Year-end Wrap Up

How do I summarize a year in which we lost one of the founders of the digital age and the first year where we had products that let us interact with cI have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.omputer with our voice, face and our body? Maybe it’s not so difficult; this year was a year of small, foundational transitions setting the stage for what will be a mind-boggling 2012.

While there were many new technologies this year, in general, most technology companies seemed to be concentrating on infrastructure, which the sexy tech will be built upon.

Giant data centers, super smart scaling software, virtualized machines: this was the year when it seems everyone finally bought into cloud computing. From the general public using things like DropBox or Apple’s iCloud to store files and photos, to many organizations realizing it doesn’t make sense to buy physical servers anymore.

We want access to our data everywhere and all the time,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, so it doesn’t make sense to keep it in a place we can’t get to on the go. With software developers embracing this idea fully and rolling out products which take advantage of the cloud, we will store more of our information in some etherial place we will never actually see or touch.

This is further facilitated by wireless network providers launching faster wireless services like LTE. This year we started to get used to always having access to our files, never needing to backup our pictures, and working on the internet from anywhere. Next year, we’ll just expect this to be the norm.

Talk to any IT employee in the medical industry and you’ll hear about a year full of horror stories and insane hours as they began to transition their organizations to electronic medical records. There’s a 2014 deadline mandated by Washington and moving a mass of disparate systems to work with the new records is a challenge of Herculean proportions.

This year was an implementation year for many in the medical community, and it’s been tough, but it’s just another way more of you are going digital. More of your life, from your vacation pictures to, now, your health records, are in a digital format. This means more of your information can be analyzed at scale, sent around world instantaneously, and maybe most importantly,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. integrated into other systems and devices.

Besides the standard cost savings and reduction in medical mistakes by not moving paper around, imagine never needing to fill out those annoying medical questionnaires every time you visit a different doctor or specialist. Imagine the anonymized data that medical researchers could access when analyzing the effectiveness of treatments; and think of the possibilities of integrating your medical history into intelligent surgical devices.

Like I’ve mentioned before,Microsoft’s Kinect and Apple’s Siri are game changers. They are the first commercially viable products which significantly change how we interface with computers. The Kinect has now had a full year to mature,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. with Microsoft just releasing a software update on the Xbox 360 to more fully utilize its features throughout the experience. Siri is relatively new,Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. but will mature rapidly.

These two technologies are the foundation for a completely different way to use our devices and access the net. In a few years, you’ll lose your TV remote in the couch cushions and won’t be bothered because you haven’t used it in 3 months, anyway. You’ll be controlling your TV completely with your voice or hand gestures. Since I think TV remotes are stupid, I’m happy that this year was the foundation for that future.

Argentina Gets Loyal No. 2

President Cristina Kirchner's emergency surgery for thyroid cancer puts a spotlight on her vice president, Amado Boudou, a guitar-playing former economy minister who will run the country for at least three weeks in January during her hospitalization and convalescence.

In the campaign leading up to Mrs. Kirchner's landslide October re-election, the telegenic Mr. Boudou's penchant for partying with rock stars and other celebrities often overshadowed his policy ideas.

But analysts say the leftist Mrs. Kirchner brought Mr. Boudou onto the ticket precisely because he lacked the political heft within the ruling Peronist party to emerge as a potential rival to her. Now that Mrs. Kirchner will be forced to retreat from the political stage for at least a few weeks after surgery next Wednesday, she is probably relieved to have chosen Mr. Boudou, analysts say.

Earlier this year, after she announced her plans to run for a second term, Mrs. Kirchner said the main reason she picked Mr. Boudou as her running mate, over some powerful Peronist governors, was his "loyalty."

Most medical experts consider the 58-year-old Mrs. Kirchner's prognosis to be good, and investors and politicians seemed to be calmly assimilating the announcement of the president's illness late Tuesday.

A vibrant-looking Mrs. Kirchner appeared Wednesday at an event with provincial governors and joked with Mr.Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. Boudou, 48, about the responsibilities he was about to assume.

"Look at how important it is that the vice president thinks the same way as the person who has been chosen to guide the destiny of the country," she said. Then, amid laughter from the audience, Mrs. Kirchner looked toward Mr. Boudou and added: "Watch what you do!"

Mrs. Kirchner also made allusion during her remarks to the disastrous falling out she had with her vice president, Julio Cobos, during her first term.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, In July 2008, amid a bitterly polarizing Congressional debate over a proposal by Mrs. Kirchner to increase the grain export tax, Mr.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. Cobos was put in the position of casting the tie-breaking vote in his role as president of the Senate.

Mr. Cobos, who came from an agrarian district, broke with Mrs. Kirchner and voted no, dealing the government a humiliating defeat. For the next three years of Mrs. Kirchner's presidency, Mr. Cobos was ostracized by Mrs. Kirchner and her allies.

Today, by contrast, having Mr. Boudou in place "allows Cristina to recover without any worry about scheming by the VP to usurp power or otherwise take advantage of the situation," said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones. "Were the current vice president not a diehard Cristina loyalist, I suspect a host of topics,Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. ranging from succession to potential attempts to take temporary control, would be causing great consternation for Cristina and her inner circle."

