The process still takes three days, but allows businessmen to complete the paperwork from the comfort of their offices in Istanbul.

Abalioglu's experience, however, suggests there are still a few kinks to work out. He claims it took about two weeks to establish his company and another two months to process the paperwork for the project's land. Not that he's complaining. "To tell you the truth, I don't see a big difference between getting a company set up in three days or two weeks, but getting the paperwork [for the land] done was a bit complicated due to bureaucratic issues," he explains.

Some of these bureaucratic issues were addressed in a recent report published by the Turkish embassy in Cairo. Following interviews with nine Turkish companies that sought to open factories since the opening of GAFI's one-stop shops, the report concluded: "It does not take less than three months [to establish a company] mainly due to the permission required to be taken by the ministry of interior."

Other problems noted in the report included corruption, bribery and the inaccuracy of information provided by various authorities, as well as the government's tendency to suddenly change rules and procedures.

Forecast: Kickapoo to flood; Mississippi expected to remain within its ...

The mighty Mississippi River likely will remain within its banks in La Crosse this spring, but flood-weary Gays Mills to the south could take another hit from the Kickapoo River, forecasters said Friday.The Kickapoo, which flooded in August due to heavy rains, has a 90 percent chance this spring of reaching flood stage at Viola, Gay Mills and Steuben in southwestern Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service long-range flooding forecast released Friday. .

Phoenix plants to produce biodiesel from cooking oil

Eating fried chicken wings and french fries might not clean out your arteries, but it actually could help clean up the air, now that two local companies are transforming waste cooking oil from local restaurants into diesel fuel. Amereco Biofuels Corp. expects its first deliveries this month to commercial customers in Tucson and Las Vegas, said Bill Sheaffer, executive vice president of marketing for the plant, located west of Phoenix in the town of Arlington. And soon Chandler-based AZ BioDiesel expects to pass fuel-testing standards and begin production, said Christopher Rees, vice president of sales and marketing. .

Government cuts budget on backs of poor

Calling Korea "a failure" is inaccurate. Our armed forces were sent over there to defend South Korea from being over run by North Korea, not to reunite the two. Also, saying that the "liberals stopped us from winning" is absurd. With the horrors of World War II still fresh in our memory, fighting a prolonged and bloody war against the massive Chinese army in order to win would have been morally reprehensible and politically impossible.Finally, his claim that liberal ideology has caused "pain," "suffering," "death to innocents," and "costs lots of money" is illogical.Liberals freed the slaves, ended apartheid, passed civil rights laws, ended child labor, gave women the right to vote, ended abusive working conditions, made our food safer, our air cleaner and our lives better. Conservatives tried to stop all of those things.