Two recent incidents, Murthy and national anthem and Tendulkar and national flag, refreshed my memories on how over-sensitive and under-confident as a nation we are. Narayana Murthy, the chairman of Infosys, and his critics alike are blissfully unaware of how much they share in common. Murthy is under heavy criticism for his remarks that only an instrumental version of the national anthem was played at a recent function organized by his company because “foreign employees present would have been embarrassed at their ignorance of the lyric”. What can be more symptomatic of a complete lack of self-assurance than the fact that a self-made billionaire, founder of one of the fastest growing InfoTech companies in the world and an icon of India’s economic rise, felt ashamed at singing Indian national anthem at an Indian location, and that on the occasion of visit of the Indian President?

His critics, the so called nationalist forces, have been so outraged at this suggestion that they have launched a campaign against him. Karnataka Police is investigating the matter and the Honorable Home Minister of Karnataka has promised a legal action against him. What a shame! Here is a man who made a tactless remark. He did not insult the national anthem. He cannot be accused of crime or treason. If at all, he can be blamed for is, is the fact that despite all his achievements in life, he still remains an under-confident man. Perhaps a man who is still trapped in an inferiority complex inherited from our colonial past; and a man who still feels the need to bend to the pleasure of white race.

But, that is not a crime. That is a symptom of a disease. And lest his critics feel vindicated or superior, let me state it squarely and boldly, if he suffers from this disease, so do the rest of us. If not, why do we find it so hard to shrug the incident aside? Are we trying to find a scapegoat for our own inner frustrations? Are we not trying to put blame on one person and feel superior? What is the need to be so sensitive to any sign of weakness in other person?

After every minor success, we feel the need to project ourselves as world powers; and after every failure, we start baying for blood. If we win a cricket tournament, we become world champions. If we lose a tournament, we feel we are the worst team in the world. Winning one silver medal at the Olympics is enough to send the entire nation into mass hysteria. One Indian company acquires a foreign company and we go into frenzy: India the next global economic power shouts our media. Try running a Google search on “India and superpower”, and you will be surprised to see over a million hits. Counter that with the reality. We are unable to manage our tiny neighbors. We are a home to the world’s largest population of hungry and illiterate people. The diseases, that have been conquered everywhere else in the world, flourish among us. Dowry and female infanticide are our specialties and caste-based distinctions our proud reality. Our sports, notwithstanding our population of over a billion, suck.

If India had been winning at the Cricket World Cup, we would not be incensed at our “beloved” cricketers cutting a cake that had our flag’s tri-color on it. But, since they lost out to the minnows, our indignation knows no bounds.

The fact is that as a nation we are so short on successes that we are given to mass hysteria over whatever little comes our way. And if some incident reminds us of our inadequacies and failure, our sensitivities are triggered to an extent that we lose our sense of proportions. Our sensitivities, to me, are symptoms of a paucity of successes and a collective lack of confidence. We are so scared of facing up to our real problems that our feelings are ventilated in our “righteous” anger over non-issues.

Yes, forget hunger, disease, missing girls, bonded labor, suppression, and human rights. They are all minor irritants. Let us focus on Narayana Murthy and his foolish remarks. Let us focus on whether a cake should have national colors on it. Let us focus on whether we can wear T-shirts with pictures of national flags on them. Nowhere else in the world have I seen people plagued with such enormous maladies occupied with such trivial pursuits! No wonder we are the under-achievers of the world. No wonder we are so unsure of ourselves.

What a waste of time and talent! Go back and resume your great debate, if you must. Else ask your leaders to focus on real issues, not trivial distractions.

Punit Arora is an expert on management and public policy in developing countries. He can be reached at pun8max@gmail.com

Meta tags are still a very important part of search engine optimization. Search Engine spiders see meta tags as instructions on how to categories your web site content, what pages to index and not index, and what your web site content is all about.

Your title tag is the most important tag. It tells the spiders the nature of your site. Don’t waste time putting your company name in this tag. Use the tag to specify the main keywords in the page you are trying to position well with. For example, instead of Big Guys Inc describe your business in keyword phrases. Try New York Printing Services. Make sure to limit the title tag to 100 characters or less, so you don’t get flagged for keyword stuffing.

