process systematically.

Define the Problem Clearly
Right at the beginning, you ask the question, "What exactly is the problem?" Clarity of definition will resolve 50% of the issues before they go any further.

Focus on the Future
When discussing a problem, be sure to focus on the future over the past. Ask the question, "Where do we go from here?” “What do we do from here?” “What are our options for the future?"

Too many problem-solving discussions end up focusing all of the attention of all the people present on what happened in the past and who is to blame. The effective executive uses this type of communication to focus on where the company and the individuals are going, and what can happen in the future - the only part of the equation over which anyone has any control.

Talk About the Solutions
A second element in effective problem solving communications, is for you to talk about the solutions instead of talking about the problems. It is for you to keep the attention of the individuals in the meeting focused on the possible solutions and what can be done rather than what has already happened.

Release Creativity
The discussion of solutions is inherently positive, uplifting and has a tendency to release creativity amongst the group. A discussion of problems is inherently negative, demotivating and tends to inhibit creativity.

The Key to Positive Thinking
You can become a positive thinker simply by becoming a solution-oriented person rather than a problem-oriented person. If you get everyone in your organization thinking and talking in terms of solutions, you will be astonished at the quality and quantity of ideas that will emerge.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can immediately to become a better problem solver and decision maker.

First, take some time to be absolutely clear about the problem that is under discussion. Give some thought to what an ideal decision or solution would accomplish. Instead of focusing on the situation as it is, talk about the situation as you would like it to be.

Second, keep the conversation focused on solutions, on what can be done in the future. The more you think and talk about solutions, the more positive and creative everyone will be and the better ideas you will come up with.

Cool Tasmania may surprise wine fans with devilishly good Pinots and Chardonnays

By Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy

You can read plenty about Australian wine these days: stories of brilliant successes, in which Australian producers are held up as examples of how to market wine effectively, as well as predictions of gloom and doom in relation to overproduction of grapes or low profit margins generated by discount pricing.

Yet, regardless of which view experts hold regarding Australia's wine production, they seem to agree that the country has more to offer than wine drinkers yet realize.

Australian wines have rich regional diversity, particularly in one of the country's lesser-known wine regions, the large island of Tasmania. Australia's southernmost state, Tasmania lies at about the same latitude as New Zealand's South Island and is roughly the size of West Virginia.

Tasmania is the coolest of Australia's winemaking regions, so the cool-climate varietals Pinot Noir and Chardonnay dominate. Those varieties represent about 68 percent of the grape crush.

Riesling accounts for 14 percent of the production, followed by Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris. Warmer, dryer vineyard sites grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and Gewürztraminer and other varieties exist on a small scale.

Technically, Tasmania is a single wine region, but winemakers there readily admit to the existence of eight unofficial subregions. Vineyards are clustered in three areas: in the northern part of the island, around the city of Launceston; in the south, around the capital city of Hobart; and along the eastern coast. The northern areas account for two-thirds of the total production.

Soil and climate variations create differences in terroir from one vineyard area of Tasmania to the next, even among vineyards that are short distances apart. For example, of two areas in the north, Pipers River has cooler and wetter weather, while Tamar Valley is warmer.

Other warm pockets include the Coal River Valley east of Hobart, in Tasmania's south.

"Within Tasmania, we have an Alsace, a Champagne and a Burgundy," winemaker Andrew Pirie said of the region's diverse wine offerings. Pirie has dedicated himself to realizing Tasmania's wine potential, first at Piper's Brook winery, which is under new ownership as Kreglinger Wine Estates, and now at Pirie Estates and Tamar Ridge Winery.

By popular demand, much of the Chardonnay produced today in Tasmania — and in Australia in general — is unoaked.

"The market for Chardonnay has gone about 80 percent to unwooded wines without anyone telling it to," Pirie says. Just as the "light, crisp, elegant" style of Chardonnay is gaining ground, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc also are thriving, with the Sauvignon Blanc category growing 40 percent over the past year, according to Pirie. Among red wines, Tasmania's Pinot Noirs are poised to capitalize on the worldwide interest in this variety.

