Scramble for English Soccer Clubs.

I have been mixing business, sports and leisure in my blog. Nothing fancy or novel about that. After all, the 3 go hand in hand in life.

Large corporations like Nike, Addidas, Puma, and hundreds of others realized that sport was a gold mine. And haven't they been mining that mine deep!

In this blog, I will be concentrating on The English Premier League - The English Barclays Premier League - as it is official known.

Soccer/Football may not be the highest paying sport in the world, but it is the highest ranked in terms of popularity. I don't know of any nation in the whole world where soccer is not played. Even the enterprising Americans have come to accept the fact that there is money to be made from the sport, abate too late, if I might add.

The signing of David Beckham by L.A Galaxy and the increasing number of American Tycoons keen on taking over British Soccer Clubs is testament to that.

The American Revolution started when Malcom Glazer, The American Investment Group - AIG - Chairman moved in to acquire majority share holdings in Manchester United FC - The Red Devils.

This was followed shortly after by Gillet and Company who moved in on Liverpool FC. The Americans are not alone in this, far from it. The scramble for English Clubs is on.

Other clubs owned by rich overseas investors include Chelsea FC, which is owned by a Russian Billionaire, Manchester City which is owned by a consortium of Oil Rich Arabs. The bid for English clubs are coming in fast and furious.

The trend is set to continue, especially given the magnitude of the Global Financial Meltdown. It is likely that the crisis will affect some clubs. These clubs will have to look for some sort of bail out. An option would be to be acquired.

Do you want to guess which club will be next on the acquisition list? Go on, take a guess for it is just a matter of time.

How SSL Certificates Can Promote Trust and Integrity in e commerce.

Did you enjoy reading the Sports and Travel posts? I thought I would introduce them to break the monotony as well as provide you with something less engaging than e commerce.

Okay, break is up, time to get back to our e commerce lessons.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself who owns the virtue store you have just made a purchase from? Has it ever occurred to you that you could be helping fund some illegal group or abating some other form of crime?

Well before you make a vow to never ever shop online again, here is something that should put your conscious at rest. That is, it is possible to authenticate the real owners of the millions of ebusiness that keep popping up every other day like pop corns.

It could be, you, like million others world wide, has never looked beyond the fancy websites with the flash animated banners which call on you to click them.

All what you see on your computer screen is made possible by a person with a name, location, social security number, tax certificate and other requisite papers. But not everyone of the Internet is legit.

The Internet provides an almost perfect cover for all sorts of criminals including spoofers, phispers or hackers. These are criminals who would go to any length to obtain your credit card details. And what better way than to set up a dummy ebusiness?

Therefore then, the challenge is to be able to tell which e business are owned by people of integrity from the ones which are not.

At first you might think.. Ah No! It is impossible to tell. This, however, was made possible by the introduction of SSL Certifiates in 1994. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer.

SSL Certificates are aimed at fostering trust and integrity in e commerce. Merchants who have nothing to hide and operate legitimate operations usually have SSL Certificates from reputable vendors.

I will stop there for today and leave you to process what I have just told you. In my next post, I will talking about the mechanisms of SSL, types of SSL Certicates, how to choose a vendor and much much more. So be sure to catch the next post.

Manchester United Find Their Shooting Boots.

Sir Alex Fergurson could not have asked for a better response from his champions. After been beaten 2 - 1 away to Arsenal the previous weekend and a lurkluster Carling Cup performance against Championship side QPR; the Red Devils dug deep into their reserves and produced the stuff of champions against Stoke City.

Given that all the top 4 sides were on action on the same day, United must have been feeling the pressure. Another loss would have seen them slip further behind Chelsea and Liverpool, the league leaders. This must have fired up the United lads who came out with guns blazing.

Cristiano Ronaldo spectacular freekick in the 4th minutes opened the goal galore. Stoke City did well to keep United at bay until the 44th when Ronaldo and Carrick combined nicely to create an opening for Carrick who did not hesitate to let go a fierce left shot which ended in the back of the net.The second half saw Barbatov net his 6th goal for the Red Devils which was United's 3rd for the day.

The Reds saved the best for last. Second half substitutions saw the introduction of new faces. The substitutes wasted no time getting into gear. Manucho exchanged laid up the ball nicely for Wersack, another substitute, who blasted a thunderbolt which the Stoke City goalie could do nothing to stop it ending at the back of the net.

