Saturday, March 31, 2012

Craft trying to keep focused in New Orleans

Walking down Bourbon Street, Aaron Craft stops to sign autographs for a few kids and is asked about his older brother.

Craft shrugs. While he’s in the Big Easy trying to lead Ohio State to its first national title in 52 years, his big brother and role model is headed off to war for a second time.

Where Brandon is, where he’s headed, when he might talk to him again, Craft doesn’t know. Even when big bro called their parents’ house, he wasn’t aware of it.

“Really? I guess they’re trying to keep it from me so I don’t think about it all the time,” Craft said.

It’s hard not to.

After months of rehabilitating an injured knee, Brandon Craft left for his second deployment to Afghanistan the same day Craft and the Buckeyes clinched their Final Four berth.

Their mother, Wendy, was able to tell Brandon about the Final Four while he was on a stopover in Alaska after Ohio State’s win over top-seeded Syracuse last Sunday, but the family hasn’t heard anything from him since.

They’ve been through this once before; Brandon was dropped off at the Army recruiting center the day after the family took Aaron to Columbus. Still, this convergence of joy and apprehension is never easy,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. even in a place like New Orleans and an atmosphere like the Final Four.

“Sure,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies. there’s always anxiety from not knowing,” said their father, John Craft.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. “But there’s also a pride that comes with it, a sense of knowing you did something right and don’t have to worry that your sons are out doing something wrong.Welcome to polished tiles. We’re very proud of the two divergent paths our sons have taken.”

They started on the same track.

John was a successful high school football coach and pushed his oldest hard to excel at whatever he did.

Aaron picked up on Brandon’s work ethic and had a stubborn, I’m-going-to-play-with-you streak, never backing down no matter how many times big brother and his friends scored on him and sent his shot into the bushes.

Sister Caitie fits into the same mold: she won a state high school championship and will play basketball for Ohio State starting next fall.

“Both boys and my daughter just work relentlessly,” John Craft said. “If they had to sit out and not do something for two days, they would go stir crazy.Buy low price Aion Kinah,”

'Styla' hustles to survive

NIGEL 'STYLA' Knight was not one of the brightest students at Tacius Golding High School in Brown's Hall, St Catherine, during his time, but he has learnt enough to carve out a living.

"Well me can do furniture work, do woodwork, because when I was going to school mi learn dem things dey. Mi drama teacher Shaka Bryan teach mi, mi can make hair clips out of board, mi can do little plumbing," he explained.

Knight added: "Because mi do good in woodwork at school, dem send me on job experience and, after mi finish school, mi go back and work a while."

Though he is skilled in several areas, the Brown's Hall native said lack of funds has prevented him from pursuing further training and certification.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air.

When he was 20 years old, he embarked on a project, but said he needs assistance to make it a reality.

"Is seven years now since I make this fowl coop and mi never get a chance to put any chicken in there, because mi no have no money to buy them. So right now I wouldn't mind if somebody give me a start, so I can use it to back up the little odd jobs dem to finance miself," he said, pointing to a coop built on his grandmother's property, now used as a storeroom.

Knight explained to The Gleaner that he does not rely on one skill to put food on his table.Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile.

"Mi do mason work, as a labourer dig out foundation. One a the time when tings start get rough pon mi, mi turn a Spanish Town and buy couple packs o' bag juice and sell. Right now, a little callaloo me a sell, sometimes push me handcart and ting, mi try fi mek work fi miself all the while," he said.

The eldest of eight children, Knight said he has been carving out a living since he was in high school.

"Sometimes mi go out and hustle and, when mi hustle a ting like all $1,000 or whatsoever,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies. me split it and give my mother all a $500 to send them other one fi a two day," stressed Knight.

Clad in dirty clothes and shoes, he said he is not one to sit idly by and wait.

"Right now, a bush me a come from. Mi go plant little corn, so when me reap dem,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. mi can sell a man who sell soup. Mi can't sit down, mi a working-class man."

He continued: "Mi is a man nuh like the roadside and the idle ting and mi nah go bleach out my face like weh mi see whole heap a little yute a do, maybe because is the only ting dem can do because dem nah work,This page contains information about molds," he noted.

His former schoolmate and friend, Collinton Smith, a cabinetmaker, lauded Knight as a hard worker who is determined to defy the odds to survive.

Utica’s Mele & Co.’s long history full of change, tradition

As a boy, Ray Mele remembers walking through the expansive space of his family’s jewelry box company.

More than a thousand employees would be busy crafting the handmade boxes as started by his Italian immigrant grandfather Emidio Mele in 1912.

His father, Joseph Mele, and uncle, Edward Mele — who led the company when their father no longer could — would stop and greet each worker individually by name.

“It seemed like it was endless,This page contains information about molds,” Mele remembers of the 4,000-square-foot facility.

But it was the shoe shine machine in his uncle’s office that awed the future company president.

“I thought he had made it big,” Mele says, laughing.

It’s been 100 years since Mele’s grandfather conceived the family business. The shoe shine machine is long gone from Mele & Co.

So are the thousands of workers who crafted the jewelry boxes. But the sharp business mind and family dynamic created by Mele’s predecessors live on.

The business boomed in the 1960s; boxes were made by the thousands on site in Utica with the busy hands of 1,200 workers – mostly women. But the economy and consumer demand changed things in 2000 when that manufacturing was outsourced to China.

Other companies may have folded, but Mele & Co.,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies. now located on Beechgrove Place in Utica, kept its tradition while using it to move forward.

Using the skills it already knew – packaging and injection molding — the company began manufacturing molded athletic plastic flooring called Matéflex in the 1970s. Since the 1960s, it also has created high-end packaging for companies that now include Tommy Hilfiger, Juicy Couture, Cross and Seiko.

Still, the jewelry boxes are the core of the company’s success. It’s what Mele’s grandfather and uncle loved so dearly, he says.Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile.

Samples of the jewelry boxes fill one of the Utica offices.

Mele moves carefully around the neatly organized room of crafted boxes. His eyes almost sparkle as he runs his hand along several standing jewelry cases in different shades of wood and color.

He delicately opens the drawers on slim black boxes,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. blonde, chunky wooden boxes and crocodile-skin patterned boxes. He opens the top of a white box and smiles. A tiny, pink tutu-ed ballerina appears and slowly turns inside the dainty box.

“These are still our best sellers,” he says. “If somebody has a ballerina box,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, then it’s probably from Mele.”

Solar panels could save Somerset County Sanitary District money

The cost of electricity at two sewage treatment plants could drop significantly if the Somerset County Sanitary District proceeds with plans to install solar energy systems at its Princess Anne and Fairmount facilities.

The solar panels would take a big chunk out of the monthly electric bills, which currently run more than $29,000 a year at one of the facilities. But whether the savings will show up on customers' bills is uncertain.

"It's too premature to even try to predict that," said Robin Street, manager of the Sanitary District.

Both plants need to be upgraded to meet new Chesapeake Bay TMDL -- or total maximum daily load -- requirements, and any savings on electricity will likely be offset by the costs of chemicals and equipment, he said.

A preliminary study on the plant upgrades is under way, and Street said he has asked engineers to look at adding the solar energy systems in the new designs.

The plants have plenty of room for solar installations, because years ago the Sanitary District purchased enough land to accommodate future expansions,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. Street said.Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings,

But the new federal restrictions placed on sewage treatment plants as part of the effort to clean up the Chesapeake Bay means neither plant will be able to expand, leaving lots of grassy space that need to be maintained.

"I said, 'Let's quit buying lawn mowers and put in a solar field,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies.The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services,' " Street said.

The systems will probably not be supplying power back to the grid because that would require more expense.

"I'm just trying to keep it simple,This page contains information about molds," he said.

However, the plants would still need to be able to pull power from the grid at night and on cloudy days.

The Sanitary District's electric bills first skyrocketed several years ago after the plants were first upgraded for biological nutrient removal, Street said.

The next upgrade will be to enhance nutrient removal, which will probably cause another increase, he said.

The Sanitary District also operates two sewage treatment plants on Smith Island, but Street said he is not planning to install solar panels at either one.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Save money by freezing food properly

It's quick, easy and downright cheap to freeze and store your food. You may find savings hidden in your freezer.

You may do it without thinking about it -- enjoy your lunch or dinner, and pack up the leftovers to toss them in the freezer. But putting a little more thought behind it could save you lots of money.

Forget calling in for takeout or dishing out cash in the drive-through,External Hemroids are those that occur below the dentate line. save money and open your freezer.

You can pretty much freeze any kind of food, you just have to know how to prepare it and store it properly. Those who rely on this say it really pays off.

Who knew that a freezer -- the place that can become a black hole for old and un-used food -- can really save big bucks.