A blind tasting of Australian Rieslings and Pinot Noirs in Hobart demonstrated Tasmania's solid standing against those varietals from elsewhere in Australia. The Tasmanian Pinots ranked on the average higher in our opinion than the mainland Pinots, with vibrancy, depth and focused fruit character as their general virtues.

Among the Rieslings tasted, the Tasmanian wines benefited from crisp acidity and uplifted flavors that in general were more delicate than the mainland Rieslings.

Tasmania's wine production is still miniscule by Australian standards, but it is booming. Vineyard area has doubled since 1999 and nearly tripled since 1995.

As Australia refines its marketing message to focus on regional distinctions rather than inexpensive wines blended from several regions, Tasmania and its wines are likely to become far better known among U.S. wine drinkers.

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WINE OF THE WEEK:

Ninth Island 2005 Pinot Noir,

Tasmania

Ninth Island is one of the brands in the Kreglinger Wine Estates operation in northern Tasmania. This Pinot Noir typifies the taut, focused fruit character of Tasmanian Pinots, with good concentration and acidity.

Wholesale case price, $145

E-mail the authors at: WineDum@aol.com

How You Can Attract More Money Into Your Life - Starting Now – Part 2

By Greg Nicholls

Now that you have learned that to begin to attract money in your life you need to fantasize already having it, if you missed my last article, you can find the link in the Authors Bio section.

In this article, we will talk about the first step on how to turn your fantasy of attracting money into your life now into reality.

This is so simple.

As you sit in your pool of endless money you now begin to think about how you got it. This is a reflection on what happened to earn all this money you now create in your mind what you did to attract all this money into your life.

You see another secret to attracting money into your life is to "ask" if you do not ask how you got it, you will not get it.

I know it seems kind of backwards to be thinking about how you got a bunch of money before you have any, but this is what you need to do in order to get it. The best news is that if this does seem really weird, then it just confirms the fact that you did not know how to start attracting money into your life until now.

So when we ask ourselves how we got all this money, we start to generate ideas or theories as to how this came about. What is important here is to allow you mind to wander quite a bit.

Think about things that you do not yet know how to do yourself, but that other people have done.

Think about the simplest ideas that people came up with and made Billions of dollars.

How did they do it? Well, they likely started by doing an exercise like the one you are going to do now.

So, now take some time to think about how you made all your money be creative and write your ideas down. To make tons of money, it is as simple as thinking about how you "made" tons of money, not how to "make" tons of money.

In my next article, I will introduce how to take this theory and turn it into fact.

Because YOU Deserve Money

Greg Nicholls

Copyright 2006 - Nicholls Enterprises - http://www.deservemoney.com/

Greg Nicholls has learned that there is an abundance of money available to all of us, but we just have to choose to believe it. If you would like to learn about some other simple ways to attract money into your life, go to http://www.AnAwesomeBusiness.com and apply the knowledge that has been shared in this three part article.

The Major Obstacle To Financial Success

from

Enhancing your Financial Success

The major mental obstacle to financial success is that some people believe that they don't really deserve to be rich.

The Biggest Demotivator Of All
They have been raised with a steady drumbeat of destructive criticism, as I was, that has led them to conclude, at an unconscious level, that they don't really deserve to be successful and happy.

The worst effect of negative experiences in childhood, which are all too common, is that when people actually do succeed as the result of hard, hard work, they feel guilty. These guilt feelings then cause them to do things to get rid of the money, to throw it away.

They spend it or invest it foolishly. They lend it, lose it or give it away. They engage in self-sabotage, in the form of overeating, excessive drinking, drug usage, marital infidelity and often dramatic personality changes. To change your results with money, you have to change your attitude toward it.

Treat Money With Care And Attention
The fact is that money is very much like a lover. It must be courted and coaxed and flattered and treated with care and attention. It gravitates toward people who respect it and value it and are capable of doing worthwhile things with it.

It flows through the fingers and flees from people who do not understand it, or who not take proper care of it.

Become Skilled With Money
Sometimes people say that they are not very good with money. But being good with money is a skill that anyone can learn through practice. Usually, saying that one is not very good with money is merely an excuse or a rationalization for the fact that the person is not very successful or disciplined with money.

