The deficit is not huge for a US state such as California, because if the state were a country, they would be in the top ten national economies in the world with an economy worth $1.2 trillion as of 2010. The concern is that the deficit is burgeoning so quickly, and needs to be reined in. The choice is quite clear, cut services or increase state taxes. Their state tax is just above the average for the US at the moment. California has a surprisingly high public sector with 2.5 million employees. Any cuts in public services will surely impact a lot of these people

Governor Brown said of the higher than expected deficit: “This means we will have to go much farther and make cuts far greater than I asked for at the beginning of the year. But we can't fill this hole with cuts alone without doing severe damage to our schools. That's why I'm bypassing the gridlock and asking you, the people of California, to approve a plan that avoids cuts to schools and public safety."

Under Brown's tax plan, California would temporarily raise the state's sales tax by a quarter-cent and increase the income tax on people who make $250,000 or more. According to Brown this will raise up to $9 billion, but an independent review has put his figure at just $6.8 billion for the current financial year. California is the fifth largest supplier of food and agricultural commodities in the world. Air born fruit and vegetable exports are worth $579 million a year.

The other two big revenue earners have been trade and tourism. The total exports of goods actually made in California was worth $134 billion in 2007, although export trade has been falling for over a decade. Computers and electronics make up $48 billion of this total. Total travel spending reached $96 billion in 2008. Much of Californian industry has been a result of foreign investment, including from the UK.

Some of the publicly registered companies include: Chevron, Hewlett-Packard, McKesson (world's largest pharmaceutical company), Wells Fargo,Apple, Intel, Dominick, Cisco, Walt Disney, Ingram Micro, Google, Oracle, DirectTV, Occidental Petroleum, Amgen, Gap, PG&E, Health Net, Edison International, Qualcomm, Jacobs Engineering, Western Digital, Applied Materials, URS,eBay, Sempra Energy, Synnex, Visa and Gilead Sciences

A 71 year old patient had the use of a hand restored by pioneering surgery, that bypassed spinal damage, and created new links. The man had become a quadriplegic as a result of a road accident, and because of damage to the C7 vertebra had lost the use of both legs and with only limited shoulder, elbow and wrist function.

Surgeons at the Washington School of Medicine in St Louis were able to restore some functionality by rerouteing nerves in his upper arm. As a result of the surgery the patient is now able to pinch his thumb and index finger together, using the nerves that were once used to tell his brain to bend at the elbow. The success of the operation means that he can now feed himself and even write.

Senior researcher at the Washington School of Medicine is Dr Ida K Fox and said: “This procedure is unusual for treating quadriplegia because we do not attempt to go back into the spinal cord where the injury is. Instead, we go out to where we know things work - in this case the elbow - so that we can borrow nerves there and reroute them to give hand function. The successful operation means the patient can now feed himself and even write. Many times these patients say they would like to be able to do very simple things. If we can restore the ability to pinch, between thumb and index finger, it can return some very basic independence”.

At 47 Rich Hasselberger faced an uncertain future, when a stroke threatened to transform his life in an instant. Dr Jeffrey Katz is chief of Vascular neurology and director of the Stroke Center at North Shore University Hospital ( NSUH ) explained the process of a stroke by saying: “That area of the brain that isn't getting blood flow dies, and so [stroke victims] get symptoms depending on the area of the brain that is being affected - not being able to understand what someone is telling them, they can get weak on one side, double vision”

Mr Hasselberger was indeed a fortunate man as Dr Katz was to use a new device to treat him that helped to open up his blood vessels and restore blood flow to his brain. The device, called the ”Solitaire Flow Restoration Device” , is a self-expanding, cylindrical metal cage that is inserted through a small tube into the blood clot itself.

Dr Katz said: “You leave the stent retriever up for five minutes allowing the clot to grow into the stent, and then you pull it out. In those five minutes, there is blood flow going to the brain tissue that wasn't before. Previously we could only open about 50 percent of blood vessels. In this trial they were opening about 90 percent plus, which is great.”

The final word is with Dr Katz: “I think before we had this type of device, it was like trying to drive a nail into a board without a hammer, and now we finally have a hammer, and I think it's really exciting.”

There are 16.6 million children under the age of 14 in Japan, but that total is reducing at an alarming rate, with the total figure dropping by one every 100 seconds. It is a long way off but academics from the city of Sendai, which took the full brunt of the tsunami, estimate that Japanese will see the last child born by 3011. A lot can happen in this time frame, but even as it stands, Japanese demographics are set to cause major problems before then.

A further study shows that the birth rate will be at just 1.35 children per woman within 50 years. Of more immediate concern is a further study is a projection that the present population of 127.7 million, will fall by a third over the next century. Academics have created a population clock to draw attention the situation. Professor Hiroshi Yoshida led the research and had this to say to the Japan Times newspaper: "By indicating it in figures, I want people to think about the problem of the falling birthrate with a sense of urgency.” It will not be a static display and will be updated as new population information becomes available.

There is no simple answer to the question. The answers range from the cost of raising a child being too high, to a vegetarian diet leading to men being effeminate. This second argument is very much flawed as it doesn't seem to affect those huge buffalo. Even the first reason does not cut it, as Japan has a generous financial system for people with children.