"I like to call my freezer foods 'freezer gold,' because it's like a discovery in your freezer that will pay off in many ways," said meal planner Brenda Thompson.

There are a few simple rules for storing food and saving cash. Thompson, author of the blog Meal Planning Magic says first, freeze items that may be close to the expiration date -- including dairy products.

She said, "Sometimes when you need buttermilk, you just need a little for a recipe. You have some left over, you can put some in an ice cube tray and pull out what you need."

Next, freeze individual portions.Buying solar panel and want the Best Price? It's quick and easy that way.

"We can pull them out for lunches and heat them up on the go," Thompson explained.

Thompson says don't be afraid to cook a little extra and freeze that too. Always let the food cool off completely before putting it away.

"Generally, if you put something in the freezer too fast, like, if you take it off the stove and you stick it in the freezer, it has a hard time adjusting and the crystals will form on the food," Thompson explained. "Occasionally those freezer crystals are freezer burn."

For the final and most important rule, when it comes to freezing foods,Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. always label.

"No matter how great you think your memory is, you are just not going to know what it is," Thompson cautioned. "If you sort of identify it, then you may not know how old it is."

After all,Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. throwing it out could mean throwing away a bargain meal

"Put it in your freezer and pull it out when you need it," Thompson said.The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility. "By doing so, you can save money by not making so many impulse buys at the grocery store."

Greenhouse Gasses Made Life On Earth Possible

Scientists have painstakingly measured 2.7 billion-year-old raindrop fossils from South Africa. The size of the ancient droplets tells the story of how the earth was teeming with microbes when it should have been frozen solid.

Between two and four billion years ago, the sun was 30 per cent dimmer than it is today, so really,The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility.Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, the earth should have been frozen solid. But we have evidence of rivers and ocean sediments from back then, so something was making the planet warm. The ancient raindrops revealed that it was greenhouse gases — they increased atmospheric pressure, heating up our world.

Here’s how the researchers figured all that out.

A scientist can’t just use a barometer to measure the atmospheric pressure of a fossilized droplet. Instead, Roger Buick and Jelte Harnmeijer poured latex over the 2.7 billion-year-old raindrop impressions, which were petrified in volcanic ash found in South Africa. They shipped the latex peels to their lab at the University of Washington in Seattle. There, a high-precision laser scanner measured the droplets.

The size of raindrop impressions gets larger as the velocity of the droplet increases. Higher atmospheric pressure will slow that velocity. The composition of material onto which the raindrops fall also effects the size of the droplets. Previous research showed that raindrops on earth don’t exceed a quarter inch in diameter,Buy low price Aion Kinah, so the researchers figured that was the largest any of the ancient raindrops could have been, regardless of atmospheric pressure.

In today’s atmosphere, the largest raindrops fall at about 9 metres per second. But if the ancient atmosphere was thicker, the speed would have been lower, and the maximum size of imprints left behind would be smaller.

To create a present-day comparison, two other researchers released water droplets of varying sizes 27 metres down an open stairwell onto volcanic ash collected from Hawaii and Iceland. Sanjay Som, lead author on the study, worked with Peter Polivka to coat the raindrop sculptures with liquid plastic and hair spray. This kept the ash molds intact, and then the laser could scan the impressions.

Comparing the two showed that, if the biggest imprints were formed by the largest raindrops, the atmospheric pressure 2.7 billion years ago could have been no more than twice what it is today. And since the largest raindrops were actually few and far between, the pressure was probably the same, or possibly lower. Without a hot sun to create the pressure and heat, they concluded,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. a buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere was keeping Earth toasty.

Take a peek at the new Apthorp

One of the last great all-rental Manhattan masterpieces, The Apthorp is slowly but surely carving out a new position in the city’s history as a gilded condominium residence.

A sale of the 163-unit gated haven in 2006 heralded a new beginning for the landmark building as much as it marked an end of an era of rent regulations that had been in place as long as folks could remember.

And despite an at times acrimonious transfer of status, the folks now running the show at The Apthorp have managed to sell almost half the homes to well-heeled buyers after launching one of the most expensive conversions in New York history (according to the New York Times) and offering a whole new generation the chance to create the home of their dreams.

“It’s a completely unique way of selling a building,” said Justin D’Adamo, a Corcoran Sunshine executive who is the director of sales at The Apthorp.The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services,

He’s referring to the option buyers have to work out their own, unique floor plan from the plethora of original apartment layouts that are updated as they are sold.

“It lets people see how one space can transform in so many different ways,Buy low price Aion Kinah,” explained D’Adamo. “Developers tend to have a formula; when you get to a certain size, you need to have a certain bedroom count. But buyers have specific needs, and we work with them on the floor plans. The beauty is, you can have whatever you want.”

For an example, two buyers opted for different visions on the same ninth floor residence: a 5,877 s/f space. One couple planned to showcase their art collection in an en filade around the center processional. Wikepedia tells us that’s a fancy word for “a suite of rooms formally aligned with each other.”

The other couple sound more like party people: They spread out six bedrooms and entertainment suites all accessible from the foyer.

The Apthorp was built in the Renaissance Revival style by architects Clinton & Russell for absentee landowner William Waldorf Astor between 1906 and 1908.

Millions of New York eyes must have peered through the iconic wrought-iron gates since then to catch a glimpse of the courtyard around which the apartments were built on a full block between Broadway and West End Avenue,The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility. 78th and 79th Streets.

It was named after Charles Ward Apthorp,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. a gentleman farmer who first worked the land back in the 18th century, and is adorned with the kind of great stone embellishments that make little girls wonder if that’s where the mayor lives.

Today,Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, the mayor might want to check it out.

Apthorp Associates LLC — the official name of the partnership comprised of Africa Israel Investments and “several individuals and entities” that now owns the building — brought in some of the best in the business to turn the grande dame into a diva.

BP Architecture designed the major renovations that include the less-than-glamorous things like new HVAC, wiring and plumbing, but also the modern touches that include the new spa and fitness center, yoga studio, entertainment suite and children’s play room as well as the magnificently restored lobbies.

What did they find at the bottom of the Lake

Each time the Lake at the Commons in Tualatin is cleaned out, there's always some interesting stuff sitting at the bottom.

During the most recent cleaning,The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility. crews found several items - including a total of $106 in coins was found and collected during the project by city crews. What did the city crews do with the money? They gave it to a local charity - Tualatin School House Pantry.

Tom Steiger, the parks maintenance manager for the City of Tualatin, said the decision to donate the money to the local organization was an easy choice. The city will host a few fund-raisers and can drives for the Tualatin School House Pantry throughout the year.

"So we just thought that would be a legitimate organization that we know is local and that would appreciate the donation," he said. "It made sense to keep it local because it's local money."

The Lake at the Commons sits on a 19-acre site in the heart of town, the former site of a pet food factory. It was later transformed into a three-acre man-made lake surrounded by a wide public promenade, plazas and an interactive fountain. Water lost from evaporation is made up from on-site wells, which were the city's original water supply. Drinking or swimming in the lake is prohibited.

City crews clean out the lake every four years. This is the third cleaning since the lake was made in 1997.

The man-made lake, which holds six million gallons of water, has a rubber membrane liner and a non-earthen bottom. Throughout the years, the lake, which is nine feet deep in the middle, collects algae, debris and organic matter that builds up on the bottom.

"So we clean that out, basically," Steiger said. "It also gives us a chance to inspect the liner and make sure we don't have any leaks. We have some mats that we keep on the bottom of that lake that are beneficial for algae, so we kind of replenish those.What is a real time Location system ? It's really a maintenance issue."

The process of cleaning the lake out takes about three weeks, including a week that it takes just to drain it. After that, the cleaning is relatively simple.

"We hook up fire hoses and basically just rinse it all down the drain," said Steiger, who has been working for the city for 10 months. "We inspect the liner and look for other stuff in there, too."

Besides money, there are a number of items city crews find when they are cleaning the lake, which is a hot spot for enthusiasts of remote-controlled boats. Sure enough, some of those toys have been lost in the lake. City crews found boat propellers, boat parts and even a few sunken ships when the lake was recently drained.

But it's not just toy boats and their parts that have been found in the lake. Cell phones, a set of keys,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. kids' toy trinkets and various other items have all turned up. Some items have come off costumes during the annual pumpkin regatta, where giant pumpkins are carved out and people dress up in a variety of costumes and essentially use the pumpkins as boats to compete in races.Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings,

"Mostly what we find is near the shoreline," Steiger said. "People throw things in from there and that's where we find most of the stuff."