The person has not learned how to acquire it or to hold on to it.

Be A No-Limit Thinker
The starting point of accumulating money is for you to believe that you have an unlimited capacity to obtain all the money that you will ever need. Look upon yourself as a financial success just waiting for a place to happen. And see yourself as deserving all you can honestly acquire.

Open Any Door
Money is good. Money gives you choices and enables you to live your life the way you want to live it. Money opens doors for you that would have been closed in its absence. But just like anything, an obsession can be hurtful.

If a person becomes so preoccupied with money that he loses sight of the fact that money is merely a tool that is to be used to acquire happiness, then money becomes a harmful thing.

Money Is Neutral
The Bible says, "The love of money is the root of all evil." It doesn't say, "money is the root of all evil." It says, "the love of money is the root of all evil." It is the preoccupation with money, to the exclusion of the really important things in life that is the problem, not the money itself.

Money is essential to our lives in society. It is also neutral. It is neither good nor bad. It is only the way that it is acquired and the uses to which it is put that determines whether it is helpful or hurtful.

Action Exercises
First, recognize and accept that virtually everyone who has money today at one time was broke and probably broke for a long time. Then they learned the skills of accumulating money and they are now financially independent.

Whatever they have done, you can probably do as well.

Second, become a student of money from this day forward. Study it, learn about it and apply the lessons you discover toward your own financial life until you begin to attract more and more money in your direction.

Merry Christmas with Drink Recipes and More from The Authentic Bartender

http://www.the-authentic-bartender.com/Christmas.html

Is the Price of the Iraq War Really Worth It?

According to this excellent MSNBC piece, the amount of money being spent in Iraq ranges from $255 million a day to more than $7 billion per month, with a final price tag expected to exceed $1 trillion.

The National Priorities Project, which uses a calculation based on U.S. budget appropriations (looking at what has already been spent and extrapolating the level of future spending based on this), estimates that the total money spent or allocated comes to about $255 million per day.

That is a little less than $1.8 billion a week, including both military and non-military spending.

Other estimates, however, also factor in other costs, such as the financial loss resulting from the deaths of soldiers, as well as future costs that do not show up in current appropriations, like equipment replacement and interest on the deficits being created.

If you add those and other costs to the total tab, the cost of the war is as much as $7.1 billion a month, and the total cost could top $1 trillion.

Not included in either of those accounting methods are the financial and economic impact on Iraq. Oil production dropped from more than 2.5 million barrels a day in 2001 to less than 1.5 million in 2003. Further, the loss of life to the Iraqi people could be in the hundreds of thousands.

MSNBC

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Dr. Mercola's Comment:

At the very same time the cost of health care has skyrocketed for businesses and employees without an end in sight in America, so has the fiscal and human toll of the ongoing war in Iraq, no matter how you stand politically. Let's hope the drain on our country's human and fiscal capitol can be staunched somewhat with the departure of Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, the former chairman of Gilead Sciences, the developers of Tamiflu that profited mightily from the imaginary bird flu pandemic. The costs of war are often high, and human life is precious. Whether you support or oppose the war in Iraq, I think we can all agree that the death and destruction caused by war are always tragic.

Related Articles:

America's Changing Position on Gulf War Syndrome

Iraq War Side Effect -- Depleted Uranium

Terrorism Doesn't Have To Hurt You -- Six Easy Ways to Help You Cope

Test Marketing Your Product Or Service

from

Enhancing your Financial Success

Six Ways To Get Fast Feedback
How do you test market a product or service? How do you find out if people are actually going to buy it? First, make or get a prototype. Create or get a sample. If it's being manufactured somewhere else, get a sample of it.

If you're going to manufacture it yourself, create a prototype so that you can show it, demonstrate it, photograph it. So that you can let people see it, touch it, feel it, and get an opinion from it.

Show It To Potential Buyers
When we brought the Suzuki 4-wheel drive vehicles into North America, we bought three of them. We brought them in and drove them around to about 20 or 30 dealerships and let people look at them, test drive them, see them, touch them, smell them, feel them.