Your description tag reflects the keywords in your title tag but you have more space to describe your business. Remember, the title and description tags both show up in the free listings so remember to make sense while still utilizing the keywords. If you get great listings but your listing doesn’t make any sense then no one will want to click on the ad and visit your site. Limit this tag between 200 and 250 characters.

Finally your keywords tags still hold some importance and reflect what should be in your website content. Add the keyword phrases from your title and description tags into the keyword tag. Add other keywords that are of importance to this tag but you weren’t able to add to the other tags because of limited space. Limit the keyword tag to 1024 characters.

Remember meta tags work great when optimized but you also need optimized content on all pages that you want great placement with.

Until next time….

Shawn Hickman is the Internet Marketing Manager for Websolutions of America Web Design
& Internet Marketing Services

Just as in nature, there are seasons in the world of investing. Recently, the investing climate has changed considerably. Recognizing those changes and adjusting how your money is invested can dramatically improve how much you will earn in 2004. Read on to find out what I recommend to my Private Wealth Management clients.

First, let’s examine the changes in the interest rate environment. Interest rates have been steadily declining since the early 1980’s. A client recently told me how he bought a home with an interest rate of almost 18%–and was glad to get it! Now, homebuyers are borrowing money at less than 6%. When I started in the industry back in 1987, I remember offering 30-year government agency bonds paying 12%. Now a 30-year Treasury bond yields 5%.

The long-term decline in interest rates over the last 20 years has resulted in rates that are at 40 year lows. The next trend is going to be for interest rates to rise. I don’t expect them to jump up overnight, but to rise slowly over the next several years.

As interest rates decline, the value of an investment in bonds increases. Those investing in bonds and bond mutual funds over the last 20 years have been handsomely rewarded. But the opposite will occur over the next 10 years. Those who continue to invest in bonds and bond mutual funds are going to find their return significantly lower than what they are used to.

Once considered a safe and stable investment, bond investors will be at increased risk of falling behind. It is likely that those investing in bonds could have an annual return of 3-4% or less. You should reduce the percentage of your portfolio that is currently allocated to bonds. I am currently recommending only 20% of my conservative clients portfolios be allocated to bonds.

I am recommending that my clients turn to real estate based investments for that portion of their portfolio designed to provide stability and income. Real estate does not react to changes in interest rates the same way that bonds do. In particular, I am recommending that my clients allocate 20% of their portfolios to a combination of public and private Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). These should provide an income stream of 6%-8% per year plus some additional capital appreciation.

It is important that caution be exercised when investing in REITs. There are many different areas of the real estate market in which you can invest including retail shopping centers, malls, office buildings, warehouses, condos or apartments. Each comes with its own set of risks, but properly managed REITs should be an important part of any portfolio.

Now, let’s take a closer look at changes in the stock market. Stock investors have just been through 3 terrible years of losses from 2000 through 2002. This has caused many investors to flee stocks for the relative safety of bonds. But the economy has now turned the corner; businesses are recovering, and the markets should continue to do well over the next few years. I am recommending that my clients increase the percentage of their portfolios allocated to the stock market in 2004 to 50%.

Investing in the stock market can be volatile, so it is vital that you take steps to protect yourself. My firm has developed a portfolio management and protection system so revolutionary that we are patenting several aspects of it. I will share more about it in a future article, but those investing in the stock market need to learn from the past. The times of buying a stock or mutual fund, throwing it in the drawer and forgetting about it are over.

I recommend my clients keep the remaining 10% of their portfolios available as an emergency reserve and as money that will be available to take advantage of unique opportunities as they arise.

Remember, the individual investments you choose are vital to your overall success. Unless you have a trusted advisor actively watching your portfolio, don’t just throw it in the drawer and forget about it.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question - FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com

Discovering the best meditation method for you is one of the highs you can experience in modern day life.

Too often, we are too stressed even to contemplate meditation, even though taking a few quiet minutes to meditate could be one of the best things we could do in our lives.

For the next week, experiment with a different meditation method each day and note down the effects. You’ll then have a much clearer idea of the best meditation method for you.