There is a local pub,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, a Thai food restaurant and a Hawaiian food restaurant that sits adjacent to the lake. During the warm weather parts of the year, patrons can sit out on the patio and eat and drink. Steiger said most of the money they find nestled at the bottom of the lake is basically right next to those restaurants.

"So I think that loose change that comes back after people pay their bill or tab, I think the loose change gets chucked over the rail," Steiger said. "We seem to find more money over by restaurant row, so that's interesting. We definitely don't want to encourage people to throw unwanted stuff in there, though."

Monday, March 26, 2012

I-CAT 3D Imaging for Dental Implants and Dentures is Now Available

Polit & Costello Dentistry announces the addition of the I-Cat cone beam CT scanner for dental implants, restorations,Wireless Indoor Positioning System have become very popular in the system. oral and maxillofacial surgery, TMJ, sinuses,Listing of Taiwan & China Plastic Mould manufacturer & suppliers. and orthodontics.

This machine allows dentists to offer higher accuracy when placing implants partial and full dentures. Dentures that are fitted properly will offer less chipping, maintenance, slipping and an all around better experience for the patient.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,
Even with the best dental maintenance throughout a person’s life, people still might need to replace a missing tooth and or teeth. Using the I-cat cone beam imaging this will give the patient the best fit for their dental implant. Many patients deal with missing teeth or loose dentures without knowing their options. For the active adult who wears a dentures,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? has a missing tooth, has a tooth break or has a denture slip this can negatively impact every day life. Dr. Anthony Polit and Dr. John Costello are the only general dental office in Scranton | Pittston, PA to utilize the I-cat cone beam CT scanner.Broken china china mosaic. This is the latest and greatest in dental technology and is above the standard of care. Dr. Costello says"being able to offer our patients the latest dental technology is something we strive for, we want our patients to receive the best dental experience possible."

This dental office offers a variety of high quality equipment for dental purposes. Some of the machines on hand include the Waterlase MD Laser which provides laser treatment for procedures that were originally completed by a dental drill. This allows patients to experience less pain and removes the need for anesthetics. Information about the procedures and cutting edge technology that is available at Polit & Costello Dentistry visit their website. Patients can also follow Polit & Costello Dentistry on their Facebook Page to stay up to date on new services and the latest in dental care that is being offered by Dr. Polit and Dr. Costello.

Polit & Costello Dentistry serves clients in and around Scranton | Pittston, PA. Dr. Anthony Polit and Dr. John Costello make the team of dental professionals who are focused on providing patients with the best dental experience.

Which One Are You?

When people ask me what Boomers think, my first response is, “Which ones?”

I won’t bore you with statistics. If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you know all about the purchasing power of these folks.Wireless Indoor Positioning System have become very popular in the system.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? Notice I didn’t say “demographic.”

Ever since we’ve identified the Boomer consumer, marketers have continually lumped this group,Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile. born between 1948 and 1964 (approximately), into one large bloc. But as we’ve noted before, while targeting Boomers is now a requirement for any healthcare, consumer goods and services, technology and even retirement living business, it’s best not to treat them as a single stereotypical entity.

A great study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute explains it best. Three groups — Late, Middle and Young Boomers — grew up during very different times, and had very different experiences. And, yes, they should be treated as three distinct target segments.

But even within these segments, there are subsegments.Injection molding and Plastic molding supplier, Take the Baby Busters, for instance. We can thank the sociologists for designating 18 years as the length of each generation, but here’s how I understand it: Busters fall into the group arriving as the birthrate started to drop from its post-World War II highs, or from around 1956 to 1965. A hybrid of the Boomers and Gen Xers, this group came of age in the 1970s and 80s, and most of them were too young to serve in the Vietnam War, which was then winding down, or actively join the ’60s counterculture. Bruce Springsteen was their bard, not Bob Dylan .

Which leads to the next point: the most delineating characteristic of the Busters is that their sensibilities can swing toward both Boomer or Gen X attitudes socially,Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, politically and culturally. Think of a registered Republican who votes for the independent candidate, likes vintage punk rock, and is environmentally active. This group has also been referred to as the “Jones Generation.” Opinions on the origin of that label run the gamut from “keeping up with the Joneses” to “jonesing” for a better life. A lot of these folks were swing voters in 2008, and were largely responsible for electing Barak Obama (born in 1961).

Generally, they’re well educated, tech savvy, watch their diets, have “green” aspirations, buy online and from brick-and-mortar, and from the time they were kids, have devoured all forms of traditional — and now social — media. They’re concerned about their financial future, and some of them are beginning to balance the responsibility of raising their children and taking care of their aging parents.

While many companies can benefit from developing strong brand relationships with Busters, it seems that a good number of these consumers are skeptical about marketing messages, and may (surprise) ignore something that does not directly resonate with them.

Retailers and manufacturers may want to take a more subtle, consultative approach that’s less in-your-face. Research shows that this group is more likely to make a purchase after clicking through a website link, that they respond well to product placement in television and films, and that they enjoy a something old/something new mix of nostalgic references and new technology. Some brands that are right on target with this group include Toyota, Pepsi, Volkswagen, E*Trade and Kia.

Sounds complicated. So what’s the implication for marketers? Personally, I think the “stage not age” approach still applies here, the same as it does with any other Boomer segment. Understand that the “life stage mosaic” is complex, and, as it does for our Middle and Young Boomer counterparts, involves lots of moving parts: careers, kids, parents, culture and economics. Keep the message concise, the imaging interesting, and above all, keep it relevant.

Romney campaign has monopoly on gaffes

It is typical of Mitt Romney's luck that, on the morning after he all but secured the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign became embroiled in a controversy over a 1950s plastic toy.

On Wednesday, hours after Romney's 12-point victory over Rick Santorum in the Illinois primary silenced most of the remaining doubters, senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom went on CNN and gave new meaning to the term "game change.InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies."

"I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign," he said, explaining why the fight for conservative primary voters has not pushed Romney too far to the right. "Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch a Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again."

Actually, it appeared more like Romney was playing Chutes and Ladders: He just landed on Space 87 and slid all the way back to 24. Suddenly, Romney's event at an American Legion hall here in the Baltimore suburbs was transformed from a gab session about gas prices into an Etch a Sketch fest.

Alice Stewart, a Santorum aide, brought a bagful of pocket-size Etch a Sketches and handed them out in the parking lot. "Conservative principles should be written in stone, not on Etch a Sketch," the Santorum aide declared righteously.

Thirty feet away, Romney was shaking hands. Reporters inquired: Would he address the toy story? "We think gas prices are more important," spokesman Rick Gorka replied, examining the reporters' Etch a Sketches.

Santorum, who has taken Romney apart as if playing Operation, posed in his car Wednesday with the rectangular device. His campaign tweeted out the photo with the caption "Rick Santorum studying up on Mitt Romney policy positions."

"You take whatever he said and you can shake it up and it will be gone,Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, and he's going to draw a whole new picture for the general election," Santorum crowed at a campaign stop in Louisiana.

Also campaigning in Louisiana, Newt Gingrich, who has turned the trail into a round of Twister, gave an Etch a Sketch to a young girl in the audience and told her, "You could now be a presidential candidate."

Will Romney ever end his string of debilitating gaffes? As the Magic 8 Ball says: Outlook not so good.

After the New Hampshire primary, Romney appeared to have it made in Candy Land. But Santorum and Gingrich felled his inevitability like dominoes, and — Sorry! — Romney finds himself in a coast-to-coast game of Connect Four with competitors who were not supposed to have been in his league but who are benefiting from voters' disenchantment with him.

There is some enthusiasm for the Republican front-runner. Outside the Romney event here, retiree Jim Wilson sat in his GMC truck decorated bumper to bumper with Romney paraphernalia and American flags. Wilson, who lives outside Charlottesville, Va., has been on the road since August, to each primary state except Colorado — and that's only because he wanted to make it to Kansas in time. "That's a bunch of horse apples," he said when asked about Romney's enthusiasm gap. "Look at this crowd," he said, between puffs on his pipe.

True enough. Two hundred supporters filled the hall, with at least that many outside.Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile. "This is really something," the candidate exulted to the overflow crowd in the parking lot.

But holding that enthusiasm has been, for Romney, quite a Rubik's Cube. Inside, the candidate talked about health care, education, Iran, the economy — anything but children's toys.

Although it was not particularly warm in the hall, Romney ended by saying that the temperature had "reached 140 in here" — and retreated while glaring at reporters shouting Etch a Sketch questions.

Realizing that he could not shake the queries, Romney returned a few minutes later for a "short Q&A," known in the jargon as a "press avail." It lasted 90 seconds.

"The issues I'm running on will be exactly the same,We offer offshore merchant account," he declared in response to an Etch a Sketch question. "I'm running as a conservative Republican. I was a conservative Republican governor."