And went on to sell thousands and thousands of vehicles. So get a prototype or a sample. That's the starting point.

Determine The Correct Prices
Second is get accurate prices and delivery dates from your suppliers. If you're going to show the prototype or sample, if a person says how much is it, or how long will it take to get it, be sure that you have the answers.

Ask A Buyer
Number three is get a buyer's personal opinion. In other words, go to somebody who you will want to buy the product or service and get their personal opinion. Say, would you buy this? And at what price could you sell it? And always call on the individual who makes the buying decisions. Always call on the person who can sign the check.

Compare Your Product With Others
Number four, compare your product or service with other products on the market. And be sure to ask this question, "Why would someone buy from you instead of from someone else?"

Number five, if it's a retail product, try a 1-store test. Go and see if you can't find a store who will carry the product on a limited basis and see how customers respond to it. Try a 1-customer test. If it's a product or service, try to find one customer who will use the product or service.

Start With A Great Idea
Now Ross Perot, when he started EDP Industries, only had a thousand dollars. He had a great idea that would cost an enormous amount of money to implement, and he was able to sell his first customer on paying him in advance for the services that he was going to sell them.

With the money that he got in advance, he was able to deliver the services, to prove that they worked and that they were cost effective. And the rest is history. Ross Perot went on to build one of the most successful businesses in America.

Take It To A Trade Show
A sixth way to test market a product or service is take it to a trade show. There are 15,000 trade shows per annum all over the country. Sophisticated buyers go to trade shows and they will tell you rapidly whether or not you have a winner.

Action Exercises
First, get a sample or prototype of your product or service and show it to as many people as possible, especially to potential buyers. This will give you fast feedback that can be very helpful to you.

Second, look at all of the other competing products or services on the market and be very clear why someone would buy from you rather than continuing to buy from someone else. This can be the most important question you ask and answer.

The Passing Game: Don't Leave Potential Profits on the Field

In this month’s Buzztime Report, we look through winter’s first frost-covered windows into America’s bars to see what gets patrons up and out, battling the cold to watch some gridiron action.

Deeply entrenched in the NFL season, this is your time as an owner of a sports bar or television filled venue to garner some profits. Nightclub & Bar got some interesting answers from the die-hard football fans out there this month.

Where Are They Going?
The first question shows an almost direct split down the middle as to whether patrons would rather be in a bar or a Barcalounger this season. The objective then lies for operators to lure them in with things they would not have at home during the game.

This means increasing your variety of food options, beer selection and promotions. Offer items such as draft beer, cash prizes and on-site cheerleaders, it will draw in that 47 percent who used to catch the games at home.

Peers, Beers & Cheers
At another almost dead tie, 33 percent polled said that they visit the same bars their friends frequent to watch the game, and 35 percent claimed that alcohol specials provided the enticing push.

Combine both of these, and you could pull in everyone. Run promotions that focus on discounts for people who come in large groups. For example, each group of 10 that shows up early should be awarded with a table and a complimentary first round or half-priced beer until halftime.

One more question of note in this category can be seen in the minimal 12 percent who said they choose their watering hole during sports season based on video/audio prowess.

This is a wake-up call to all of you out there who pass on NFL viewing because you don’t have big screens and Dolby digital. It is not a Rock concert. If you can afford to show the games, show them.

Pull Them In, Keep Them In
Question No. 3 alerted us to the fact that a resounding 40 percent polled prefer Sunday night NFL. Halfway behind this at 25 and 27 percent respectively are Saturday and Monday nights. Increase your numbers on Saturday by offering something after the game.

Fox Sports Grill worked a promotion last season with OwL Entertainment called Chill at the Grill. After each game, the sports bar furniture was removed and the space became a dance lounge.

It increased the number of female patrons who attended the games and the number of male patrons who remained afterwards.

Low Priced Loyalty
Finally, question No. 4 was another parallel response. Forty-five percent claim they come for the discounts while 42 percent come for specific libations. NFL season is a great time to do some extra coverage with your distributors.