Cristiano Ronaldo put the icing on the cake late into the second half when he blasted another freekick home.

West Brom Sing the Blues.

West Brom received a thumping courtesy of Chelsea in their own backyard. Sure, nothing embarrassing about that, if you consider the financial gap and experience between the two sides. The Blues, however, deserve full credit for a game well played.

It is no secret that Anelka is a deadly finisher, but in the past few games, he seems to have taken his game to another level. His clinical finishing has seem ascend to the top of the scoring chart. Saturday provided another opportunity for him to add to his goal tally and pile more misery on West Brom.

Chelsea got off the mark when Bosingwa unleashed a thunderous left foot shot which the West Brom keeper could only parry into the back of his own net. The shot was superb and that seemed to have inspired Anelka into action.

Mid way through the game, Deco found Anelka with a defense splitting pass. The French Man left lost his marker and stormed towards the opposition's goal. What transpired then can only be termed as brilliant. With the keeper rushing to snuff the danger, Anelka lifted the ball above the keeper with a delicate chip for goal number two.

That piece of skill might have been loathe to the West Brom team and supporters, but to the Blue's fans and neutrals, it was something to relish. Having stolen the spot-light, Anelka made sure that all eyes were on him for his next performance. And the Blues hit-man did not disappoint.

He was once again let through courtesy of some shoddy defending from the home side. This time though, it was nothing fancy; just a shot from a tight angle for his second goal of the match and number 3 for Chelsea.

The home team came from the half time break more fired up and organized. Two substitutions changed the game, and were it not for poor finishing and excellent goal keeping from Petre Cech, they could have got a goal or two. On the other end, Chelsea were mounting one attack after the other but were unable to add to their half time advantage.

In a bid to get more goals, the imperious Anelka was substituted with Didier Drogba, who had a couple of half chances. Other than that, the game ended 0 - 3 to leave the Blues top of the table.

Travel to Bali - Indonesia

Geographically Bali is located 8 degrees south of the equator. It is part of the Indonesia archipelago.

The terrain is mountainous due to past volcanic activities. Bali extends from Sumatra and covers a total area of 5, 632, 86 square kilometers.

The Island of Bali is home to close to 3.5 million people. Bali encompasses many small islands. Some of the located east of the capital are Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan, Nusa Serangan, Menjangan and the island of Bali. To the west you will find the Lombok islands while the Indian Ocean borders Bali to the South. The northern border is occupied by the Sea of Java.
Bali is ringed by water bodies. This has given rise to spectacular beaches along Bali’s coastlines.

Most of Bali lies at high altitudes. There are a number of mountain peaks towering above the island. These peaks are found throughout Bali. In the capital three peaks stand supreme. These are known as Grand Mountain, Mount Agung and the mount Batur. These mountains are considered religious sites by the community.

The Indonesian islands are renowned for their art and craft skills. These include carving, jewelry making and fabric dying. The tie and dye technique was developed in this part of the world.Bali experiences a warm tropical climate all year round with temperatures ranging between 24 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

The wet months which fall between Octobers to March are characterized by high humidity which elevates the day time temperatures. The dry spells stretch from April to September. This is the best time to tour Bali.

There are over 330 official dialects, whence communication is bound to present some challenge. The positve side, however, is Bahasa Indonesian, is considered as one of the simplest languages in the world.Bali has a lot scenic sites including soft sandy beaches, mystical temples of the ancient world, luxurious resort and the unique photogenic rice plantations.

The tropic weather and the high temperature will no doubt have you craving for a swim. Beaches come in all forms in Bali. From the tame, palm-fringed, snow white to the rough and rugged beaches on the west coast of Bali, you are guaranteed to be spoilt for choice.

If you are just in for a little sun and sand, stick to the east coast of the region. Here you will find many beaches with five star accommodation facilities. These are a favorite with many visitors from Europe and America. Examples include the Nusa Dua Beach and the Sanur Beach. Any beach lover should not leave Bali without visiting the beaches on the North Coast.
Lovina is the most popular tourist destination in that area.

Lovina beaches are famed for their black sand. However you should be careful when taking a swim. The area experiences strong winds and currents and various drowning events have been recorded.

Shopping in Bali is a delight. There are many forms of artistic wares including wood carvings, gold and silver ornaments, fabrics, basket and many more handiwork items to choose from.