So he was a conservative when he enacted Romneycare?

"Can you guarantee to Republican voters that you won't take more moderate positions?" CNN's Jim Acosta asked.

"I answereThis page contains information about molds,d the question," Romney replied.

"An avail is more than one question, governor, if you don't mind my saying so," Acosta told him.

Romney grinned. "This wasn't an avail. It was a chance to respond to a question I didn't get a chance to respond to."

Floor It!

Whether you’re looking to update your foyer or kitchen, or are building a new bathroom from the ground up, tiling still reigns supreme. But before you start laying the grout, you should consider a few things first.

Neutral colours are always in. For instance,Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, consider a shade of white, beige, taupe or grey. The best thing about a neutral-coloured tile is that you won’t easily grow tired of it.

After establishing a colour, you can then begin thinking about the print or pattern. Unpolished stone looks great in the foyer and adds a rustic element to your home. Meanwhile textured finishes and wood-grain patterns are popular and perfect for the bathroom because they typically have non-slip surfaces. Wood-grain patterns are also great if you prefer an earthy, natural look and feel in your home. Not to mention they add a certain organic, serene and spa-like atmosphere in your bathroom.

Looking to really indulge? Consider underfloor heating to warm you up after you step out of the shower.We offer offshore merchant account, Though you may not be able to take a daily trip to the spa,This page contains information about molds, you can bring the experience home by giving your bathroom the spa treatment with a brand new remodel.

When considering print and pattern in the kitchen, ceramic works best because it is easy to clean and is a durable material.

Sometimes a neutral colour can look too sterile in the home. So to liven up your home and make it look and feel more cozy, consider adding a pop of colour. Pantone Color Institute — the leader in colour trends — named Tangerine Tango the colour of year. The bright orange shade works great in small doses. Whether it’s the colour of the stand mixer in your kitchen, a throw pillow or blanket on your living room couch, or as a shower curtain in the bathroom, the bright orange will be sure to energize your surroundings.

Because home decor trends are forever changing, your best bet is to stick with a neutral colour and incorporate accent pieces by the season.A Injection Molding Moulding company, Switching it up will freshen up any space and keep it lively.InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies. But if you’re particularly drawn to Tangerine Tango or another colour, don’t be afraid to commit to it either. By using different shades of one colour, you can create an interesting gradient mosaic pattern to cover the shower walls or to create a great focal wall in your foyer or living room. Or you can use your favourite colour in thin, border tiles to accent the neutral-coloured tiles.

Whether you have an idea of what you want your room to look like, or are still trying to gather ideas, you can head over to a tile showroom to experience the look and feel of the different tiles.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Ancient Construction Tools and Methods put to the Test

Visitors to the Roman settlement historical site at Wroxeter in the West Midlands of England in 2010 must have been surprised by a strange sight: men with sheets over their heads standing in a field studying the sky.

The reason? They were consulting the gods to see if the location was a good place to build a villa.

It was, and they did.

The project was followed by the British TV series “Rome Wasn't Built In A Day,“ a six-part broadcast chronicling the construction of a Roman urban villa at Wroxeter, one of the largest Roman settlements in Britain.

The builders were required to produce the necessary building material by hand and construct the villa using only Roman building methods and tools as far as possible under modern safety regulations. Thus, for example, the team used steel scaffolding rather than the wooden type the Romans would have used.

In addition, since the villa is located on an English Heritage site, the ground beneath it could not be disturbed. The structure was therefore built on a low platform above the still-buried forum, an important administrative area for the original Roman town, ensuring the forum was safely preserved for future archaeological work.

The recreated villa was designed by Professor Dai Morgan Evans of Chester University. Based upon a building excavated in 1914 on plot number six at the Wroxeter site, the villa's amenities include a bathhouse heated by a hypocaust, the forerunner of central heating.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.

Heating for the villa itself would have been provided by charcoal braziers.

The six-man construction team was composed of plasterer Tim Dalton-Dobson, plumber Kevin Fail, carpenter Fred Farray, laborer Ben Gotsell, bricklayer Darren Prince, and foreman Jim Blackham. The project, which began in summer 2010, was completed in approximately six months.The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility.

Plumber Kevin Fail became involved with the project through an advertisement on a UK Web site called “My Builder.”

“One afternoon in late 2009, I replied to this job ad and got it. They picked six for a day's filming as a pilot and out of the six they only liked three of us, Jim, Ben, and myself. The other three were added not long before we started the project, and they were Fred, Darren, and Tim,” Fail recalled.

The craftspersons chosen featured a wide variety of ages and experience, a mix that doubtless appealed to and interested viewers. For example, Fail described himself as “not your normal 52 year old. I have long hair and ride a motorbike and wear a leather waistcoat.”

What the team had in common, however, was the project was one where they learned as they went along, beginning when they arrived onsite in May 2010.

Surveying was carried out by use of a groma. At first glance resembling a small gibbet, the groma's swivelling head supports an X-shaped wooden crossbar with a plumb line suspended from the end of each arm.What is a real time Location system ? By aligning plumb lines with a sequence of poles held at increasing distances by an assistant, the surveyor is able to mark out straight lines for a road or lines at right angles to each other, the latter forming the rectangles or squares needed when laying out a building.Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas.

“The first two weeks consisted of us firing a kiln and making lime mortar while the float foundations were being laid,” Fail said. “We went to a blacksmith and made some tools, which the Romans would have used, very similar to today's chisels, etc.”

“Every rock had to be broken by hand into a brick,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. all mortar for bricks was mixed by hand with a copy of a Roman hoe. When we started building, to be honest the building really didn't look that big. We had dwarf walls along most of the villa, but the bathhouse was full height,” he said.

“The timber frame was hewed to a certain degree, but then the rest was pre-fabricated for us as the Romans would have done at the time. The frame was green oak and it was all lifted into place by hand. No cranes!” Fail added.

Solar panels help power revamped King's Cross station

An ambitious 1.3m project to fit a 240kW solar glazing system to the roof of King's Cross station is nearing completion, BusinessGreen has learned.

While the station's new roof captured imaginations when it opened last week, the process of installing solar cells along two new barrel-vaulted glass roofs soaring high above the platforms and concourses is in many ways just as impressive.

The solar PV cells are integrated into 1,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.392 glass laminate units that form part of the 2,300 square metre glass roofing structure.

Meanwhile, progress installing the system has had to be synchronised with a huge rolling scaffold that slowly moves along the concourse as commuters pass by.

A spokesman for Sundog Energy,What is a real time Location system ? which is providing the solar system, told BusinessGreen the installation was further slowed by stringent safety regulations designed to address the risks associated with working over a live line.

The safety rules are so tight that items such as pens have to go up in a dedicated lift connected to the installation area in order to prevent them falling from a height above the station. "If you forget something, it's an hour to go back and get it," the spokesman said.

However, despite the installation challenges, the system is due to be completed "by the summer", when it should start to produce around 175,000 kWh of electricity per year, saving over 100 tonnes of CO2 annually.

The system forms part of a major overhaul of King's Cross station, including the restoration of the original 1851 facade of the building, the renovation of the ticket hall and the main train shed roof,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. and the creation of a new public square in front of the station.

However,The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility.Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. King's Cross is still lagging behind Blackfriars when it comes to solar power. Blackfriars, which reopened earlier this year after extensive modernisation, boasts a 4,400-panel array running along the roof of a railway bridge spanning the Thames. The Blackfriars array is expected to generate around 900,000kWh of electricity a year, about half of the station's demand, as well as reduce annual CO2 emissions by over 500 tonnes a year.

Both projects are part of Network Rail's wide-ranging green building programme, which aims to support the company's goal of reducing carbon emissions 25 per cent per passenger kilometre by the end of the decade.

The Crescent City keeps pulling people back

One of these days, I have got to get back to New Orleans. There's something so unique about the Crescent City that there's a certain gravity that keeps pulling you back.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET, For me, it's a combination of the culture and the food. Plus, I was born in Louisiana, so there's that factor.

New Orleans has a bit of the French, Creole, Cajun, and maybe a bit of American -- but not too much. Many people think that Creoles and Cajuns are the same. They definitely are not. Creoles originally were people who descended from the French and Spanish settlers in Louisiana. Later it also included descendants of slaves because many of them were mixed-race, having both African and European blood.

Cajuns are also of French heritage.InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies. But they came to Louisiana as exiles from the Canadian province of Acadia. Originally known as Acadians, the name was shortened to Cajun in the regional dialect.

Several years ago, I was surprised to learn that Italians also are represented in New Orleans, which was a major port of entry for immigrants. While the culture isn't prominently Italian, there is enough influence to make a contribution to the cuisine.