Feature a new sponsor each week but don’t overload patrons with exotic imports and extreme flavors.

Greenspan Wrong: Housing Crisis Is Here

from MoneyNews.com

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is “out of his mind” to say that the housing slump has already bottomed out, a leading financial expert tells Barron’s.

Two months ago Greenspan cited a stabilization in mortgage application rates to support his view that the housing bust was over.

But Barron’s Jonathan Laing reports that Jeffrey Gundlach, chief investment officer and fixed-income expert at money-management firm TCW Group, told the respected business publication:

“This is the kind of silly optimism that one would expect from somebody who’d just passed his real-estate brokerage exam and was hoping to drum up some business.

“Greenspan is out of his mind to declare a bottom in the housing market after just a six-month slide.”

[Editor’s Note: Sir John Templeton first warned housing prices could crash 50 percent. Discover how to protect yourself and even profit from the housing crash. Go here now.]

On the contrary, Gundlach predicts that the housing market won’t bottom out until at least 2008, and will see no meaningful recovery until at least 2010.

And due in large part to the housing downturn, he sees about a 60 percent probability of a recession by the middle of next year.

“Consumers are less likely to spend freely when their biggest asset is getting drilled,” Laing writes in Barron’s.

“Nor with home prices stable or falling will as many U.S. consumers be able to avail themselves of cash-out refinancing to underwrite their lifestyles, says Gundlach.”

Gundlach notes that what he calls “shoe-horn financing” — shoddy home-lending practices — intensified the housing bubble, with borrowers allowed to qualify for mortgages that were in fact beyond their financial means.

“Teaser” interest rates in the first two to three years of a mortgage kept monthly payments low before the rates were adjusted. With those adjusted rates now climbing, and with the Fed raising interest rates, it’s no longer easy to refinance that adjustable mortgage to stay at a teaser rate, Gundlach points out.

And Laing notes: “Few know the residential mortgage market as intimately as Gundlach,” who during his two decades at Trust Co. of the West, “chalked up an enviable record running fixed-income portfolios, particularly for mortgage-backed securities.”

Editor's Notes:

• Find out why housing prices will fall 40 percent in the next few years.

• Get the 5 highest-yielding, safest investments for 2007.

• The government is manipulating inflation data. Read this free report.

• Warren Buffett is betting billions the dollar will crash.

• Exclusive Interview: Sir John Templeton explains how to protect yourself and even profit from the housing crash!

• CRP test more important than cholesterol!

How You Can Attract More Money Into Your Life - Starting Now – Part 1

By Greg Nicholls

For years I struggled to earn money, I had a real hard time making money. Actually, I look back at it and realize that it was in fact hard because I believed that it was hard.

This is the key, "I believed it was hard".

Have you ever done something that was so easy for you to do but really difficult for someone else. Think about driving, drawing, music, sewing, etcetera. It is easy for you because you "get it" and the people having a hard time "don't get it".

Flying a plane is easy, driving a race car is easy, operating heavy machinery is easy, making money is easy, if you get it.

To "get it" you just have to understand there are other people that "get it" and that you can also learn how. Once this understanding is developed, making money becomes easy.

Ok, here it is.

To learn to believe that making money is easy and that money can come to you in abundance, all you need to do is start by fantasizing that you have money, I mean, really get into it.

As you read this, imagine yourself standing in front of a swimming pool, I mean a big Olympic size swimming pool, but instead of water, this swimming pool is full of $100 bills.

Jump In!

As you jump in you realize that you cannot touch the bottom, you dive down and try to find it, but it just goes on forever. The good news this pool of money is yours. You can have anything your heart desires.

You can buy the big house, fancy cars, give almost all of it away to charity, maybe use if for research and cure a disease or two. Whatever you want to use it for it is there and ready to go to work for you.

The fact is that there is an abundance of money available to us, pools of money and the way to get it is to start by fantasizing about having it.

The next thing is to start to think, or theorize on how you got all of this money. Finally you can then develop the way to put your theory into practice.

I will talk about the theory and how to put it into practice in my next article.

