Throughout the decades, the social significance of black
hairstyles has remained a relevant part of black history. Unlike
other American cultural trends, black hairstyles represent a
significant history and pride amongst black women. Where else
does one’s self worth and self image play such a high role in
society? When black women enter the salon for a new hairdo, many
times they must look at the “whole picture”; considering the
social message that they will be sending when walking out of the
salon and into black society.

Since the 1400’s, when slaves were brought to the “New World,”
they were made to change their hairstyles to more traditional
European standards. This included the use of herbs and
botanicals that relaxed their coarse hair, giving the appearance
of finer hair. Throughout slave times, black women grown
accustomed to their European counterparts wore their hair
straightened, combed, and parted. Since that time, black women
have often been ridiculed for their choices regarding their
hair.

In modern day times, black women must choose to conform to
Western society and their hairstyles or go for the more natural
look. During the late sixties, the “Afro” and more traditional
ways of wearing one’s hair made a debut. The image of freedom
and pride led the movement for the El Natural look. But it was
just that, a trend, that came and went; and in the near future;
will most likely come again. However, since that time, more
black women have opted for hairstyles that are “Americanized”
and project the societal views of beautiful hair. Nothing is
more evident of this trend than the huge amounts of money spent
yearly on black hairstyles at various salons.

Today, a black woman may spend hundreds of dollars at a salon
every week, striving to achieve that perfect hairstyle. Even in
the poorest of neighborhoods, hair salons and barbershops that
cater to black hair are still thriving. So are these black women
abandoning their cultural history and giving into the white
man’s ways? Most black women say “no”, it’s not a matter of
history or culture, but a matter of looking good and feeling
good about one’s self.

Oil and Gas Outlook

Chesapeake Energy, Petrol Oil and Gas, Eden Energy and CanWest
Petroleum Evaluate Impacts of Current Environment on Future Oil
and Gas Supply and Energy Prices

Ann-Marie Fleming www.OilandGasStockNews.com,
www.NaturalGasStocks.com February 2006

Despite the recent storms, the overall mild temperatures that
the United States and Canada have faced so far this winter has
allowed for a reduction in pressure on natural gas supplies.
Jeff Mobley, Vice President, Investor Relations and Research for
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) explains, “Short term
prices for natural gas will largely be driven weather. We are
fairly late into the winter heating season and we have had
extremely mild weather to date with last month being the warmest
January in over a hundred years. This resulted in a tremendous
lack of heating demand at the peak of the heating season and
relieved what had been considerable pressure on natural gas
prices early in the winter. Looking forward, there is a
substantial amount of natural gas in storage. Warm temperatures,
particularly early in the summer, may be needed to generate
incremental demand for natural gas fired power generation and
help balance ample current gas supplies”

However, many insiders believe that the price of natural gas
will remain high into 2006 and beyond despite the recent
declines in demand and related price reduction due to the mild
weather. Philip McPherson, Director of Research, C.K. Cooper &
Company, describes the arena for natural gas moving forward,
“With Natural Gas futures breaking $8.00 per Mmcfe for the first
time since July this has everyone calling for $6.00 natural gas.
It’s not going to happen. While storage levels are well above 5
year averages, a cold snap at the end of February could quickly
restore a level of fear in traders pushing prices back to the
$10.00 level. We have argued that natural gas will bounce around
the $8 to $10 level this year dependent upon level. I think this
recent sell-off in the natural gas names is a great buying
opportunity as these companies are reaping huge profit margins
even at $7 gas. Investors new to the sector must realize that
just 4 years ago gas prices where $2 per Mcfe.”

As Paul Branagan, CEO of Petrol Oil and Gas (OTCBB: POIG)
describes, “With record market prices late last fall followed by
a relatively mild winter and storage capacity currently above
the 5year historical range according to the Energy Information
Administration (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngs/ngs.html),
it’s to no ones surprise that natural gas pricing levels have
fallen significantly in the past month. Nevertheless, current
pricing trends are still well above those for 2005 and from
Petrol’s point of view that remains a very strong indicator for
continued aggressive drilling and development within the natural
gas sector.”