Beignets are a popular treat, of course, and most visitors make a point of visiting Café du Monde near the waterfront for their helpings of these squares of fried dough. Either plain or sprinkled with powdered sugar, they're a tasty snack best served hot from the deep fryer.

One of my first dishes in New Orleans was andouille sausage with dirty rice. The sausage is a French inspiration made from pork, onions, wine, and peppery spices.The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, I'd never had dirty rice and didn't know what to expect. But the "dirty" appearance is from the chicken giblets and liver cooked with it -- just enough to flavor the rice and turn it light brown.

Lin Epstein, a friend who used to live in New Orleans, says her favorite dishes are the charbroiled oysters at Drago's in Metairie. But wait. She also likes the barbecued shrimp at Pasquale Manale's. "No barbecue sauce and no grill," she says. "They're just drenched in butter and pepper. Better have some good French bread for both meals!"

But my personal favorite is the muffaletta sandwich. The first time I saw one, I was reminded of an Italian sub. But this is taken in a different direction. Rather than piled only with deli meat, this sandwich has a good layer of olive mix. I saw a jar while shopping recently, but it was so pricy that I scoffed. The mix is so easy to make that you can do it yourself and have money left in your wallet. I've included a muffaletta recipe below,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. including the olive mix.

Someone's castaway cookbooks could be your treasure. St. Stephen's Lutheran Church is holding its annual cookbook sale on Saturday, March 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday, April 1, from 9 a.All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats,m. to noon. That's in the Fellowship Hall at 2500 Soquel Ave.

Some titles include "The Joy of Jell-O Molds," "Cooking Out of the Box," "Cookies in a Jar," "101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix," "Cooking Light Magazine Series," and more. Prices range from 10 cents to $10.

Proceeds benefit the women's circle, which donates to local charities all year. If you have a donation for the sale, Gwyn Larson says to leave it at the church office.

US govt sets new tariffs on China solar panels

The Commerce Department is imposing new import fees on solar panels made in China, finding that the Chinese government is improperly giving subsidies to manufacturers of the panels there.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday it has found on a preliminary basis that Chinese solar panel makers have received government subsidies of 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent. Therefore, the department said, tariffs in the same proportions will be charged on Chinese panels imported into the U.S., depending on which company makes them.

The tariff amounts are considered small, but the decision could ratchet up trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Several U.S. solar panel makers had asked the government to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports. They are struggling against stiff competition from China as well as weakening demand in Europe and other key markets, just as President Barack Obama is working to promote renewable energy.

"Today's announcement affirms what U.S. manufacturers have long known: Chinese manufacturers have received unfair ..All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats,. subsidies," Steve Ostrenga, CEO of Helios Solar Works in Milwaukee, said in a statement.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET, The company is a member of a group called the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing.

On the other side, some U.S. companies argue that low-priced Chinese imports have helped consumers and promote rapid growth of the industry.

The new tariffs are low, making the Commerce Department decision "a relatively positive outcome for the U.S. solar industry and its 100,000 employees," said Jigar Shah,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, president of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy. "However,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. tariffs large or small will hurt American jobs and prolong our world's reliance on fossil fuels. Fortunately, this decision will not significantly raise solar prices in the United States."

Members of CASE include California-based SunEdison, Recurrent Energy, SolarCity and Westinghouse Solar, as well as China-based Suntech Power Holdings Co.

Commerce said it was putting off until May 17 a decision on whether Chinese companies are dumping the solar panels on world markets, selling them below cost. Tariffs for dumping cases usually are much steeper than those intended to counteract subsidies.

Also, because the decision on subsidy-related tariffs is preliminary, the amount of those tariffs could eventually be changed.

"Today's decision by the Commerce Department is a signal that China's unfair trade practices in the solar energy industry may soon be remedied, giving American producers a more level playing field on which to compete," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said following the announcement. "As the administration continues its investigation into exposing China's subsidies, and especially into the question of dumping, I anticipate that the tariff margins will significantly swell."

Oregon is the home base of SolarWorld Industries America Inc., the largest U.InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies.S. maker of silicon solar cells and panels, which has led the U.S. manufacturers' complaints. It is a subsidiary of Germany's SolarWorld AG.

Trade tensions with China are especially sensitive at a time when the U.S. and other Western economies want to boost technology exports to revive economic growth and reduce high unemployment.

The Commerce Department decision "puts the White House in a bind," said David Spooner, an international trade attorney at Squire Sanders in Washington who previously held positions at Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The administration wants domestic solar manufacturers to be protected from unfair foreign competition. But higher prices on foreign products designed to accomplish that also could hurt the goal of encouraging Americans to use solar energy, Spooner noted.

The U.S. and China are two of the world's biggest markets for solar, wind and other renewable energy technology. Both governments are promoting their own suppliers in hopes of generating higher-paid technology jobs.

China announced its own probe in November, saying it will investigate whether U.S. support for renewable energy companies improperly hurts foreign suppliers.

The U.S. manufacturers' complaints have been amplified by the controversy surrounding Solyndra Inc. — a California-based solar panel maker that filed for bankruptcy protection after winning a $500 million federal loan from the Obama administration.

Solyndra's failure embarrassed the administration and prompted a lengthy review by congressional Republicans who are critical of Obama's green energy policies. Solyndra has cited Chinese competition as a key reason for its failure.

U.S. energy officials say China spent more than $30 billion last year to subsidize its solar industry. Obama said in November that China has "questionable competitive practices" in clean energy and that his administration has fought "these kinds of dumping activities." The administration will act to enforce trade laws where appropriate, Obama said.

Obama is visiting a big solar energy plant Wednesday in Boulder City, Nev., part of a four-state swing aimed at showcasing his administration's energy policies.

Monday, March 19, 2012

For a Basketball Star, Fitness Calls for Pilates

Yoga, Pilates,All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, pedicures. They don't sound like the workout routine of a pro-basketball player. But Dwyane Wade, the superstar shooting guard with the Miami Heat, has embraced them.

During last year's lockout, players couldn't get access to NBA team facilities or trainers. "The lockout meant I was working out with a different trainer," says Mr. Wade, "and he introduced me to different types of workouts that I didn't even know my body needed, like yoga."

Mr. Wade, who turned 30 in January, could be considered old by NBA standards. He says a large part of his preseason training was focused on keeping his body healthy and injury-free through the season. Nevertheless, he has struggled with injuries, including a strained calf and sprained right ankle.

In addition to his time on the court and in the gym, Mr. Wade, who stands 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 220 pounds, puts in time on the massage table. "I'm huge on massage work," he says. "I've done more stretching this season than ever before. My therapist's hands get tired from working on me."

Since his size-15 feet take a lot of pounding, he also incorporates foot baths, ice baths and regular pedicures into his regimen. "You need to take care of your feet," says Mr. Wade. "My feet aren't going to look any prettier from a pedi, but they feel better from the massaging."

"I have tight hips and I felt I needed to loosen up and be more flexible as I got older," says Mr. Wade. He started taking private yoga lessons. "Just basic yoga—I wasn't ready for the hot stuff," he says.The TagMaster Long Range Hands free access is truly built for any parking facility.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, "Yoga is a totally different way of stretching and really challenging." Mr. Wade says he persuaded his teammate, LeBron James, to join him. "He's stiffer than me," he jokes.

Mr.Specializes in rapid Injection mold and molding of parts for prototypes and production. James, in turn, persuaded Mr. Wade to try machine-based Pilates, which lengthens muscles and strengthens the core muscles. "I really felt the Pilates loosen up my muscles," says Mr. Wade. The attention to stretching has paid off during the season. "I recall making a move, and the basketball ended up on my foot and I almost did a split on the ball. Normally, that's a groin pull, but I bounced back."

Mr. Wade also started running on the beach this summer. "Running on the sand strengthens your quads and calf muscles," he says. He adds that he used to avoid running because it gave him shin splints, but running barefoot in the sand has helped him avoid that. He does some runs for distance, others for speed. "I try to do a lot of quick sprints where I'm starting and stopping and training myself to push through fatigue," he says.

Mr. Wade has also worked on his fast-twitch muscles,Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET, which come into play for brief bursts of strength or speed. To do this, his trainer had him work out with elastic bands on his wrists and ankles. He throws a medicine ball, turns, and then catches the ball with his torso facing one way and his arms turning another. "In a game, you never know what is going to come at you. I have to be ready to react quickly."

Mr. Wade says he always avoided vegetables until he turned 30. "I hated all of them," he says. But "I knew it would help me in the long run both mentally and physically" to start eating them. His solution was to have his personal chef turn them into juice.