1. Breathing meditation. This is one of the simplest meditation techniques and focusing on your breathing is quick and easy.
2. Walking meditation. Take a leisurely walk. Breathe in the air. Notice the sounds and smells!
3. High tech meditation. Put on your headphones and a binaural beats track. Sit back and let the technology do the rest.
4. Mantra meditation. Repeat your chosen mantra over and over, either out loud or in your head.
5. Candle meditation. Light a candle somewhere safe, sit down and focus on the candle flame. Let all other thoughts drift out of your mind. Keep focussed on the flickering flame.
6. Guided meditation. Put on your headphones and listen to a pre-recorded guided meditation talk you through the process of relaxing your body and clearing your mind.
7. Mirror gazing. No, you’re not doing an impression of Narcissus! Simply gaze into your reflected image. Focus on the wall just behind your head. Let all other thoughts fall out of your mind.

Your feelings and daily journal will help you to quickly come to a conclusion as to which meditation method is best for you. You may even decide to “ring the changes” and indulge in several different meditations according to the day of the week and the time available in your schedule.

Read my review of the one of best meditation methods I’ve come across to date at http://personaldevelopmentreviews.org/index.php/2007/04/17/secrets-of-abundant-energy

Sharing Yourself With Others Through Online Surveys. There is definitely nothing better than to be able to share yourself with the world. Online surveys present you with many chances to do that. Anyone who wants to can join. You are not restricted by age and you are certainly free to live anywhere in the world and still participate in these online surveys.

There are companies around the world that are just waiting for you to share how you feel. They spend large amounts of money each and every year to find out. Why should you not get in on that? Not only will you be able to get some nice amounts of cash, you can also get some nice incentives for your time.

You never need to leave your own home to get these online survey offers. This must be the absolute best part about it. Your computer will be the only tool you need to share yourself with others and really make some changes. If you think about it, you are already spending time on your computer. You should get paid for doing something you already do anyway!

After you are affiliated with a survey group and have completed registration there is no cost to take surveys. You will just need to spend a short amount of your time registering for the website. In a minute or two, you will be on your way to making money for yourself. You will be one of the first to share your thoughts and ideas and project them out into the world.

Here is the survey directory that I use to find paid online surveys: http://www.highestpaysurveys.info/

I’ve received a number of responses from my articles pointing out the problems with variable and equity-indexed annuities. Folks who call or email often ask the same question: “Why not lock up my money? I’m not going to use it anyway.” Agents try to convince you that it’s good to lock up your money for 7, 10 or 15 years since you won’t be using it anyway. This argument is complete hogwash, and let me show you why.

First of all, the only reason, and I mean the only reason these advisors are asking you to lock up your money is because of the commission structure of these annuities. That’s how the insurance company makes sure they can pay brokers commissions of up to 15% on these investments. If you want to know how much your agent is earning off of your money, just take a look at the surrender penalty. It almost always equals the commission.

Just look at the underlying securities you’re investing in when you buy a variable or equity indexed annuity. They work just like mutual funds or index funds, don’t they? What if you were to purchase a mutual fund or index fund instead of an annuity. Would you have to lock up your money for 7 to 10 years then? Of course not! You’d be able to liquidate that money at any time at its current market value, without paying onerous surrender penalties. Locking up your money in an annuity is for the agents benefit, not yours.

Now that you understand that agents want you to lock up your money because it impacts their paycheck, let’s look at the other side of the “why not lock it up” argument. You say that you aren’t going to use the money anyway, buy how can you be sure? How do you know you won’t need that money?

Let me give a real life example. I have a client whose mother had a large portion of her portfolio invested in an equity indexed annuity. She wasn’t going to use that money anyway, she thought, so why not lock it up and at least get a small, but guaranteed return?

Unfortunately, soon after, she developed Alzheimer’s and she had to move to an assisted living facility. Her annuity had a nursing home clause, which meant money could be withdrawn to cover nursing home care without incurring a surrender penalty. But she wasn’t sick enough for a nursing home. So now, either her kids will have to pay $10,000 a month to cover her care, or she will have to pay steep penalties to get her own money. Either way, the family loses, not the agent.

There are many other situations that might cause you to tap that money. Some are negative, such as the death of a spouse, long term illness or needing to help a child going through a crisis. Some are positive. Maybe you decide you want to move to a warmer climate or help a grandchild pay for college. Whatever the reason, you can’t predict the future and it’s foolish to paint yourself into a corner financially when you don’t have to.