Because YOU Deserve Money

Greg Nicholls

Copyright 2006 - Nicholls Enterprises - http://www.deservemoney.com/

PS You can get parts two and three of this article by visiting http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Nicholls

Greg Nicholls has learned that there is an abundance of money available to all of us, but we just have to choose to believe it. If you would like to learn about some other simple ways to attract money into your life, go to http://www.AnAwesomeBusiness.com and apply the knowledge that has been shared in this three part article.

One Hour Makes All The Difference

from
Enhance your Personal Success

You've gone as far as you can with what you now know. Any progress you make from this moment onward will require that you learn and practice something new.

Commit To Lifelong Learning
One quality of leaders and high achievers in every area seems to be a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development. They look upon themselves as self-made people, as “works in progress.” They never become complacent or satisfied. They are always striving toward ever greater heights of knowledge and understanding.

Get To The Top In Five Years
Earl Nightingale said many years ago that one hour per day of study in your chosen field was all it takes. One hour per day of study will put at the top of your field within thRead Everything You Can
Read all you can about your field. Subscribe to the executive book clubs and book summaries. Build your own library of important books in your field. Never be cheap about your education.

In fact, if you make a decision today to invest 3% of your annual income back into yourself, back into your own personal and professional development, you will probably never have to worry about money again.

Go Through 50 Books Per Year
If you read one hour per day in your field, that will translate into about one book per week. One book per week translates into about 50 books per year. 50 books per year will translate into about 500 books over the next ten years.

Join The Top 1% of Money Earners
If you read only one book per month, that will put you into the top 1% of income earners in our society. But if you read one book per week, 50 books per year, that will make you one of the best educated, smartest, most capable and highest paid people in your field. Regular reading will transform your life completely.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into practice.

First, ask the successful people around you for their best book recommendations. Whatever advice they give you, immediately go out and buy those books, take them home and begin reading for one hour every morning before you start work.

Second, when you read, underline and take notes when you find important ideas that you can use. Implement them immediately. Take action of some kind on good ideas. You will be amazed at the change in your career.

ree years. Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.

Pretty in pink: Sophisticated wine lovers find rosé Champagne riveting at the table

By Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy


It's amazing how customs change.


A decade ago, the only pink beverage that had any faithful following was white Zinfandel. "Serious" consumers shunned rosé wines — both in bubbly and nonbubbly form — because of the ill-informed belief that anything pink must be sweet or of poor quality.


But today's sophisticated drinkers have adopted pink drinks in a big way. Rosé Champagnes and other sparkling rosés, in particular, are in demand.


There's something magical about Champagne, the way those tiny bubbles come racing upward, and rosé Champagnes always have been associated with romantic liaisons and special occasions.


Now they are finding their way to the dinner table. Rosés complement many dinner entrées, as they are generally more full-bodied than other types of Champagne.


Rosé Champagne has been in and out of fashion since 1800, but it had not reached today's height of popularity since those great party years, the 1920s. Quite a few Champagne houses that had previously frowned upon rosés now are increasing their rosé production.


Today, not only does almost every Champagne producer make a rosé, but most also make two different rosés. Some make three: a standard nonvintage, a vintage and a prestige cuvée rosé.


California, in particular, has been making superb rosé bruts. Italy now offers its Prosecco as a rosé — presumably the result of blending the juice or wine of the white Prosecco grape with red grapes or wine — as does Spain with its bubbly cava rosés.


California and Spain sometimes offer a Blanc de Noirs — a pink-colored bubbly made primarily from black grapes, which is a variation on the sparkling rosé theme. Many value-priced sparkling rosés also are made in other parts of France, especially in the Loire Valley.


The two grape varieties used to produce most rosé Champagnes are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Some producers also use Pinot Meunier, a black-grape relative of Pinot Noir.


Producers who prefer a lighter, more elegant style use more Chardonnay in their cuvées, while those looking to make a more full-bodied, fruitier rosé use mainly black grapes and sometimes make 100 percent Pinot Noir rosés.


Rosé Champagnes are slightly more expensive than their white counterparts because of the additional expense involved in producing them. Rosé Champagnes obtain their color by one of two methods.