He now starts the day with a juice that might include celery, carrots and beets. His chef sticks to healthy, low-fat, high-protein meals that often include grilled chicken and rice. He doesn't splurge often, but when he does he has a burger, fries and a Coke. "That is heaven to me. I have a favorite burger spot in nearly every city. Sometimes I might even order two."

Expansion by steelmakers: Value accretion or erosion?

Steel czar Lakshmi Mittal was underlining a virtue of owning mills in more than one geography when he once said the knowledge bank thus getting automatically created allows the group to quickly put a team together, drawing resources from different centres to set things right if anything goes wrong anywhere.External Hemroids are those that occur below the dentate line. Not very well known is the fact that for Mittal, the inspiration to grow the steel business through takeovers was what Rama Prasad Goenka was doing earlier within the country.

While Goenka travelled the inorganic route to build a group, since split into two for his sons to run independent of each other, Mittal has shown mastery over cross-border deals. The difference between the two goes beyond their theatres of operation. Goenka fancied and bought businesses from tyres, electricity, transmission lines and retail to soft commodities like tea and rubber. On the contrary, Mittal, for the major part of his career, stayed put in steel. Only in recent years, has he branched out in the energy sector.

Mittal’s success in owning steel capacity of 100 million tonnes (mt) in 20 countries has encouraged Indian groups to use their native intelligence, risk taking ability and capacity to raise funds to attempt takeovers, and, on occasions a few times bigger in size than themselves. At this point, it is easy to say that Tata Steel paid an ‘insane’ price for Corus (since renamed Tata Steel Europe) owning plants in several European countries and Hindalco for Novelis, the world leader in aluminium rolled products and a storehouse of technologies.

But who could have thought in early 2007, when the two defining takeovers happened, that the world would suffer a crippling recession not long thereafter and the recovery would be painfully slow. The Economist article on ‘Indian takeovers abroad’ has missed the point that multi-billion dollar acquisitions by Tata Steel and Hindalco are driven by strategic considerations and entrepreneurial call of a special kind. Movers of such deals are not put down by fears that “takeovers routinely destroy value for the purchaser”.

No doubt the two takeovers came at a fancy price. At least in one case as other aspirants for the prize rolled the dice, the hugely enhanced price tag of $6 billion looked daunting for Indian company executives. At that point, Kumar Mangalam Birla exercised his entrepreneurial judgement to wrap up Novelis , so much bigger than acquirer Hindalco. Birla later said the Novelis takeover was no doubt an “intimidating proposition. But after a lot of thinking, I found it too compelling an opportunity to let go of”. Corus became pricey because Tata Steel got locked in a nine-round auction bidding with CSN of Brazil under a British takeover panel ruling. Ratan Tata, an admirer of Mittal for initiating consolidation of global steel capacity,Sharps include syringe needle, described the successful Corus bid as a “moment of fulfilment for India”. Every steel producing country has seen the benefits to be derived from bringing more and more capacity under one roof.What causes TMJ pain? For example, China, which last year at 695.5 mt had a 45.5 per cent share of global steel production, wants consolidation to lead to 10 groups owning 70 per cent of the capacity. They now own less than 50 per cent capacity.

The Economist argument is valid that a country’s cross-border deal depend largely on the state of its economy and how well its leading business groups fare.What is the top Hemorrhoids treatment? In the three years preceding 2007, when Corus figured as India’s biggest foreign takeover yet and Hindalco forged a never-before upstream and downstream link in aluminium space, the country’s gross domestic product grew at a clip of over eight per cent yearly. A good number of companies were earning profits of 30 per cent or more of their turnover. Naturally, some of them at that point thought they were ready to bid for giant offshore companies.

Acquiring a company is a challenge. No less daunting is to ensure sustainable return on investment. In about a year-and-a-half of the takeover of Corus and Novelis, commodities in general suffered major setbacks. This necessitated major restructuring of both enterprises, including plant closure, disposal and relocation, reduction in workforce and cost cutting through productivity improvement. Both, Tata Steel and Hindalco, found their acquired companies beset with high cost operations while demand in their principal markets was tepid leading to product price falls. Tata Steel had to sell its unprofitable steel slab business and Novelis disposed three aluminium foil units in Europe not found in alignment with its growth strategies and value creation in the long run.

Rodney Carrington crass but openly honest in LaughFest performance

Rodney Carrington played to a crowd of more than 2,000 fans at DeVos Performance Hall and added his name to a list of well-known headliners closing out the final day of LaughFest 2012.

With names like Martin Short, Jim Gaffigan, Kevin Nealon, and Benton Harbor’s own Sinbad, the 10-day festival once again proved it could bring in the heavy-hitters. And with more than 3 million CDs sold, Rodney Carrington is one of the many legitimately big acts to bring the donation dollars to Gilda’s Club of Grand Rapids.

An honest review of this show is difficult to write. Rodney’s material is definitely crass. His R-rating wasn’t a fluke – words you can’t put in print were spoken in the first 30 seconds. But those familiar with his work knew this going in.

Topics ranged from what God would think of jokes about male genitalia to Clint Eastwood eating another person’s hemorrhoids. His style would be a combination of the vulgarity of Andrew Dice Clay mixed with the occasional manic delivery of Robin Williams (imitations of pirates, women, hillbillies and Salma Hayek), all wrapped up in the body of a capable country music singer.

But the real challenge of writing this review came when Carrington revealed on stage that after 18 years of marriage, he’s going through a divorce. I’ve seen hundreds of comics, but I don’t think it would take a trained eaWelcome to polished tiles.r to tell that this wasn’t part of his act. It affected his timing. It affected his delivery. You could tell he was struggling with the fact that his life is being turned upside down.

Rodney said, “I’m in the denial and shocked stage right now. Next week I’ll be in the anger stage and that crowd will get an entirely different show”.Buying solar panel and want the Best Price?TBC help you confidently purchase China ceramic tile from factories in China.Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website!

And most of his regular introductions to jokes would include an aside to the audience. For example, when setting up a joke about compromise in marriage, Carrington told the audience he might not have to deal with that for much longer.

Now, I naturally have no idea the circumstances that led to his marriage ending, but I can tell you that going on stage to perform material that is heavily based on your personal relationship with your wife and family can’t be easy while those things are being brought down around you.

Carrington said, “We’ve actually replaced tonight’s show with a marriage seminar.Find out the facts about Cold Sore, We’ve tricked you.”

It was a struggle to listen to dated Tiger Woods jokes and the standard differences between men and women as topics, but Rodney did have moments where he would get his rhythm.

After, getting poison ivy on a day when his wife chastising him about not going to church, he wondered if that’s how God worked.

“Forget the starving kids in Africa. Rodney Carrington skipped out on church? Make sure that guy gets a bad case of poison ivy. And make sure he gets it (edit)”

Rodney hit his high points when talking about the concept of famous people in history having plain names, cleaning up after your dog turning into a sexual encounter (very crude, but very funny) and how to handle when your kids get too big to discipline.

The latter may have been Mr. Carrington’s most well-crafted joke with a great set up story about a trip to the zoo and viewing the older monkeys. He carried their wisdom over into the way he would still intimidate his own sons once they got too big to be “whipped”. Let’s just say the method involves something most of us have seen monkeys do at the zoo and it involves excrement. Again, using a blunt tool, but delivered very well.

The second half of his set was the musical portion of the program. He should have started with it. Carrington has a very good singing voice and plays the guitar like it's second nature. If he were to tell stories as the set ups to his songs for the entire time, the show would see a marked improvement. He sang around eight short songs and most of those stories he told were short -- the one exception being his Toby Keith story, which dragged on far too long and frankly began to sound like name-dropping more than anything else.

While his show would be plainly offensive to some crowds, you could sense that Carrington is a very loving father, talented musician and is not just a performer who will put it on auto-pilot when something as life-changing as divorce happens to him.

Actually, it may have helped him on this night. A little less polish and a bit more genuine emotion is never a bad thing when trying to connect with an audience. And with the applause he received when he left the stage, I’d have to say this audience enjoyed the show.

Getty museum gambles that art is by Watteau

In a move that's both a long-held dream come true and an acquisition with potential for art-world debate, the J. Paul Getty Museum announced Thursday that it has bought "The Italian Comedians," a little-known 18th century painting.

Depending on which expert you ask, the painting is either a rare large canvas by one of France's greatest artists, Jean-Antoine Watteau, or the work of someone else.

Scott Schaefer, the Getty's senior curator of paintings, said that before deciding about a month ago to buy the oil painting from a London art dealer, museum leaders sought opinions from "almost all major Watteau scholars in the world," each of whom had seen the painting in person.

The vote was 7-3 in favor of it being either solely by Watteau, who was 36 when he died in 1721, or a canvas the master had left unfinished, to be completed by another hand - possibly his student, Jean-Baptiste Pater, to whom the painting was sometimes attributed during the 20th century.

