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If you thought there were more Scots in Scotland than people of Scottish Descent in the one USA state of North Carolina you would be wrong.

That is hardly surprising as huge numbers of Scots left Scotland at the time of the Highland Clearances and in the following years to seek their fortune in the New World of USA as well as Canada, Australia and the Far East. Our Laird of Jura website looking at the history and culture of the Isle of Jura tells of nearly 2,000 people who left the island and the surrounding area and ended up in North Carolina.

This area still has close connections with the home country of Scotland and many would say that the town of Laurinburg, North Carolina for example is as Scottish as any town on the Scottish Mainland. Did you know that :

Laurinberg is in the county of Scotland.

The main school is called Scotland High School. The school song is “Scotland the Brave” (the official national anthem of Scotland).

The school has a marching band who all wear the Royal Stewart Tartan. And of course they have a prize winning bagpipe band wearing the full kilt.

The school Football, Baseball and the Basketball teams are called the “Fighting Scots”. (Did you know that the game of Basketball was invented by a Scottish American who was charged with finding some sports activity for youths to play indoors during bad weather? Its true!)

The local college is St Andrews Presbyterian College (St Andrew is of course the patron saint of Scotland) has a huge bronze statue of a highlander in native dress waving a Claymore sword.

The College is also home to the Scottish Heritage Centre.

Looking for something to eat? Skip McDonalds (not a Scottish Company) and instead go to Scottish Foods which uses a Scottish bagpiper as its main trademark and logo.

The area even has a soccer team called the Scottish Claymores.

We cannot ignore the fact that many local street names are named after places in Scotland including Skye, Argyllshire, Oban, Kintyre.

Do you know any other place which is more Scottish than this town in North Carolina?

Did you know you could increase your Scottish ness by becoming a landowner on the isle of Jura and become a Scottish Royal? It makes an idea unique gift idea for anyone with or without an existing Scottish connection.

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A couple of my friends entered nursing programs right out of high school. I didn’t give it any thought at the time. I had absolutely no interest.  But now that so many programs are offering an online degree in nursing, I am getting interested!

One of the reasons I wasn’t interested in nursing way back then is I thought the only way you could use the education was to work in a hospital.  I didn’t want to do that.  Now I realize there are dozens of options like public health, alternative health, complementary healing, and the list goes on.

I’ve studied a lot in the arena of alternative health and met many people who have nursing degrees. As far as I know, they all studied at traditional colleges for their RN degrees. My point with this is that each of them started out with a somewhat traditional nursing career and has now ventured off into areas that are much more cutting edge and they find much more interesting.  The cool thing is they have a certification that allows them to practice and gives them immediate stature in the field.

So now I’m thinking, why don’t I get an online degree in nursing? It’s certainly much more convenient than trudging off to class everyday facing weather and traffic and adhering to a school’s time lines.  I could study on my own time according to my own schedule and earn a credential that would give me the license and backing to work with alternative health methods.

I do realize that getting this degree would not be a piece of cake.  Earning any online degree still demands effort and discipline and intelligence.  But perhaps this would feel more doable.  Actually, with the anticipated nursing shortage in the years to come it might be a terrific career move for many reasons.

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Glad are the parents, and many, who have passed hours obdserving their children at play, creating with colors and earth, many intrigueing gifts for their father and mother. In fact, many children bring home items such as these which they made at school. One thing that all of these children have in common is the fact that most of them will be wearing a kitchen apron at the same time!

A cooking apron is incredibly useful for children’s activities, particularly as most of these types of pursuits are very messy! Ideally, aprons for kids go over the head and tie in the back to keep it securely in place and not likely to come loose. There are some types covering more of the child that go over the head and have a solid front and back with side fasteners.

Children’s aprons come in many different designs and styles. Making it yourself is most cost effective. Making an apron is among the simplest sewing jobs possible; you can come up with a one-of-a-kind project and customize it for your youngster. Child aprons can be decorated in a variety of ways: your child’s handprints and name can be printed on it, or even their favorite nursery rhyme, or a picture of their most cherished Disney character. You can still have that personal touch on your apron without being an artist. Most craft shops sell transfers or prints that you cna apply.

Then there are the days when your little ‘darling’ wants to help you in the kitchen. In that situation, you’ll really want an apron! I do believe the whole kitchen needs an apron! Sometimes it is a lot of fun to imitate Mum and wear a kitchen apron to do the cooking.

Most good chefs on the TV are men, and it is a great area for boys or girls. Just make sure that your little boy has something like a picture of ‘Shrek’ on his apron and your little girl may prefer just about anything as long as it is ‘girly’. Make sure you have a child apron handy the next time your little one decides to make a mess.