In terms of oil, many experts anticipate a continuation of high
prices. Tim Brock, a Consultant with CanWest Petroleum
Corporation (OTCBB: CWPC) explains, “There are many reasons for
the price of oil to stay above $50 per barrel; world events and
world economies and demand will dictate what the future price
is, but I think it is fair to say that we are into expensive
oil.”

Don Sharpe, CEO of Eden Energy Corp, (OTCBB: EDNE) describes,
“We think oil prices will remain strong in the medium term, say
for the next 5 years. Projects to increase production from non
conventional sources have long lead times and meanwhile global
demand appears strong. Eden is preparing a number of high impact
drilling projects and intends to be in position to benefit from
this higher pricing environment. Of course, with higher prices
come higher costs, and that underscores our belief that
companies must build their drilling portfolio based on their own
concepts and not be an industry chaser. This allows them to move
projects forward without the high land costs we tend to see in
pricing environments like we have now.”

Political uncertainty in specific oil producing areas has the
potential to contribute to continued high oil prices. “Crude oil
has been very strong of late particularly with geopolitical
tensions in Iran and Nigeria, explains Mobley. “In general, the
world oil market still is reasonably supply constrained with a
limited amount of excess supply capacity. Current inventories
have been built to a fairly comfortable level in no small part
due to mild weather. Absent further geopolitical turmoil it may
be difficult for oil prices to test record levels with
inventories building short term. However, if oil prices were to
be sustained below $60 per barrel, OPEC would be in a better
position to cut production levels, potentially in their March
meeting, which would provide support to oil prices.”

According to McPherson, “For 2006 we believe we could have a
year of consolidation in oil prices, where weather and
geopolitical news keep oil trading in a tight range of $55 to
$70. This would be a good occurrence as it would give the world
a year to adjust to these higher prices, before the next move,
probably up, occurs.”

Industry Response:

Being able to balance exploration efforts, production levels and
costs with changes in natural gas demand and pricing, is a
necessary corporate strategy in particular as the industry is
highly impacted by weather. As Branagan explains, “When the
winter weather forecasts begin to gel this summer the market
will adjust accordingly and like most independent producers
we’ll continue drilling while we reconsider the focus of our
activities and how to persist in improving our assets and
revenue. Since Petrol’s production concentrates on shallow coal
bed methane our development costs are relatively low and average
well production although modest is relatively certain thus we
are quite capable of sustaining a significant price reduction
and still be quite profitable.”

As President Bush reiterates the need for the reduction of
dependence on foreign oil, industry participants evaluate ways
to increase the exploration and production of oil domestically.
As Sharpe explains, “There are a number of things that
government and industry can do together to help boost domestic
oil supply. These would include streamlining regulatory
processes, providing tax incentives to encourage exploration in
more remote or high risk areas, and encouraging non conventional
oil production from tar sands, oil shales and heavy oil
projects.”

As described by Tim Brock, Canada has the ability, through the
development of the Athabasca oil sands that has occurred over
the last 10 -15 years, to help boost domestic supply of oil.
“World’s largest deposit of oil of approximately 1.7 trillion
barrels and using current technology recoverable is around 400
billion barrels of oil which makes it the largest secured supply
of oil for the North American market. What you will be seeing is
a significant amount of capital being invested in this region by
several major corporations who believe that this area can boost
the amount of oil that Canada is able to supply to the United
States near term,” explains Brock.

Canada today provides around 15% of the U.S. oil needs and that
will probably double over time according to Brock. “It becomes a
strategic and interesting asset particularily for the Americans
and as a result the Athabasca district has become a significant
play and is being followed by the investment community very
closely,” adds Brock.

Many believe however that this dependence on foreign oil is best
addressed through addressing energy consumption levels.
According to McPherson, “The only way we are going to reduce our
dependence on foreign oil is to reduce demand. Consumers will
either have to cut back or be willing to pay more for the oil.
Additionally, even if the U.S. does lower their dependency the
global economies of the world are decades behind us in
efficiency. It’s widely known that 50% of the energy generated
in India is lost during transmission from source to user due to
their archaic power grid. China’s consumers barely have the
means to afford a car, let alone one that is fuel efficient.
These in and of themselves will propel oil prices higher over
time.”