The straightforward answer seems to be that young people are not keen on getting married and having children. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research study found that one in four unmarried men and women in their 30s had never had sex, and most young women preferred being single. The majority of unmarried men have not even got a girlfriend, 60 percent in fact, and 50 percent of women were not even dating

A first look it seems that this has a purely internal interest for Japanese. The United States could suffer because of this, due to Japan not being able to meet it's international obligations and alliances. Brad Glosserman and Tomoko Tsunada in Foreign Policy Magazine wrote “ Japan will be more likely to prioritize healthcare than international security. Older societies are typically more risk-averse, and Japanese -- 'reluctant realists' at the best of times -- will be increasingly unwilling to put their most precious resource, their young, in harm's way.”

Japan is famous for the longevity of it's population, with life expectation being 86 years for women and 79 for men. With virtually no immigration and an ageing population, there is a wide imbalance with the demographics. This can be best illustrated by adult diapers outselling baby diapers (figures from diaper manufacturer Unicharm ). More than 20 percent of Japan's people are 65 or over.

There are two sides to any story, and despite all this fall in population, Japan remains a very crowded place. Japan is surrounded by Asian countries bursting with large young populations, but Japan has always set it's face against any immigration. Many Japanese feel that any fall in the population, will make the country a much better place.

It is the little black dress (LBD) women spend an equivalent of five days looking for that special life changing dress and then it is kept at the back of the wardrobe for ever and day. The average woman will keep the dress only for that extra special event. The reasoning behind this is that they do not want friends and close people to spot the recurring fashion theme. Also they fear that this time consuming search will be of no avail if it is worn so much that it will no longer feel special.

Laundry specialist Dr Beckman commissioned the survey of 2,000 women. Eight in ten the 2,000 women questioned said they owned that special dress, and half of rest are actively looking, and a similar number . Most women feel that their wardrobe would be incomplete without the LBD. The average amount spent on this item is £125, but that figure can be at least tripled once accessories such as shoes and handbags are factored in.

Dr. Beckmann spokesperson is Susan Fermor and she said: “The little black dress is a well-established fashion icon. Yet most are worn just a couple of times and remain unwashed and unused in the back of Britain’s wardrobes. For many women just owning a little black dress and knowing it is there to be called upon if it is required is enough to justify the expense.”

Women shouldn't trust the opposite sex when it comes to fashion advice, according to new findings. Many men admitted they were too scared to offer their true opinion on their partner's wardrobe tastes while 70 per cent said they didn't want to hurt their other half's feelings when they were posed with the question: Does my bum look big in this?

You men of faint heart, you cause the good women of this country to spend £2 billion too much on clothing. In a further study on women shopping habits, this time commissioned by very.co.uk the on line clothing retailer, some startling facts emerged. Men you are just of a quivering mass of weakness, at least 9 out of ten of you are. This proportion of those interviewed were willing to say no to the question “does my bum look big in this” even if it did, just so they can have an easy weekend. Yes you came to the dress and you saw, but you could not conquer your fears.

A quarter of male “shopping assistants”, were shown to be miserable back sliders, foregoing a truthful answer, just so that they get away early from their task. This is a poor excuse to get to the pub early. It gets worse. One fifth of the strong men of this land, were willing to submit with quivering lip, just in case the incident were to be brought up at a later date. Warriors and Yeomen of this great nation, let me put your mind at ease. There are far more important incidents of which you could be reminded of, at a time deemed appropriate, just in case you have gaps in your memory. This can occur on multiple occasions.

Yorkshire men in your 50's I salute you. You true and steadfast people are the most likely to tell the truth. As for Birmingham men in their 30's you are among the worst. No wonder your football teams are struggling.

Avocados have long been considered a health food, a super food even, now some scientists are of the view that avocados could be a weapon in the fight against ageing and disease. At the very heart of our well being, the area where tiny cells known as mitochondria turn the food we eat into energy, they may guard against a deadly by-product of this process called antioxidants.

The centre of the scientists attention at the American Society for Biochemistry is the oil produced by the fruit. Researcher Christian Cortes-Rojo said: “The problem is that the antioxidants in [other] substances are unable to enter mitochondria. So free radicals go on damaging mitochondria, causing energy production to stop and the cell to collapse and die. An analogy would be that, during an oil spill, if we cleaned only the spilled oil instead of fixing the perforation where oil is escaping, then the oil would go on spilling, and fish would die anyway.”

It is a natural by-product of a biological process, but the very act of giving us energy to live, results in ageing and maybe early death. The situation with free radicals is aggravated by outside influences such as pollution, tobacco smoke, radiation and maybe even stress. Whatever the circumstances the results of the bombard the human body with greater risk, the outcome is the same. The natural waste products of metabolism, free radicals, cause havoc in the body, triggering chain reactions that destroy cell membranes, proteins and even DNAhe, resulting aging and it is believed to be a major role in in damage to arteries and the development of cancer.

The optimism in the health benefits of avocados, stems from tests showed that yeast cells were able to survive exposure to high concentrations of iron, which is an element that produces 'huge amounts' of free radicals. Avocado oil has a similar composition to another “super food” olive oil. In Mediterranean countries olive oil is consumed in large quantities, and has been attributed to the lower levels of chronic disease in those countries developing.

Mexico is the world's major producer of avocados, and it was in Mexico that research was conducted into the health value of the fruit, showing that the fruit lowers blood levels of cholesterol as well as certain fats linked to diabetes. This has led to the fruit being called 'the olive oil of the Americas'. Mr Cortes-Rojo of the University said: “We’ll need to confirm that what has been observed in yeasts could occur in higher organisms, such as humans.”