"It's so emotionally engaging that, for us, it can only be by Watteau," Schaefer said from Maastricht, the Netherlands, where he was attending the annual European Fine Art Fair.

The doubters, he said, did not say who they believed had painted the piece, which is 3 feet wide and slightly more than 4 feet tall. "But everyone, including the naysayers, thought it was a magnificent picture."

"To find a large painting by Watteau is quite unusual," he added. "The ones sold are generally very small."

"This major, little-known painting is extraordinary. It shows Watteau at the height of his creative genius," James Cuno, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a written announcement of the acquisition.

The Getty did not disclose the price, but Schaefer said it was a bargain for a larger Watteau. Because of the uncertainty about its authorship, he said,Design & Build the Highest Quality Precision injection molds. "I think we were able to buy very favorably."

"The Italian Comedians" was last displayed publicly at a Paris museum in 1929. It resurfaced last April, in a major sale by heirs of Paul-Louis Weiller, a World War I French flying ace and aerial squadron commander who earned a fortune in the aviation industry and banking, lived grandly and amassed a large art collection before his death in 1993 at the age of 100.

Weiller was a friend and mentor to the oil baron who founded and funded the Getty Museum. According to Robert Lenzner's "The Great Getty: The Life and Loves of J. Paul Getty," Weiller "found Getty to be ... a hick who did not have the sophistication of Weiller's friends." But because of Weiller's appreciation for some shrewd business advice, he "taught Getty about high society.Our websites supply Insulator,"

Experts for the auction house Gros & Delettrez billed "The Italian Comedians" as a work from around 1720 by the "French school ... circle of Antoine Watteau." Reporting on the auction last April, the International Herald Tribune said it had sold for 1.56 million euros - about $2 million - a price 20 times the auctioneer's top estimate.

"La Surprise," a Watteau painting of lovers embracing while a musician prepares to serenade them,Low prices on projector bulbs from Projector Lamp London UK. fetched $24.4 million at a London auction in 2008, setting a record for an 18th century French artist.

The Getty's new painting shows five costumed performers - stock characters of the commedia dell'arte, led by the white-clad clown, Pierrot.

Watteau often drew and painted actors, musicians and dancers; one of his most celebrated works is a life-size canvas in the Louvre that shows Pierrot (also known as Gilles) standing while other players sit or recline in the background.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., boasts its own Watteau painting called "The Italian Comedians," showing Pierrot and his companions on a stage, ready to take their bow.

Watteau painted the National Gallery's canvas during a trip to England in 1719-20 to seek treatment for the tuberculosis that would kill him. It's believed to have been the artist's payment to his doctor, Richard Mead, a noted art patron.

Schaefer speculates that the Getty's painting was created during the same trip, and that it may be the unidentified Watteau canvas, titled "The Italian Comedians," that was listed in a 1726 London auction catalog.

"I was fairly confident when the picture came up for auction that it was by (Watteau)," Schaefer said, and he told one prospective bidder, the London dealers Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, that the Getty would be interested in it - assuming that careful study indicated it was indeed by Watteau. "We wanted to do the due diligence, and we wanted the luxury of time," he said.

The dealers bought the painting, and Getty conservator Yvonne Szafran flew to England to oversee its cleaning, Schaefer said.Find everything you need to know about kidney stone including causes,

It arrived in California in December for a close-up vetting - including the polling of scholars.

"We tried to disprove it was by the artist," Schaefer said - and could not.

Now, "there's nothing we can do further technologically that will prove it's by Watteau or not. There's no proof that it's by anything but one hand" - and for Schaefer, the painting's vibrancy testifies that the hand was Watteau's.

A key piece of evidence, he said, is an undisputed Watteau drawing of Pierrot that closely resembles the central clown in the Getty's purchase - except that he is drawn with his head bowed instead of looking expectantly at the viewer. X-rays showed that beneath its surface, the Getty's purchase has a painting of Pierrot hanging his head. "Watteau changed the painting so he's looking at you," Schaefer said.

According to Schaefer, "The Italian Comedians" depicts a troupe that, having just finished a performance at a fairgrounds outside Paris, faces its audience, hoping onlookers will show appreciation by reaching into their pockets. Pierrot cues them by reaching into his own, while holding in his right hand the hat he may soon extend to receive their coins.

Given its theme, Schaefer said with a laugh, "The Italian Comedians" may have found just the right home: L.A. can relate to the idea of acting and wanting to get paid for it.

Besides courting debate - not necessarily a bad thing if connoisseurs agree that, regardless of its authorship, the work is wonderful - the purchase realizes a long-deferred dream for the Getty and helps it keep up with the Joneses.

When the Getty bought Vincent van Gogh's "Irises" in 1990 - a painting that had fetched nearly $54 million at auction in 1987 - George Goldner, its curator of paintings and drawings, told the New York Times, "the museum needed more star pictures. ... I'd be just as happy to buy a Watteau ...Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties, but it was a van Gogh that was for sale."

In 1997, as the Getty Center was about to open, museum director John Walsh assessed its holdings and lamented a lack of stellar French paintings to complement the strong collection of French furniture and decorative arts J. Paul Getty had amassed before his death in 1976.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Soitec Announces Adoption of Fully Depleted Technology for Advanced Mobile Platforms

Soitec , a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, announced today that ST-Ericsson, a leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors, has selected planar fully depleted silicon on insulator technology for use in future mobile platforms. Soitec's innovative substrates - with an extremely thin top layer which predefines critical characteristics of the transistor - provide the foundation upon which fully depleted transistors are built.

"Next-generation mobile consumer devices will need to deliver an even better user experience and higher performance without sacrificing battery life," said Louis Tannyeres,Injection molding and Plastic molding supplier, chief chip architect, ST-Ericsson. "Together with innovations in overall platform system design, advances in process technology are key to delivering next-level performance and higher power efficiency. The results of our work with STMicroelectronics on FD-SOI have demonstrated that this technology is able to deliver these benefits in a cost-effective manner, while allowing us to differentiate our solutions."

FD-SOI wafers from Soitec enable enhanced performance for NovaThor at much lower battery usage - as much as 35 percent lower power consumption at maximum performance. For consumers, this can translate into devices that provide four additional hours of high-speed Web browsing or as much as a day of additional battery life.

"FD provides a low-risk option for semiconductor companies such as ST-Ericsson that are seeking to take advantage of the benefits of a fully depleted transistor architecture while leveraging existing design and manufacturing capabilities," said Paul Boudre, chief operating officer of Soitec. "This announcement represents the industry's first step toward fully depleted planar CMOS technology, years ahead of when alternative processes will be available from foundries. We are positioned to provide the volume of qualified wafer manufacturing required to enable the industry to speed the adoption of planar fully depleted technology into mainstream mobile applications."

"STMicroelectronics and its partners Leti, Soitec and IBM have invested several years of development in FD-SOI technology, and ST has recently demonstrated the strong differentiation of this technology versus conventional bulk CMOS, both for high-performance and low-power features on several IPs at 28nm and below," said Joel Hartmann, STMicroelectronics assistant general manager, Technology R&D. "This combination makes FD-SOI particularly suitable for wireless and tablet applications where it essentially provides the fully depleted transistor benefits of FinFETs on a planar conventional technology, while allowing advanced back bias techniques, which are not available with FinFETs. We are delighted that it could be adopted by ST-Ericsson for their next generation of products."

As innovative form factors push semiconductor manufacturers to move beyond 28nm process nodes, it is becoming clear that traditional bulk CMOS process technology cannot balance these attributes effectively. FD wafers enable a planar, fully depleted transistor architecture - a breakthrough technology that empowers semiconductor companies to bypass the bulk CMOS roadblock, enabling the efficient design of next-generation, lower power processors for smartphones and mobile computing devices. This architecture is essential in implementing transistor technology that solves - with less process complexity - the scaling, leakage and variability issues that are associated with shrinking CMOS technology starting at 28nm.

A Night at the Shelter

Thomas (not his real name) is 44 years old. He moved to southern Fairfax County two years ago from Fredricksburg to live with his sister. A former drug dealer, he now works five nights a week as a restaurant cook but doesn’t earn enough to make ends meet. Still, he sensed the time had come to head out on his own.

“I don’t want to put that burden on my sister,” Thomas says. “I’m a grown man, so I’ve got to stand up for myself.”

Standing up for himself landed him at the Ventures in Community Hypothermia Outreach Program shelter, or VIC-HOP. Coordinated by New Hope Housing with support from Fairfax County, VIC-HOP is staffed largely by volunteers from Ventures in Community, a ecumenical group of faith communities in Mount Vernon and surrounding areas. Housed at Rising Hope United Methodist Church on Russell Road,Find everything you need to know about kidney stone including causes, VIC-HOP provides free shelter and dinner to up to 25 adults Dec. 1 through March 31 every year.