As Brock explains, “Ultimately we North Americans need to
understand that we are into expensive oil and therefore we need
to understand how to be power smart. Two things that need to
happen, better production on one hand and on the other hand we
need better use and we’ll see our way through.”

Emphasizing the need for long term planning, Mobley describes,
“The country does need a cohesive energy strategy that makes
sense with respect to economics and pays attention to supply and
demand. There are plenty of long term fundamentals that are
going to be supportive of higher energy prices, therefore longer
term thinking is very important.”

Ann-Marie Fleming Ann-Marie Fleming completed her MBA in the
United States, where she attended Webster University. She also
holds an Honors B.A from the University of Toronto. She has over
fifteen years of experience within the financial industry to
include retail banking and brokerage, investment banking, and
mortgage brokerage within the United States and Canada, with a
firm background in corporate research.

Disclaimer: www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp

©Copyright InvestorIdeas 2006

When we think of precious gems, we usually spare little thought to the hard work that it takes to bring them to us in the beautiful jewelry that we love to wear, but diamond mining is, in fact, an expensive and dangerous procedure, reflected to the consumer in the price that must be paid to own one. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were some way to recreate that same brilliance and beauty in a less dangerous, and hence less expensive way? Today’s technological innovations mean that this does not have to be a pipe dream any longer - with lab created diamonds, we can wear beautiful gemstones produced by the intelligence of mankind, rather than the trials and tribulations of nature, and without the expense that mining brings. Lab created diamonds are now very good and becoming as popular as the real thing.

The popularity of diamonds have urged experts to try to find more cost effective ways of providing the brilliance of the stone in our jewelry, and over the years there have been many alternatives to diamonds put forward, including cut glass, rhinestones and cubic zirconium. While these have proved satisfactory for some purposes, these lab created diamonds have consistently lacked the brilliance and beauty of a genuine diamond. This was until the discovery of moissanite in meteor fragments, and the realisation that moissanite could be reproduced in controlled circumstances, leading to the dawn of lab made diamonds.

It was discovered in 1995 that moissanite could be reproduced under laboratory conditions, and the unique beauty of the stone made scientists realize that there would be a huge market for these lab created diamonds. While the difficulty involved in growing these lab made diamonds remains quite high, the price for moissanite jewelry is higher than you might expect in a diamond substitute, but today, many gemmologists consider the moissanite stone to be a gem in and of its own right. Unlike previous substitutes, moissanite is in many ways superior to diamonds, with more sparkle and brightness that the mined gem.

Previously, choosing a gem that looked like a diamond but wasn’t one was seen as a step down, a compromise, but with the quality of today’s lab created diamonds, this is no longer the case. So take advantage of today’s great moissanite prices while they last, because someday soon, the brilliant sparkle of this stone will make lab made diamonds even more sought after than the ‘real thing’.

Lab created diamonds, and Moissanite in particular, are now as good as the real thing.

For a website totally devoted to Moissanite rings visit Peter’s Website The Magic of Moissanite, and find out about Moissanite Rings as well as Loose Moissanite Stones and more, including Mens Moissanite Rings, Moissanite Earrings, Moissanite Bridal Rings and Moissanite Engagement Rings

Used laptop computers are everywhere these days. How can you sift through the mass of available used laptop computers to narrow your search down to the right laptop for you? This fourth and final article strives to give you a few suggestions for your next laptop purchase.

Wireless Connectivity

Built-in wireless used to be a luxury. More and more now though, it really should be seen as a necessity. If the laptop you’re considering doesn’t have built-in wireless, you should at least have an external wireless card thrown in. Connecting to the internet and your local home network is something you’ll find yourself doing a lot of in the future. If you have a choice between 802.1b and 802.1g, make sure you choose the 802.1g as it has more range and greater speed.

USB Ports

How many USB ports come with the laptop? Older laptops may not have any. Some have only one. The more USB ports you can get, the more convenient it is. You should also ask if the laptop comes with USB 2.0 or the older original version 1.

Hard Drive: Choose a large one

In this day and age, anything less than 20GB is way too small. In fact, you should always choose a laptop with as large a hard drive as possible. Storage space fills up fast especially when you consider all the songs and movies people store on their laptops these days. Go as large as your budget allows.