Over recent years the rate in the number deaths from road accidents have been brought down by a range of measures, but the same cannot be said of the air quality killing more people in the UK than road accidents. Pollution from traffic, planes power stations and other sources is killing close on 13,000 Britons each year. Emissions from vehicles is the single most deadly contributors to premature deaths through air quality and by comparison fewer than 3,300 people died as a result of road accidents. The alarming death toll is more than four times greater than the number killed on the roads. Emissions from car and lorry exhaust was the single greatest contributor to premature death, affecting some 3,300 people annually. In comparison fewer than 3,000 died in road accidents in the UK in 2005 - the latest data available. After road transport, emissions from shipping and aviation cause 1,800 early deaths annually, followed by those from power plants which are responsible for 1,700.

We do not even have complete control of emissions that are causing the problem, as it originates on continental Europe, at least to a high degree. If we consider the “export/import” aspect of emissions, Europe causes 6,000 early deaths in the UK, but UK emissions cause 3,100 premature deaths in Europe. The figures came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You have to feel a little sorry for northern Scotland, because here almost all air pollution come from other parts of Europe.

As many will know, London is in violation of EU air quality standards, and as this report shows it has been served despite a great part of the total pollution originating elsewhere. Professor Steven Barrett, was leader of the team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he said: “'We wanted to know if the responsibility to maintain air quality was matched by an ability to act or do something about it. The results indicate there is an asymmetry there.”

To gain the results the group from Massachusetts divided emissions into sectors based on there source; road transport, power generation, commercial, residential and agricultural sources and other transport, such as shipping and aviation. The next stage was build a model simulating temperature and wind not dissimilar to that used in weather forecasting. Data was entered into the system on how weather might move emissions, then a chemistry transport was used to show how the atmospheric chemicals from the different types of sources interacted. Finally, data was used to see how weather would disperse them. After all of this population density maps were overlaid to obtain information to see where the greatest long term exposure to this danger.

It is not just the content of these emission “clouds” that is significant, but also the size of particles contained in them. The smaller particles of 2.5 microns or less, are more of a health threat, because of the small size allows them to enter further into the human body, and therefore are more likely to result in premature death. In the study by Professor Barrett it was observed that most of the emissions were of this more dangerous size

Where you live has a major impact on which type of pollution would put you most at risk. In the north of England power plants presents the greater risk, whereas in London shipping and aviation would be the major cause for concern. If you live in an area where there is a likelihood of there being a large amount of emissions from vehicles, perhaps if live near a motorway, then this becomes your greatest risk A final word from Professor Barrett: “People have a number of risk factors in their life. Air pollution is another risk factor. And it can be significant, especially for people who live in cities.”

Many people switch to soya because they are lactose intolerant, but there could be much more to this natural food than that, and is proven to offer support for your liver. A team at the University of Illinois compared the livers of lean and obese rats that had previously been fed either milk or soya. Not surprisingly the lean animals showed no differences, but the obese rats that had been fed a diet containing either milk or soya showed a 20% reduction in the harmful build up of fat in the liver in the soya fed rats.

There is another benefit with another type of fat, with soya showing to lead to the reduction in triglycerides, which is a fat known to be harmful to the heart, also to the same level. Dr Hong Chen was the study leader and said: “Almost a third of American adults have fatty liver disease, many of them without symptoms. Obesity is a key risk factor for this condition, which can lead to liver failure. When fat accumulates in an organ that's not supposed to store fat, like the liver, that organ's vital function can be dangerously compromised. In many obese persons there's a sort of traffic problem, and when more fat can make its way out of the liver, there's less pressure on the organ.”

The findings of the study were recently presented to the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Diego, California. This far from being the only study of the health benefits of soya. It follows a recent study from Delaware University that found drinking two glasses of soya milk a day eased hot flushes in menopausal women.

Hot flushed are very uncomfortable for the sufferer, and last an average of four minutes and in this time can produce an intense heat. Repeated over a day, they can also severely disrupt sleep during the night. Professor Melissa Melby found the ingredient reduced the frequency of this uncomfortable symptom by 20 per cent and severity by 26 per cent, following a comprehensive review.

The New Zealand authorities are considering a punitive pricing for packets of cigarettes to discourage people smoking. The target price for a packet of cigarettes could be as high $100 by 2020. The aim of this is make New Zealand smoke free by 2025. An alternative option could be a 10% increase each of the years from 2013 to 2015. To arrive at $100 a pack of cigarettes by 2013 would require an annual increase of at least 30%. It is not just a pricing strategy that is being considered, but also regulating tobacco as a highly toxic substance. One measure appearing in the government paper was stopping adults smoking in cars where children were travelling.

Natasha Harris, aged 30, died of a cardiac arrest, after drinking 10 litres of Coca-Cola each day. There were warnings in the preceding months before her death when she had reportedly been vomiting six times a week. The partner of Natasha Harris attributed the symptom to stress. The 30 year old mother was clearly having problems of living without the consumption of Coca-Cola, as she was experiencing moody, irritable and lack of energy, if there was an interruption to the supply of the drink.

The partner of the dead woman, Chris Hodgkinson gave evidence to the coroner of the town of Otago-Southland Mr David Crear by saying: "The first thing she would do in the morning was have a drink of Coke and the last thing she would do in the day was have a drink of Coke by her bed. I never thought about it. It's just a soft drink, just like drinking water. I didn't think a soft drink was going to kill her."

Pathologist Dr. Dan Mornin giving evidence to coroner said that is most probable that Harris likely to have had severe hypokalemia -- a lack of potassium in the blood -- brought on by her excessive consumption of soda. The actual cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, and that her soft drink habit, along with poor nutrition and too much caffeine, all contributed to her death.