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Fast food is something that’s very appealing to most Americans. Although some people do enjoy cooking, it’s often seen as a hassle to make your own food. So what are the major fast food chains around the world? Well, the biggest one without a doubt is McDonald’s. I read recently that the logo of McDonald’s (with the two golden arches) is more globally recognized than the christian cross. McDonald’s normally used to provide high-fat foods that were potentially damaging to your health, and they got a lot of bad publicity for this, especially after the hit documentary “Supersize Me” came out. Now, however, they have quite a few healthy options.

McDonald’s main competitor is Burger King. In Australia and some other countries, Burger King is known as Hungry Jacks. Burger King has in fact been very similar to McDonald’s for a long time. The battle between Burger King and McDonald’s is really like Coke and Pepsi. Like McDonald’s, Burger King has redisigned their menu in the last decade to include more healthy options, since many American’s are definitely more health conscious now. Indirect compeitors (such as Subway) have already offered really healthy food, and it’s very important to offer healthy food in order to survive now in the fast food industry.

Another fast food competitor is KFC, known as Kentucky Fried Chicken (the name comes because they are based in Kentucky). They are of course more focused on chicken than McDonald’s and Burger King, but their food is still quite similar. It’s hard to say exactly how well they are doing now.

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Recently, Forex trading has become extremely popular. However, many people who are interested in Forex trading have little idea what it involves. They are often attracted to this type of trading based on its popularity and the belief that, because others are using it, it must be profitable. This is not always the case. Forex trading is most useful for larger companies rather than independent day traders. Still, if you want to get involved with Forex trading, you should understand how it works, and, more importantly, how it is different from the kind of trading most day traders do.

The first aspect of Forex trading involves interest rates. If you are trading the EUR-USD, for example, then you are buying the Euro currency and selling the US Dollar. In Forex trading, accounts are settled every day at 5:00pm ET, and at this time you earn interest rates on the currency that you bought and pay interest rates on the currency that you sold.

Here’s a useful example. Currently the European Central Bank (ECB) has set its interest rates at 4.25% while the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC, part of the Fed) offers only 2%. If you trade EUR-USD and hold it overnight, then you receive the equivalent of 4.25% divided by 360 days for the Euros that you own and you pay the equivalent of 2% divided by 360 days for the US Dollars that you sold. So you are receiving the equivalent of 2.25% divided by 360 days every day that you hold this position. (It’s important to note that your broker will charge you the spread for “swapping” your position overnight. But if he is a reputable broker, then he will pay you the interest rate spread.)

The possibility of daily income is what effectively attracts people to Forex trading, but the actual profits you receive are relatively small. In our example, 2.25% divided by 360 is 0.00625%, which means that if you invested $10,000 in your position, then you would earn approx. $0.63 per day in interest.

Most day traders become less interested in Forex trading when they understand this. And that seems reasonable given that it is most successful when you have huge amounts to invest. Forex traders, or at least those who profit significantly from it, are usually large companies, institutions, hedge funds and banks that easily hold $100 million or more overnight and therefore earn $6,250 in interest every day. That’s $187,000 per month, and they hedge their positions to minimize the risk of fluctuations in the currencies.

If you are still interested in Forex trading, there are two factors you should keep in mind:

The first factor that moves currency prices is interest rates. If you are going to invest, make sure you have a currency pair moving when the underlying interest rate markets are open. As soon as the interest markets close, the prices of the currency pair will simply be moving sideways.

The second factor that influences currency prices is foreign investment. If you are a US company that wants to invest $10 billion in Mexico, then most probably you would have to buy the Mexican Peso to pay local contractors and workers. Though some might accept payments in US Dollars it is still very common to pay local companies and workers in their local currency. This is especially true if your company is manufacturing the products in Mexico but sells them in the US; you will have to sell US Dollars and buy Mexican Pesos on a large scale, since your income is in US Dollars and you have to exchange it into Mexican Peso to pay the workers in your Mexican company.
   
Those two factors explain why you will see currency prices moving if a government introduces new rules and regulations for foreign investors. A change in the political landscape of a foreign country can cause sharp moves in their currency since it might affect the decision of large companies to invest in that country. These factors usually affect currency prices over days and weeks, maybe even months, and not necessarily within a single day. However, even throughout a single day you may see a sharp reaction of currency prices to geopolitical news and news that affect the interest rates of a currency.

Hopefully this helps you better understand what Forex trading is all about. If it seems attractive to you, then plan on spending some time researching which currency markets are right for you before jumping in. Obviously, there is plenty to consider when investigating these trades, and the research is very different than the kind that most day traders are used to doing since it involves knowledge of international currencies and even day-to-day politics. Still, if the possibility of regular daily profits remains attractive, Forex trading may be right for you.

For more information on day trading, visit my website http://www.rockwelltrading.com

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