Many investors say they can’t foresee a situation in which they might want to change their investment. But wanting to change your investment is even more likely to happen than a sudden illness. Interest rates can take a downward or upward trend. The market can tank or take off. Your income needs might increase beyond what you’re currently earning. If your funds are locked up where you can’t touch them, you won’t be able to respond to these situations and opportunities. It’s like locking an airplane on auto-pilot, so you can’t navigate around a thunderstorm or take advantage of tailwinds.

Don’t fall for the “why not lock it up” argument. Remember, agents are asking you to give up your flexibility so they can earn a big commission. It just isn’t a fair trade. I am always happy to answer an investor’s questions about investments or annuities, so don’t hesitate to call. I will be happy to help you in any way I can.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question - FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com

In January, I discussed my predictions for how you should invest in 2004. This article updates those recommendations in light of recent events. Read on to know how to protect your money.

Several trends have occurred over the last 4 months that could play a significant role in the performance of the stock and bond markets for the remainder of 2004. These events include the situation in Iraq, the Presidential election here in the US and the increased likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. I will explain each of these and then look at their effect on stock and bond investments.

The handover of power from the Coalition Provisional Authority is set to occur on June 30th-little more than 60 days away. There are serious questions about who will take authority and the impact it will have on the success of democracy in Iraq. This uncertainty will impact the financial markets in the U.S.

Back in the U.S., the outcome of the 2004 Presidential election is far from certain. Senator Kerry is proposing significant changes to the way corporations are taxed, the repeal of the dividend and capital gain tax cut and the repeal of the tax cut on those earning $200,000 or more. There is concern among investors that, if elected, these changes would impact corporate profits and investors’ interest in stocks.

At the same time, the economy continues to recover resulting in the increasing likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than expected. One major impact of rising interest rates is on what is called the ‘carry trade’.

The ‘carry trade’ takes place when financial institutions such as banks and brokerage firms borrow money at a low rate and invest that money at a higher rate. For instance, for quite some time these institutions have been able to borrow money at about 1.25% and reinvest it in 10 year Treasury Notes at about 4%, pocketing the difference. This has resulted in substantial profits for these companies.

Rising interest rates will cause these institutions to unwind these positions by selling the bonds they have invested in. The effect of this selling will be to drive down bond prices and increase bond yields.

How does this affect you and what should you do about it? That depends on whether you are invested in stocks or bonds.

Many of you may own mutual funds or closed-end funds that invest in Government Guaranteed, investment grade corporate or high-yield bonds. If you own any of these you will have seen their value decline over the last few weeks.

If you have not done so already, you may want to reduce the portion of money you have invested in bonds. For some of my private wealth management clients I am further reducing their bond allocation because of the risk of loss in these investments.

For those that own stocks or mutual funds that invest in stocks, the returns on equities this year may not be as high as you thought while their volatility may increase. For instance, my firm is still anticipating an 8% return from equities for all of 2004. It’s possible that won’t be achieved.

If you are retired or near retirement then you will want to keep an eye on your stock-oriented investments. This is not the time to throw your investments in the drawer and forget about them. If you are uncomfortable with your investments declining in value, determine the level at which you would take action to prevent additional loss. If that level is reached, sell the investment and wait for conditions to improve.

Regardless of whether you own stock or bond oriented investments, you should reduce your short-term expectations. And don’t panic. These are short-term events that should straighten themselves out over the next 6-12 months.

Lastly, many investors are taking the drastic step of locking their money in Equity-Indexed Annuities for 10-15 years because they fear additional losses. Don’t make a long-term investment decision based on short-term events-especially when you won’t have the ability to change your mind without losing a significant portion of your investment through surrender charges.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question - FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com

Obese men suffering from prostate cancer are two-and-a-half times more likely to die from it compared to normal-weight men, according to a recent study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The study involved almost eight hundred middle-aged men who were recently diagnosed with prostate-cancer, and followed the subjects for ten years. Seventeen percent of the subjects were obese and six percent of them died of prostate-cancer.