It was not absolutely proved that the intake of Coca-Cola was the caused her death, but was certainly a big contributor. In a statement to the “The Southland Times” newspaper a Coca-Cola representative said t "grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water" could be harmful, and adding "We believe that all foods and beverages can have a place in a balanced and sensible diet combined with an active lifestyle.”

You may think that modern computers are pretty fast, but they will seem positively pedestrian in the near future. We are about to enter a new era of super fast computers, by which we mean 1,000 times faster. By the end of this decade exaFLOP computers will usher in huge step forward. ExaFLOP is a scientific term to measure performance. To gain an insight into this new term, we need to break the word down. FLOPS is an acronym for Floating point Operations per Second. “exa” is prefix and it stands for quintillion. Which in turn stands for a billion billion.

Now we know we are dealing with a very large number. The level ar which we are at now is petaFLOP, which means they operate at one million billion, or at least we did. In 2008 this was to be exceeded by a computer that operated at 1.7 petaFLOP (2009). The Japanese hold the record, but who knows for how long, and it currently stands at 2.75 petaFLOPS. All major countries are investing a lot of money to produce the next generation computer; EU, US, China.

The figure we have been talking about contains a lot of zeros. Here is the figure represented by a mathematical number; 1,000,000,000,000,000,000. An exa scale computer would be able to carry the same number of calculations as 50 million laptops, every second. They also take a lot of room, a whole football field amount of room. Current estimates of the amount of power to operate a computer of this size at one megawatt or the same amount of power needed to operate one million 100 watt light bulbs.

Clearly this is not the type of computer needed to download the latest film or alter your Facebook page. It will transform a number of science disciplines; astrophysics, climate modelling, biology and assisting in national security. There will be quite a few implications, and we will have a better idea by 2018, when the first of the new super computers come on stream.

You are a poor Indian boy, aged five years old, and become separated from your older brother while taking a break from his job as a sweeper on a train. He fell asleep and the train left, and Saroo woke up and thinking the train in front of him he boarded it, but of course it was the wrong one. Saroo explains "It was late at night. We got off the train, and I was so tired that I just took a seat at a train station, and I ended up falling asleep."

A life changing event for any child. It led to the boy living on the streets of Calcuta. Imagine the terror, when you realise that you are completely alone, not knowing where you are and what will happen next. Daunting enough for an adult but for a five year old boy. That was back in 1986. Saroo added "I thought my brother would come back and wake me up but when I awoke he was nowhere to be seen. I saw a train in front of me and thought he must be on that train. So I decided to get on it and hoped that I would meet my brother."

Having fallen asleep on the train and remained asleep for 14 hours and in the process ended up in Calcutta. This would be a dangerous situation for a child and it took all his wits to just stay out of trouble. There was however a happy ending to this story, as he ended up in an orphanage, and subsequently put up to adoption. A couple, the Brierley's from Tasmania, were successful in taking up the adoption. Saroo was philosophical about his new situation and he accepted his move to Australia, as he could not find his way back home.

An astonishing statistic regarding the success of the Apple corporation and it it's products has revealed that nearly half of households in US have some sort of Apple device in them. In an amazing turnaround for Apple, they have come back from the brink of bankruptcy, to make a meteoric rise under the guidance of the late great Steve Jobs. At the turn of the 21St Century they had only 2% of the market for the products in it's sector, and that was mainly with Mac computers.

Now iPad, iPods and iPhones are everywhere. They have clearly found a rising tide of consumer need, but it is the style and performance of their products that has led to their success, to the point where an CNBC All American Economic Survey has identified the fact that 51% of all households now have at least one Apple product in them. Looking in more detail at the survey, those households with Apple product ownership have at least three of them. So this is not like the situation with refrigerators or TV's, where there is a much greater spread of ownership, but are much more common in households with a $77,000 dollar income or above. In fact they make up 77% of Apple owning households.

There is a large and ever growing need for different sized tablets. Many are happy with the 10 x 7 inch Apple iPad, while others are lot happier with a smaller product that can easily be slipped into a pocket or handbag, such as a Kindle Fire or Nook Color. Estimates by iSupply suggests that 3.9 million Kindle Fire were purchased in the last quarter of 2011, but that is only 25% of the total number of iPads sold during the same period.

There is also the device that can't make up it's mind if it is a tablet or smartphone; the Samsung Galaxy Note, which sold five million units in the six months after it's launch. Back at Apple HQ it rumoured that a 7 inch iPad mini will be launched this year. This will be easier to use than it's larger cousin and will be much cheaper, perhaps in the $249 - $299 price range. Understandably details are sketchy but the third quarter seems to be favourite for the launch and that as many as 6 million units will be available. While this is not from the horses mouth, it is reported to be from the horses mouth's manufacturer in China.

You are an illiterate five year old, and so you do not know the name of the town where you came from. Twenty five years later a grown up Saroo had clear even vivid memories of his home town. There would be only one way to put those memories to good use, and that would to be use Google Earth. Google Earth alone would not find the solution. Saroo worked out how to harness Google Earth and he said: "I multiplied the time I was on the train, about 14 hours, with the speed of Indian trains and I came up with a rough distance, about 1,200km." After calculating the distance travelled it was a simple matter of drawing a circle on a map with centre of that circle in Calcutta. Using this method he discovered Khandwa and he said: "When I found it, I zoomed down and bang, it just came up. I navigated it all the way from the waterfall where I used to play."

