| VLCC boosts regional roll-out plan set to open 35 centres in 24 months
Dubai, February 16, 2008: Driven by the buoyant market trends in the wellness domain, VLCC - the region's premier preventive healthcare and beauty care brand - announced plans to increase the number of centres in Middle East to 35 by 2010 compared to the originally-planned 28. The company has committed over AED 200 million to fund the expansion in the region. An announcement to this effect was made at the inauguration of VLCC's seventh centre in the UAE. The new centre, at Al Qusais in Dubai, was inaugurated by His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed Bin Juma Al Maktoum. Also present on the occasion were Indian Consul General, Venu Rajamony, Ms. Vandana Luthra, Founder & Mentor, VLCC, Mr. Mukesh Luthra, Chairman & Managing Director, VLCC Group and special invitees. Speaking on the occasion, Ms.
Soaked in Swiss bliss
Soak it up ... the Kempinski Grand Hotel is a five-star converted 19th-century palace, with a granite and timber spa, saunas and steam baths Head rest ... Tamina Therme has harnessed the hot spring water to warm one outdoor and two indoor pools .
Bringing in the big guns
After several years of owning a business, it's common for an entrepreneur to get caught up in the daily running of the business, and thus lose track of the bigger picture. The best way I know to get past this is to take a short trip into the future. Get a picture in your mind of what your business will look like once it is running like a Swiss watch, and write it down. Not only will this help motivate you into action, it will form a measurable target that you and your team can shoot for. How big a company do you want? How profitable do you want to be? How many locations would you like to have? What type of service offering would you like to develop? What will your corporate culture be like? These types of questions can be extremely powerful. For example, Giesbrecht wanted Globe Printers to become the Fraser Valley's largest commercial printer, without sacrificing his family life.
Concentration camps in America: The consequences of 40 years of fear
More realistically, an increase in street and campus protests against the Iraq War, similar to those of the '60s, could easily lead to the imposition of martial law in the Unites States as an extension of the War on Terrorism. Or, as the current recession deepens into a depression with wide spread unemployment, hunger and civil unrest, martial law could be imposed and military work camps established. Irrespective of how it plays out, every scenario involves mass preventative detentions, without trial, by the military and requires federal confinement facilities. Accepting the fact that the president has the power to detain as many American citizens as he chooses, is the government actually building facilities to concentrate them? In January 2006, the Department of Homeland Security awarded a $385 million contract to former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) to provide detention centers in the United States to deal with "an emergency influx of immigrants into the US, or to support the rapid deployment of new programs." Unexplained were these "new programs" and why they require a major expansion of detention centers.
Aurora seeks to curb 'puffing' - cars left running, unattended
Adrian Rascon-Almada left his Dodge Neon wide open and idling in a 7-Eleven parking lot Tuesday morning as he ran inside and grabbed a cup of coffee. He was gone only a few minutes. But it was long enough for police to spot him and issue him a ticket for "puffing" - leaving a car running and unattended. "It takes just a split second for someone lurking outside a 7-Eleven or day- care to take off with your car and then use it to commit another crime," Aurora police Sgt. Dan Mark said. "Puffer" thefts have become such a problem that Aurora police conducted a citywide operation targeting them Tuesday. Rascon-Almada was among 60 drivers issued tickets during the four-hour operation. His fine will be between $75 and $105, and he isn't too happy about it. "I live in the neighborhood; I left my car running before," said Rascon-Almada, 36.
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