This quiet corner of the world is where Thomas sleeps on his nights off. He’s saving money for a place to live.

“I don’t dwell too much on the past,” he says. “That’s what gets a lot of us in trouble — dwelling on the past, and, ‘what if,’ and ‘if I would have did this and I would have did that.’ … I think about it, but I don’t let it get to me.”

It’s 6 p.m. on a Friday at VIC-HOP. A few men sit patiently in the church foyer, waiting for the 7 p.m. check-in. VIC-HOP Volunteer Coordinator Sherry Edelkamp greets the night’s volunteers, a group from Heritage Presbyterian Church on Fort Hunt Road.

A homeless woman helps out Edelkamp by spraying 25 thin rubber mats with Lysol. The sleeping bags, freshly laundered at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, are piled in the office.

The volunteers quickly set to heating up dinner, which the women cooked at home earlier in the day. Tonight, the volunteers and the homeless — the “guests,” they’re called — will dine on meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, green peas and eclair cake.

The kitchen resounds with the rattling of pans and the opening and closing of oven doors. One volunteer, Jenny Kennedy, brags about how well the mashed potatoes turned out. Many of the recipes they cook for the shelter come from the church cookbook, Kennedy says.

“In the book it will say, ‘Oh, I make this for VIC-HOP,’ because we each have our specialties,Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties,” she says.

The volunteers set the tables with plastic silverware and napkins, placing salt and pepper shakers and plates of cheesy garlic bread at each table. Edelkamp leads the church members and the initial seven guests in prayer: Thanks to God for bringing people together, thanks to God for the food and the volunteers, and an appeal to God to keep safe those on the streets tonight.Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website!

Men and women — black, white, Hispanic — eat while a small television plays a serial crime drama.Find out the facts about Cold Sore, More guests arrive, coming indoors from the rainy night.

The rules at VIC-HOP are simple: no alcohol or drugs on the property, no weapons, no fighting or disruptive behavior, no stealing and no panhandling. “It’s kind of just the bare minimum rules (for) people who don’t want to follow a lot of rules, but they still feel they have a safe place to come in the wintertime and not be out in the woods,” Edelkamp explains.

VIC-HOP began in February 2006, after community leaders joined together to provide emergency shelter following the deaths of several homeless people in the Route 1 corridor. Guests may come anytime during the night, although space is limited to 25. Extras are driven to New Hope Housing’s Eleanor U. Kennedy Shelter at Fort Belvoir.

Most nights, it’s a uneventful place, Edelkamp says. “We’re like a family here. They all keep each other in check.”

Edelkamp will stay for three hours. After that, volunteers are in charge until morning. They serve in groups of three or four, sleeping in shifts in the church office with two people awake at all times.

VIC-HOP has housed 93 people to date this winter, less than last year, but the shelter will operate through the end of March. Seventeen different churches are sending volunteers to VIC-HOP this year.

After dinner, some guests take to their mats to sleep. Others lie quietly and stare at nothing in particular. One woman empties and organizes a large bag, a routine she performs nightly. Other guests lounge in the dining area and watch television — Law & Order and Criminal Minds are favorites — or chat with one another.External Hemroids are those that occur below the dentate line.

There’s June (not her real name), who has been staying at VIC-HOP off and on since December. June, 56, sleeps in her car when the weather is warmer.

Well-dressed, wearing jewelry and a blue hat, June explains that homelessness is new to her. She helped operate a family business for 18 years, but when her mother died, she lost her income, the business and almost everything else.

She doesn’t drink alcohol, June stresses. She doesn’t use drugs. She keeps healthy with proper nutrition and plenty of fluids. Stress alone, she says, will drain your energy.

“It’s a lot of stress,” she says. “It’s embarrassing. It’s humiliating.”

At VIC-HOP, June says, there’s little drama. During the day, she searches for part-time work at the local library or stops by the county’s drop-in clinic at the Joe and Fredona Gartlan Center for Community Mental Health, located behind Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, where she can take a shower. She believes her age is working against her in finding a job.

“It’s hard,” she says. “It’s hard. It’s a continuing hardship. You have the struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Anthony Blake, 43, sits at an adjacent table. He’s been at VIC-HOP since December. Before that, he lived outside, sleeping in laundromats. Blake explains he’s homeless by choice: He could stay with his sister in Maryland, or he could stay with his mother in Woodbridge, but without transportation there, he says it’s no better than jail.

"You’re not really homeless, Tony,” another guest yells to him. “You can go home anytime you want.”

Blake prefers VIC-HOP. During the day, he sits in a local bus shelter, drinks beer and reads The Washington Examiner. He pretends he’s drinking a mojito at the beach.

Blake doesn’t know what he’ll do when VIC-HOP ends its season March 31. “(I’ll go) wherever Jesus, God takes me,” he says. “We’re not even guaranteed tomorrow, so I’m not worried about the end of March.”

Take steps to defeat colorectal cancer

No matter what you've heard about how unpleasant colonoscopies are, Susan Brady hopes her story will convince you they're a whole lot better than the possible alternatives.

"Many people are afraid or embarrassed to get a colonoscopy," said Brady, 52, a product manager with a software company. "They buy into the hype about how terrible the prep is, how you have to drink this liquid that doesn't taste great, and how you have to stay near a toilet.Our websites supply Insulator, But colonoscopies save lives and they are nothing — nothing — compared to cancer, the treatments and their potential side effects."

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. But the survival rate is improving, and experts credit screening, especially colonoscopy, which catches cancers early and even allows polyps to be found and removed before they become malignant.

Two years ago, Brady experienced periodic rectal bleeding over two months.Official web site for Uwe cube puzzle and novelties, At first, she thought it might be hemorrhoids.

But with a family history of colon cancer (an aunt and cousin both died of the disease) she decided to visit the doctor, who scheduled a colonoscopy. During the procedure, a thin, flexible lighted tube is inserted into the rectum and colon to check for polyps while the patient is sedated.

A 20-year study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found colonoscopies cut the rate of deaths from colorectal cancers by 53 percent.

In Brady's case, a Stage II A rectal cancer was found. It had penetrated the muscle layer of the rectum but had not yet pierced the rectum wall.

"I was in shock," she said. "I worked out, ate right, felt good and had a colonoscopy just three years earlier." She believes her cancer was fast-growing, and that's why it wasn't seen on that first screening.

The National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.Design & Build the Highest Quality Precision injection molds.gov) predicts there will be more than 143,000 new cases of colorectal cancer this year and more than 51,000 deaths from the disease.

"It's so preventable," said Brady. "People need to educate themselves about the disease and its symptoms."

Brady's diagnosis was followed by a series of barium enemas and endoscopic ultrasounds of the rectum, as well as radiation and chemotherapy administered over a period of six weeks.

The chemo made her tired, she said, but the radiation was "literally a pain in the butt."

Five days a week, she'd lie on the table,Low prices on projector bulbs from Projector Lamp London UK. stomach down, bladder full (to move organs apart), as doctors used radiation, targeted to destroy cancer cells.

Bad as it sounds, she said it was tolerable until about the fourth week, when she started experiencing incredible pain. Bowel movements felt like "shards of glass," she said.

"You get to the point where you don't want to eat anything because you don't want it coming out." She lost about 15 pounds during the radiation treatment.

After that came surgery to remove the remnants of the cancer. Next up was an ileostomy, a procedure that creates a surgical opening of the small intestine so waste can be collected in an external pouch, bypassing the colon and giving the rectal area time to recover from the surgery.

Brady lived with the pouch for the next six months. She sports a 3-inch scar from the procedure.

While dealing with the bag on her stomach, she also received a round of preventative chemotherapy with the drug Oxaliplatin. It targets stray cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body, but can have severe side effects.

In September, on a trip to Boston for a funeral, Brady woke up and couldn't feel her hands or her lower legs and feet. She was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, a side effect of the drug.

She had balance problems. Trouble walking. Shoes were too painful to wear.

She's trying to speed up her recovery with a regimen of yoga, massage, warm water workouts at Clearwater's Long Center, and occasional hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments, where she receives concentrated levels of oxygen inside a sealed chamber.

The oxygen "provides a good environment for cells to regenerate," she said. "I always feel better afterwards."

The neuropathy is slowly subsiding; doctors say her prognosis is very good.

Brady said the love and support of her family, especially Michael, her husband of 22 years, helped her along the difficult journey.

"Nothing about the cancer is glamorous,What is a third party payment gateway ?" she said. "Nothing about the treatment is easy. But it beats the heck out of dying."