Armed with a photograph of himself as a child and the remembered names of his family, he headed to Khandwa and still using his childhood memories found his way round his old town. Having found his way to Ganesh Talai but the home was abandoned, and a neighbour said his family had moved. Saloo continued with the story: "Another person came and then a third person turned up, and that is when I struck gold. He said, 'Just wait here for a second and I shall be back.' And when he did come back after a couple of minutes he said, 'Now I will be taking you to your mother.' “ I just felt numb and thought, 'Am I hearing what I think I am hearing?'" He remembered his mother as being a young woman of 34 and did not take into account the effects of ageing, but there was enough of a resemblance for him to make a positive identification.

Of this meeting with his mother he said: “She grabbed my hand and took me to her house. She could not say anything to me. I think she was as numb as I was. She had a bit of trouble grasping that her son, after 25 years, had just reappeared like a ghost." It was a fortune teller that gave his mother hope saying she would meet her son again.

There was some bad news though: "A month after I had disappeared my brother was found in two pieces on a railway track. We were extremely close and when I walked out of India the tearing thing for me was knowing that my older brother had passed away." And there is something to make him sleep better - with memories of Slumdog Millionaire still fresh, publishers and film producers are getting interested in his incredible story.

Two girls from Las Vegas and both in their mid twenties, Ashley Ross and Lindsay Klimitz, have bought the rights to manufacture and distribute “Rollasole, a British based company. Their move was prompted by a night out and a nightmare journey home because of the stiletto-wearing walk, leaving them with sore feet. The solution was at hand, a vending machine that sells ballet flats. No ordinary flats are these. They are dispensed rolled up in a plastic cup and are described as being soft and squishy. They are disposable but also recyclable, so you will not have a guilt trip about land fill sites full of flat shoes

With the standard dress for a night out these days, being a tiny little purse and even in the bleak and cold winter a very small dress, completed with high heels you almost need planning permission for, it is easy to see there is a demand for vended flats. One of the first thing that the girls had to do was to put a little more style into the product. This means flats with additional features such as; gold studs, rhinestones, polka dots and leopard print, just to make sure that although the customer has a matching walking shoe to match the improbably small skirts.

The key for the success of this new service is how long the girl has to walk and how strong willed against strong pain. Some girls could perhaps manages a two hour walk, most though would only manage one hour if that, The pain factor combined with the distance home, will decide how many are sold. The other factor, is that many would like to preserve their high heels just for the venue and not risk walking in them over long distances. Add a little alcohol and you will probably have a sale. Club owners like the idea, because it is their view that girls who wear them stay out for an average 40 minutes longer, and presumably buy more drink.

The 29Th day of March passed by for many without being particularly different than other of the 364 days of the year, or rather 365 days in this leap year, but some National Cleavage Day was either a low or high spot of the year depending on your point of view. The Wonderbra survey to celebrate National Cleavage Day, had more than a hint of the old format beauty pageant. To be fair to the organisers, no detail was forgotten and the whole process was carried out to make sure that the elements of a perfect cleavage were observed. Well maybe.

Wonderbra spokesman Martina Alexander said: ”We are thrilled that British beauty Holly Willoughby fought off such strong competition to become the first celebrity to be inducted in to the Wonderbra Cleavage Hall of Fame. Wonderbra is proud to be the original cleavage creator and what better excuse for women to celebrate their curves than today, National Cleavage Day.” The elements that led to the award for the title included perkiness of her breasts, how close they sit together and last but not least, their size.

Other females including; Rihanna, Marilyn Monroe, Dita von Teese, Katy Perry, Brigitte Bardot, Kim Kardashian and Lara Stone were all highly commended for their impressive cleavage. It is interesting how females view cleavage in sometimes surprising ways. Two out of three women are happy to show off their cleavage, claiming that it makes them feel both sexy and feminine, leading to increased confidence. It is the use of cleavage as a weapon that gives us the greatest insight into modern female attitudes.

Half of those questioned said they used their cleavage as a secret weapon, ranging in situations such as getting served faster at a bar, avoiding a parking or speeding fine, and hardly surprisingly making a good first impression on a first date.

They are know paradoxically as five fingered footwear, and are the fashionable thing to ware on the feet for the rich and famous. Prince harry is one of those running shoes intended to simulate the act of running barefoot. Looking like some oversized pair of gloves. They have now been the focus of a class action lawsuit against the company that makes them. The person suing the company is Valerie Bezdek, claiming that the shoes pose a greater threat to the user than regular running shoes and even the bare foot running the design was meant to simulate.

Among the information contained in the lawsuit, was that from the American Podiatric Medical Association, which stated that the $104.90 footwear “Research has not yet adequately shed light on the immediate and long term effects of it's practice.'Risks of barefoot running include a lack of protection - which may lead to injuries such as puncture wounds - and increased stress on the lower extremities. Made to replicate the effects of barefoot running, the company stated that their product provides 'all the health benefits of barefoot running.'”

The claim is that the company had not shown any evidence or detailed research that can support the claims of the company for it's product. Ms Bezdek has on the contrary claimed that the product actually 'increases injury risk'. Ms Bezdek pointed to the much higher price of the”Five Finger” range, which it is claimed is much higher than the average price of jogging or running shoes of $62.33, as claimed by The National Sporting Goods Association based on 2010 prices.

The main legal argument is that the consistently sharper rise of five percent or more since 2008, has been based at least in a large part on the health benefit claims. It is not just the fact that the shoes are more and more fashionable, but that the price premium is to an extent on the company claims on the advantages to the wearer.