The mortality risk from prostate cancer for obese men is not related to the treatment, or prostate cancer stage at the time of the study, said Dr. Alan Kristal, senior author of the study. The risk for obese men is of 2.6 times greater compared to healthy weight men, regardless of the cancer diagnostic profile.

The results of the study are not related to whether the patient is subjected to radiation treatment, radical prostatectomy, or androgen-deprivation therapy. It does not matter if the subject suffers from a high grade cancer, or low-grade, localized, distant, or regional cancer, says Kristal.

Particularly, men with regional or local prostate-cancer have a 3.6-time higher risk of metastasis, or cancer spreading to other organs, than patients with a healthy weight.

Obesity was strongly connected with prostate cancer especially for men with regional disease, meaning cancer that has already started to spread to surrounding tissues, compared to those with early cancer.

Researchers believe that inflammation and steroid hormones are behind the connection between prostate-cancer and obesity. Obesity is considered a massive inflammatory condition, which modifies the levels of serum estrogens and increases factors that lead to cancer growth, according to Kristal.

To read the rest of this article, go to ProjectWeightLoss.com an online weight loss community featuring calorie counter, carbs counter, BMI calculator, diet planner, workout planner and nutritional information.

(c) ProjectWeightLoss.com 2007. All rights reserved.

For free weight loss tools and diets, visit ProjectWeightLoss.com, a growing weight loss community featuring calorie counter, carbs counter, BMI calculator, diet planner, workout planner, and many other weight loss tools. Visit ProjectWeightLoss.com and start losing weight today!

Some of the online surveys that you will find have been on the web for a long time and have built up a great reputation for being trustworthy. As a participant in these online surveys, you will be given a chance to be a model influence on decisions made by the government, big and small corporations, and not for profit organizations. You can really help to redesign all the ideas, policies, services, and products that they present to the world. The way you answer these questions will make such a big difference like you have never thought it would.

By giving your time to online surveys, you will be able to express what means the most to you and you will be seeing some results evolve from the answers to the online surveys. You can also speak for many others who can not speak for themselves. Not only can you give answers for what you want out of the products and ideas but, you can also incorporate your friend and families ideas into them as well.

Your answers could go to become published national or international media results. Is it not what makes change happen? How much do you hear about those statistics that affect the things that are going on in the world? Online surveys are ways for you to help bring about that change. You may even receive those same results in your email so that you can really see you are making a difference in the lives of people everywhere.

Here is the survey directory that I use to find paid online surveys: http://www.highestpaysurveys.info/

Why did you become a hypnotherapist?

It’s great being a hypnotherapist as I have a great passion for what I do. Even though I work around about the same hours as the average worker, I never see myself as ‘in the rat race’ and I always have a spring in my step as I go off to work each morning. The job pays well, however I don’t see myself financially secure either - more like financially free as I do my job not for the money, but as my vocation in life. This is great as money is then just a symptom of what I really love to do - rather than being something that controls what I do. Being a hypnotherapist is great and I really believe that wild horses would find it difficult to drag me away from it.

What do you do day to day?

My day to day schedule can be very different from week to week, which is great as it means that I get loads of variety in what I do. Most days I will head into the office and write any articles that I have to do for a website or maybe a magazine that I am working with. I then get onto my mail and do the day to day stuff that is needed for running a hypnotherapy business. This could be anything from marketing to accounts. Then I usually have a clinic where I could see between three to eight clients. This is really the time that I love as it is a privileged position that I have in helping my clients with life changing issues that they may have. Seeing them get success is my reason for doing the job that I do.

What types of things do hypnotherapists help with?

Hypnotherapists can help with a whole range of issues, however most tend to gravitate around solutions for smoking, slimming and stress or the three S’s as I refer to them. I personally help people with relationship and sexual issues, including getting over relationship break-ups, jealousy, anger management, impotence, premature ejaculation and many other issues around this area. I also see my fair share of the three S’s too!

If I wanted to know more about becoming a hypnotherapist, where could I get some information?

You can get information on becoming a hypnotherapist from the many hypnotherapy organisations worldwide. You can also start to read books on self hypnosis as this is a great place to start as it will give you a great taste for what the topic has to offer.

Richard helps guys to stop premature ejaculation. He also has a very successful download for premature ejaculation on his site.