The most commonly employed manner is by simply adding a small amount of Pinot Noir wine to the Champagne cuvée. A few Champagne houses use the more difficult skin-contact method, in which the skins of dark grapes soak in the must until the desired color is achieved.


Rosé Champagnes are made in the brut style: They might be fruitier than other types of Champagne, but they're typically quite dry to fairly dry. Rosés come in a wide spectrum of colors — ranging from pale onion skin, topaz, copper or salmon to deep pink, bordering on light red.


The deeper-colored rosé Champagnes tend to be fruitier than the lighter-colored rosés. Like all Champagnes, rosés age well, some up to 15 years or more if stored in a cool place, but most rosés are at their best when consumed within 10 years.


Although rosé Champagne and other rosé sparkling bruts can be served as aperitifs — especially the lighter, elegantly styled ones — bubbly rosés are at their best at the dinner table, where they can ably replace red wines.


Many full-flavored main-course entrées, such as game birds, veal, pork and young lamb — especially when cooked rare — are perfect with rosé Champagnes. We do not recommend sparkling rosés with desserts, however; they're too dry, and will only taste bitter with sweet desserts.


We prefer to serve rosé Champagnes, especially the more full-flavored ones, in tall, tulip-shaped glasses or standard white wine glasses rather than narrow flutes. The full flavors of rosé Champagnes need wider-mouthed glasses to express their wonderful floral and red berry aromas.


In addition, like all Champagnes, rosés need to be served cold, about 45 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.


Wholesale prices for sparkling rosé bruts range from as low as $40 for a 6-bottle case of Spanish cava on up. Rosé Champagnes start at about $320 wholesale for a case of 12. Considering the soaring popularity of rosé Champagnes and other sparkling rosés, restaurants would be remiss not to have a few representatives on their wine lists.

WINE OF THE WEEK:

Gosset Grand Rosé NV Champagne

(France)

Gosset, a fairly small Champagne house and one of the oldest, most historic firms, makes rosés one of its specialties. Its nonvintage Grand Rosé Brut, with aromas and flavors of small fresh strawberries, is very dry, and made in a light, elegant style. It's perfect as an aperitif as well as with dinner.

Wholesale price is $299 per case of six or $268 per case of 12 half-bottles.

E-mail the authors at: WineDum@aol.com

Discover a Truly Deadly Type of Health Deception ...

http://www.mercola.com/sweet-deception-aspartame

Removing The Two Blocks To Creativity

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Enhance your Personal Success

There are two mental obstacles to creative thinking. You can get rid of both of them, but you must be aware of them first.

Resist The Allure of The Comfort Zone
The first major block is called, "Homeostasis." Homeostasis means a striving for constancy, trying to remain consistent with the familiar, with what has been done and said in the past. It is staying in your comfort zone and resisting anything new or different.

Homeostasis is usually demonstrated by a person who only feels comfortable with the tried and true, with the way things have always been done.

Be Open To Change
A person manifesting this "homeostatic impulse" tends to feel tense and uneasy about change, or even the thought of change. Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

You can overcome the tendency toward homeostasis by first recognizing it in yourself and then by observing it in others. And second, by taking deliberate, conscious steps to move out of your comfort zone by trying something new.

Keep an Open Mind
Remember, a hallmark of creative people is an open mind on all subjects, the willingness to listen carefully and patiently, without prejudgment or jumping to conclusions.

Learn From Your Mistakes

The second obstacle to creative thinking is the fear of failure, of being wrong, of making a mistake. Probably 80% or more of adults are so worried about being wrong that they shy away from any risky situation.

Take Action Toward Your Goals
This fear of failure is usually demonstrated by procrastination and indecision, by delaying tactics and by seeking out the opinions of more and more other people before acting. An obsession with gathering facts and research often indicates a deep down fear of making a mistake. It's often called paralysis by analysis.

Action Exercises
Here are two ways for you to break through any blocks you may have to your creativity.

First, recognize that striving for constancy is normal and natural but that all great success comes from trying something new and different.

Second, don’t worry about making a mistake. You’ll probably be wrong about 70% of the time anyway. Just go for it!