The top ten in the awards were; 1. Holly Willoughby, 2. Scarlett Johansson, 3. Beyonce, 4. Rihanna, 5. Marilyn Monroe, 6. Dita Von Teese, 7. Katy Perry, 8. Brigitte Bardot, 9. Kim Kardashian, 10 Lara Stone

The policy adopted by John Lewis of 'never knowingly undersold', has forced the department store group to match Debenham's prices and thereby reducing their fashion clothing prices. Overall sales at the retailer were up 2.4 per cent compared to the same week last year. The star department store individual branch was Poole, by beating the sales figure for last year by 19 percent. Another part of John Lewis that did very well was johnlewis.com, up 37 percent on the previous year. The unseasonally warm weather also gave a boost to their sunglasses sales.

Hermès can trace their history back to the 19th Century and the production of saddle and harness for horses. Now in the 21s Century are more famous for handbags. The Leather Forever event will take place at 6 Burlington Gardens from the 8Th to 27Th of May. Featured will be items from the Hermes archive, with pieces commissioned by the Duke of Windsor for Wallis Simpson. The label has created one-off variations of the Passe-Guide, and handbags have been created to represent the four home nations; England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. These will appear in an on line auction by Christies. The proceeds from this auction will go to the Royal Academy of Arts.

The English bag has a design based on the bearskin hats that are worn by the Queen's Guard, and is produced using red box calfskin, all set off by silver fittings and a black fur charm. Weavers Johnstones of Elgin have helped produce an orange tartan design and inevitably with a giant kilt pin. For the Irish bag they used vivid green crocodile skin, and what else but a four leaf clover charm. The Welsh bag features a dragon that is embossed on it's front. Hermès was established by Thierry Hermès in Paris in the year 1837

A goal in life is a wonderful thing, without goals we would be just wandering generalities, and this is what a large proportion of the population are. Companies set goals for the coming year, sports teams set targets for the coming season. Government set out policies that they hope will change things in society, and within these policies are goals, things to be achieved.

As a group within a club, company or any organisation, we are usually part of a goal or target that has been set by the leaders, or even the whole group. As individuals goals are less likely to be set. Some people spend more time and effort planning a holiday, than they do their life, their future. Let us remind ourselves just what a goal is. A goal is pursuit of a worthwhile dream or aim, but with a date on it. Without a date your dream will remain just that; a dream.

The thing about a goal is that it directs you to something which you haven't yet acquired or experienced in your life. Goals pull your talent from you and force you to come up with the goods. Starting with the end in mind pulls both your action and your attitude towards goals. If it is the correct goal, in that it is really what you want, it will give you energy.

One of the best ways to reach your goal(s) sooner is have a picture with you, an actual image of what you want. Better still use all your senses. Let us suppose you want a new car, perhaps a sports car. Seek out a web site that contains photos and details of the vehicle. For me I have image on my desk top on my computer. They are small pictures, simple jpegs. Every time I switch on the computer, I click on each image that represents my goal bringing it up as a full screen image.

Better still why not use all your senses. Go to a showroom, and get to grips with that new car, Smell the leather of the seats, feel the smooth paintwork and the steering wheel. Listen to the sound of the engine . I did this with the latest Jaguar. Believe me I didn’t need to go the gym for two weeks. My heart was pumping at a much faster rate, my breathing rate increased and my hand was shaking with excitement. The point of all this is that goal – a new Jaguar – is now set in my heart as if someone had carved it there. It is as real to me as actually seeing it every day. I have though kept an image of the car where I can see it every day. What this contact of the many kind did, was focus on what I need to do. SOME WILL SAY I WILL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT, but what we should be saying is I WILL SEE IF I BELIEVE IT. Keep this in mind: WHAT EVER A MAN CAN CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE HE CAN IN FACT ACHIEVE.

How many? How big? How often? In what time frame? As we are in this context you're setting goals for the next year of your life and remember it can be any starting point in the year, it doesn't have to be your birthday or a New Year, it can be today or tomorrow, but better today. A commitment to a dead line for achieving a goal adds momentum and energy and determination and certainty. Limiting the time frame to achieve your goal will result in focus.

Having set your annual goals, it is advisable to set milestone deadlines spread over the year. By breaking up the one task it makes everything more manageable. The smaller step gives the person something to aim for in the short term, whereas an annual goal can often seem far off, and may lead to the person setting the goal to become discouraged.

Examples: Firstly an annual goal; Do a form of aerobic exercise four times a week and lose one stone. Now break this down to a three month goal; Jog three times a week and lose four pounds. This is certainly a good idea, particularly with physical exercise, as a sudden burst of physical exercise by someone who is not fully fit can do more harm than good.

Another annual goal could be; Write my first book and find an agent and publisher. Once again we can break down the annual goal down to a three month segment. A three month goal; Write chapter outlines and contact three potential agents.

The more specific, detailed, clear in your mind the more quickly you'll see what to do and be able to find the resources to achieving your aim. A GOOD example of BAD non specific goal is; Spend more time with my children. This is a worthy aim, but for the subconscious to prompt the conscious mind into action, it really needs to be specific. An example of a specific goal is: Read to my children for at least 30 minutes three times a week.

Now the brain must sort out a number of issues to bring the goal into being. The person must free up three thirty minute slots every week. Which days? What time? What about the choice of books? How many books? How much input must the children put in? Maybe you are under a lot a stress at the moment, so obviously you want to reduce the stress levels. A non-specific goal in this situation would be, I want to reduce my stress level and increase my peace of mind. Well nearly everyone does, and nearly everyone fails to do so.