User Computer Laptop Warranty

If you have followed my advice and are looking to buy from a reputable dealer, what kind of warranty do they offer? Don’t buy a used laptop from someone that offers you no warranty of any kind. At the very least, you want to get a 30 day warranty. The more the better. You never know if the hard drive is near failure or some other catastrophic problem in near. Reputable dealers offer warranties. Stay away from anyone that doesn’t offer one.

While I haven’t gone over every possible thing you need to look for when purchasing a laptop, I have covered the main things that should make sure you make a used computer laptop purchase you’re happy with.

Joe Duchesne is the Webmaster of Asklaptop.com a site that offers you information when you buy a laptop including related information. Reprint freely as long as the links in this resource box are live and point back to Asklaptop.com.

The most notable feature of zombies and other dead things is
that they are not very smart. Something happens to their logical
thinking process in the nether world just before they rise again
to terrorize their chosen hero and heroin. Speaking of heros,
have you noticed that there is always one of each gender of
hero/heroin-male and female-everyone else is always killed off
so they can be alone. Romantic, right? And they always kiss at
least once and usually during the most dangerous time, when in
real life they would both be having a hard time just keeping
their quivering kidneys in check. I know if a dead thing was
chasing me, I’d definitely have an urgent need for the closest
powder room.

But, I digress. An un-dead creature’s intelligence level is
obviously to be questioned. Remember Frankenstein’s monster?
Bulldozes right through wooden doors designed to keep an army of
bloodthirsty, marauding hordes out. Then what does he do? He
forgets where he’s going and stops to smell a flower and smile
at a sweet, little street urchin who’s out panhandling for her
shiftless mother. When he remembers that he’s supposed to be a
killer, he growls and lumbers out into the smog to find victims.
Now where is the logic in that? There was a perfectly good
victim standing right in front of him, easy pickings, no fuss,
no muss. Did he recognize it? No. Instead he spends half the
night chasing screaming peasants around cold, damp, cobbled
streets and ends up going down in flames for his efforts. Duhh!

What about Zombies? They will stand and beat on a door that the
hero just slammed in their faces for hours. Hello, dead things!
Use the other door for Heaven’s sake. (Okay, maybe not for
Heaven’s sake, but you get the idea.) Or why don’t they use the
window? But nooo, they keep pounding on that one door until it
splinters and instead of turning the door knob, they thrust
their arms through and growl because they can’t quite reach the
iron-kidney hero who just pushed the heroine out the other door
so they can run away. The delay, of course, gives the hero and
heroine plenty of time to get away, kiss and other assorted
mushy things. Meanwhile the zombies are still trying to figure
out how to turn the damned door knob.

“But they’re dead!” you say. Yes and no. Why do you think we
call them un-dead? They’re walking aren’t they? Well really sort
of shuffling, but they’re on two feet. And they talk or moan or
groan or something along the guttural lines. And they always
know exactly where the people they are chasing are because they
always show up no matter where the hero runs with his heroine.
That means they have control of their faculties, right?

Speaking of control, have you ever noticed that zombies never
need to go to the bathroom? They devour entire human bodies,
(using atrocious table manners, I might add) and drink gallons
of human blood, but they never have to go. Why is that? Maybe
kidneys of steel are a requirement to be in flick like this?

And their personal hygiene, UGGH! Matted hair, toothless
mouths, grubby skin, and tattered clothes. Haven’t they ever
heard of Colgate®? And they don’t care! They even sometimes have
orgies around a bonfire and not a drop of water or a cake of
soap anywhere in sight. Not even a single spray of Binaca®! What
kind of logic is that? I wouldn’t think of attending an orgy
without my breath mints-Ahem-er-uh-not that I’ve ever-ah-well
anyway, back to zombies.

I think someone ought to set the movie industry straight.
Un-dead creatures deserve the same treatment as any other
monster. Heck, even The Blob took an occasional dip in the
river. And did you ever saw Dracula in a wrinkled suit? Get with
it Hollywood. Clean up your act. Justa Rant, Jo

Copyright 2000 S. Joan Popek. Copyright on all material in this
publication is held by S. Joan Popek. Any use without expressed
written permission is strictly prohibited.