A specific goal for stress relief is: I will meditate at least fifteen minutes each morning. There is now more meat on the bone with this goal. There is a definite time span involved, fifteen minutes. This time slot must be found every day, because we said every morning. This implies that the person must get up earlier each day, and perhaps go to bed a little earlier at night. We may not be sure about the correct way to meditate, maybe we need a couple of sessions with an expert.

Powerful goals start with strong active verb words. Verbs are action words and starting with these at the start of a goal will give it a better more positive start, because a goal suggests some sort of action is needed, and for this reason they should be at the beginning of the sentence. Verbs mark the beginning of your goal and a simple and complete sentence stating clearly the result you want. Verbs clarify what needs to be done, and stimulates the call to action and clearly describe exactly what you want to do

Give/ Earn/ Join/ Practice/ Write/ Spend time/ Complete/ Arrange/ Plan/ Get/ Choose/ Invest/ Achieve/ Learn/ Work/ Ensure/ Make and Meet. Starting your goals with these kinds of words gives you a direction and gets the momentum going, the minute you write them down.

RESULT GOAL: Achieve sales target of £150,000 PROCESS GOAL: Make 20 new sales calls a week.

Powerful goals are simple, clear instructions for you and your awareness. You now know where the bulls eye is located and have an excellent chance of hitting it.

Whole life goals are for everyone. One of the worst things you can do is to complete and not have something to replace it with. It is a case of constantly trying to do better. As before we can break it all down to five year goals and allow you to target something longer term and beyond this are our one year goals.

I would urge you set big powerful goals so that you can activate great things and lead a great life. Endless procrastination and disappointment and lack of self respect are the products of the little wants.

As the French voted for their next president at the weekend was concluded, many well heeled French men and women were considering their option after French President-elect Francois Hollande began his term in office. Hollande has vowed to end the austerity measures that is blighting much of Europe, but within this policy is desire to milk the rich. The decisions made by some French people will have an impact on the London property market, particularly the property market in the Kensington area

London has been considered a safe haven for the affluent Europeans to flee the turmoil in their own country. The victory for Francois Hollande will have sent a shiver down the spines of those on higher incomes, because he has stated that he didn't like the rich and intends to impose a 75% tax on the wealthiest citizens. There has already been an exodus of 300,000 French expatriates to London, and London now has the nickname of “Paris on Thames.

South Kensington is the key area for those French national heading to London. This geographical area is now home to thousands of French families. With the large influx has come all the services that cater for French tastes and interests. The French in the area have their own school ( or “lycée,” ), a Francophone cinema, cafes and cake shops. All this activity has resulted in the value of homes in postcode areas such as SW7 and SW5 rise by an average of 5% to 6% per month in the first quarter of 2012 alone. The price of property in prime locations has risen by 40% since 2007, according to estate agents Douglas and Gordon. If you want to buy a house in this chic area of London, you will have to pay in the region of $3.2 million

There have been various national waves of different nationalities depending on how each crisis is played out regionally or nationally. The French are not in crisis, but they sufficiently dissatisfied with their situation to make a move. The French are now the biggest foreign group of buyers of London property, accounting for 8% of real estate purchases, and looking to the near future enquiries from potential French clients has increased by 19%

Douglas & Gordon they are so busy dealing with French clients , they have set up a special French speaking office, with four extra French speaking staff. Ed Mead is the director of Douglas and Gordon in South Kensington and he said: “The French have always loved this area but we are seeing more and more. They like the wide avenues and big apartments this part of town offers but also the quaint mews houses. To think some of these properties were built as stables for horses originally but they are now they are worth $2-to-$3 million but demand is strong and now they are all being redone.”

Bright Foods a major food manufacturer in China, has bought a 60% stake in the Weetabix Food Company, which is the first time a Chines group has bought a large major European brand. Bright Foods is state owned. This is not the first time they have sought to take over a major food manufacturer, because last year there was a failed bid for Britain's United Biscuits. Lion Capital the previous owners are retaining 40% of the shares. Bright Foods are taking on the debt held by the company.

Akeel Sachak is global head of the consumer team at Rothschild, and they were the advisers on the deal and he said: "After much talk about Chinese companies looking at investing in the UK, this is the first time that a Chinese company has actually bought a major European consumer brand. The consumer market in China is evolving fast. Chinese companies understandably want to satisfy the latent demand with products they own rather than watch foreign multinational groups bring their brands to Asia, and breakfast foods are an obvious area of growth in China."

In the US women have been gradually breaking through the glass ceiling, but research suggests that there is now it is claimed, a green ceiling. This green ceiling has little to do with the environment, but refers to investors less likely to back a females CEO led company with investment, compared with a man. Between 1997 and 2007 the proportion of women holding high corporate office increased from just 10% at the beginning of the ten year period, to 55% by 2007.

For the purposes of the study students were given a fake prospectus of a real company that had an IPO through Goldman Sachs, and the only change was the gender of the fake applicant. The authors of the report said: “Given the increasing numbers of women executives in the top management teams of IPO firms, the lack of female-led IPO firms is a curious fact, especially since women-owned private businesses represent almost half of the new businesses formed in the United States.”

Of the 222 MBA station who rated the fake IPO presentations, only 45 were women. The bias was shown by both men and women who received the report. Moreover the predicted share price of IPO's that were led by men, were set at 11% higher than the identical female presentation.

Wealthy Greeks have been part of property boom for the last two years. The reasons for their presence in London is different from the French. There country seems permanently in a state of crisis caused by external restriction primarily by Germany. One resident has just sold a two bedroom apartment for about $2 million to a Greek cash buyer, and t was way above the price he thought he would get when he put the property on the market two short weeks ago, but after a short while he must have guessed with over 200 requests to view the flat. It is mostly southern Europeans who are generating this boom.

We cannot imagine the terrible thoughts going through the mind of Apostolos Polyzonis mind when he stood outside a bank in central Thessaloniki, and doused himself with petrol and intended to commit suicide through setting himself alight. Mr Polzonis survived the flames because of swift action by the police. With just 10 Euros or about $13 in his pocket he was at a low ebb and he said: "At that moment, I saw my life as worthless, I really didn't care if I was going to live or die. My sense of living was much lower than my sense of self-respect and pride, the fact that I had lost my right to be a free Greek” Obviously he had been a successful business man, but the economic situation in Greece had driven him to this. There have been a rising tide of suicides in Greece.

Here is a business sector tat expects to add 11,000 jobs this year. The business area that is enjoying a boom in times of poor business performance is hair and beauty industry. Male grooming is playing it's part, but the traditional users of these services, females, are maintaining their regular visits to the hairdressers. The average annual amount spent on various hair treatments and manicure comes in at £752.

Richard Hull, managing director of Salon Services, said: “The fact that the hair and beauty industry continues to perform strongly in difficult economic conditions is testament to the talent and business nous of hard-working professionals across the UK. It's time for an industry with an annual turnover of £6bn, employing a quarter of a million people, to get the credit it deserves."

Stephen Hester has, in some ways, been handed a poisoned chalice, in taking over the Royal Bank of Scotland from Fred Goodwin. The figure are good given the circumstances, but the low starting point of the bank's finances means that any sort of result will be greeted in a negative way. For those who have forgotten the amount owed the bank will repay the final tranche of money owed to the Britain and the US next week. The latest payment will be £5.7 billion on the original £164 billion. The bank is on track, despite a £1.4 billion loss in the first three quarter of this year.

On the operating level RBS produced figures ahead of analysts predictions. The predicted level of profits were of £900 million, but RBS were able to go a little better with £1.1 billion. The big question hanging over the heads of RBS management are toxic assets, talked about as 'a ticking time bomb'. Partly because of this the bank boss has admitted that a return to dividends is 'some way off'. The RBS major share holder is the taxpayer, with a 82% share holding. Mr Hestor said: "We are fixing the bank but the bank can only do as well as our customers do.”

Overall shopping spend dropped at the greatest amount for 11 months, being a 4.4% overall, with household goods experiencing the largest falls with a 9.6% drop. It may not just the weather that was a factor, as on line spending saw an annual decline of 0.8%. The March figures may have distorted the figures with the siege of the petrol pumps. Another distorting factor could have been the Royal Wedding last year.

Director John Booth

Web developer.. Alan Booth

Yes it seems incredible, but due to the Internet and other technological advances, more and more people are opting to operate a business from home. In the recent past, many companies have allowed, perhaps even encouraged their employees to at least work part of their time from home. It makes a lot of sense, because it is much more efficient, with the travel aspect taken away from the working day. Women with children find it an advantage, by cutting down on expensive child care cost, but the staggering figure of 40 per cent of businesses being run from home, represents a new higher level.

Many businesses require a huge investment in stock, and more money on premises, and all the other expenses, but by starting from home you will be able to work more efficiently. One of the best businesses to start with now, is based on nutrition. In the recession people are less focused on things like plasma screen TV's, and are concentrating more on their personal and spiritual well being. Everyone is concerned about their health these days, to the point that many would put it ahead of nearly everything else. More importantly from your point of view as a potential new business owner, they prepared also to spend a lot of money protecting your health.

I know what you are probably thinking. Start a business at this time, that would be financial suicide wouldn't it? Even during the Great Depression of the 1930's people were making money. It depends what type of business and how it is run

One way of achieving this is to start a business in your spare time, while still working at your job or conventional business. This allows you to continue what you are doing, but start to build a business in your spare time, without the risks normally associated with a business start up. The points to look for when starting a business:

It should be a low cost set up, so that you are not weighed down with debt from the start. You want to go into business to make money, not lose even more. Also you would want an escape clause so that if thing did not work out, you could exit without financial loss.

It should be transportable and be able to operate in different locations, preferably in different locations at the same time. Locally a corner shop owner found himself in trouble because a local discount store opened up near by. After many years of successful trading, he had to admit defeat and close down. It was impossible for him to relocate.

It should provide a product or service that nearly everyone wants or needs. Recently I bought a new freezer and we are delighted with it, but it going to be years before we need to replace it. Far better to have products that people use and then order some more the following month

There should be full help and back-up at all times, with those more experienced in the business able to offer their help and guidance at all times. However successful you have been in your chosen job or profession, starting a new venture requires new skills and information. If you don't get the back-up, you could flounder.

A major company can offer all the advantages itemised at the beginning of this article, while at the same time offer some of the finest products, resulting from extensive research. They have a fantastic range of food supplements, that are way beyond simple vitamins. If we look at just one the ranges; sports nutrition and weight loss. The overall sales in this sector taking into account all companies, grew 9 per cent in 2010 to reach $23 billion.

Low start up cost, fully supported business.

Excellent consumables product line

Opportunity for a global reach business run from home