Mr. Boudou is generally liked by investors, who consider him one of the more philosophically market-friendly members of the Kirchner government. When Mr. Boudou took over as economy minister in July 2009, he set out priorities that many investors agreed with, including trying to restore credibility to Argentina's tainted inflation statistics and paying off Argentina's approximately $7 billion debt to the Paris Club of wealthy nations.

Nevertheless, Mr. Boudou never got far in achieving those aims due to resistance from more-populist members of the Kirchner inner circle, including Mrs. Kirchner's late husband and predecessor Nestor, who died of a heart attack in October 2010. But markets gave Mr. Boudou credit for having the right idea.

In Argentina, Mr. Boudou and his girlfriend, Agustina Kampfer, a television journalist, get paparazzi treatment from the media, which consider them one of the country's most glamorous couples. Mr. Boudou is known for tooling around on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and for collecting electric guitars.

Mr. Boudou's fun-loving ways have sometimes raised eyebrows in government circles, and Mrs. Kirchner hasn't hesitated to keep her No. 2 in his place. During a recent political event, Mrs. Kirchner wryly referred to Mr. Boudou as a "rich kid from Puerto Madero," an elegant part of the capital.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.

Beyond its brick shop in Harrison, the plaster manufacturing

It’s an unassuming brick workshop tucked away near the Passaic River, but for decades the industrial corner of Harrison has been home to Plaque Art Creations, one of the country’s few remaining plaster manufacturers and retail outlets.

The family-run business designs, makes and sells over 5,000 different plaster designs.

“I was born into it, so for me it’s like I popped out of a mold,” said Belinda Kalthoff, 47, who runs the business with her mother Minerva “Minnie” Marquez, 74.

Inside, busts of Shakespeare, Buddha, Chopin, Ben Franklin and Mozart share shelf space with rows of cats, dragons and Greek statues. There’s a Christmas corner, neatly arranged rows of picture frames and Egyptian statues, all neatly arranged and categorized. The store’s German Shepherd, Quincy, rumbles past tiny statues of bulldogs and poodles.

Every day, employees take bags of dry plaster powder, liquefy it, and pour it into molds. Then after some cleaning, they dry for two days, and go on shelves.

Except for some models, the store’s items are unpainted,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes.Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. but they sell an array of paints for customers to paint to their own tastes. They include children, decorators and even local firefighters and police who buy law enforcement-themed pieces.

“The more difficult the piece, the more they like it,” said Marquez.

Owners: Minerva “Minnie” Marquez and daughter, Belinda Kalthoff.

What kind of business is it? Plaque Art Creations is a retail and wholesale store for plaster models.

How did the owners get their start? In 1962, Marquez started building with plaster in her Union City apartment while her husband was stationed in Korea.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. The business quickly expanded and within two years the Vatican Pavilion commissioned her to make one million miniatures of Michelangelo’s Pieta for the 1964 Worlds Fair.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,

How long has the shop been in business? The business began in 1962 and moved to Kearny before relocating to Harrison in 1980.

What’s inside the shop? The store focuses on their Internet business, but Plaque Arts welcomes walk-ins to browse dozens of shelves of sculptures, busts and decorative accessories.

What are the price points? Because they manufacture pieces in the building, the store sells products at wholesale prices. Individual pieces can range from $2.99 for a small butterfly to $49.99 to a large statue of King Tut. A Christmas tree kit with paint, lights and accessories is $29.95.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. All in-store customers get 10 percent off prices listed on the web.

What makes the place unique? Plaque Art is one of the few remaining stores that sculpt, cast and sell plaster creations in one building. Customers can also commission custom designs for them to create.

Who does the shop cater to? Much of the wholesale business goes to other craft stores and decorators in New York City and across the country. Some pieces even end up as props on television shows like “The Apprentice.”

What are the owner’s plans for the business? “I’d like to keep it the same as much as possible,” said Kalthoff, who recently moved to New Jersey to work more with the business.

Still over the coming months, she said she wants to engage more with local advertising and try to teach painting classes to the community.

What the owners like best about their location and business? Though she said she likes everything about the business, Kalthoff said that with three generations working in the factory, it’s a family operation.

India’s Investment in the Sun

Solar power is a clean energy source. But in this arid part of northwest India it can also be a dusty one.

Every five days or so, in a marriage of low and high tech, field hands with long-handled dust mops wipe down each of the 36,000 solar panels at a 63-acre installation operated by Azure Power. The site is one of the biggest examples of India’s ambitious plan to use solar energy to help modernize its notoriously underpowered national electricity grid, and reduce its dependence on coal-fired power plants.

Azure Power has a contract to provide solar-generated electricity to a state-government electric utility. Inderpreet Wadhwa, Azure’s chief executive, predicted that within a few years solar power would be competitive in price with India’s conventionally generated electricity.

“The efficiency of solar technology will continue to increase, and with the increasing demand in solar energy, cost will continue to decrease,” Mr. Wadhwa said.

Two years ago, Indian policy makers said that by the year 2020 they would drastically increase the nation’s use of solar power from virtually nothing to 20,000 megawatts — enough electricity to power the equivalent of 20 million modern American homes. Many analysts said it could not be done. But, now the doubters are taking back their words.

Dozens of developers like Azure, because of aggressive government subsidies and a large drop in the global price of solar panels, are covering India’s northwestern plains — including this village of 2,000 people — with gleaming solar panels. So far, India uses only about 140 megawatts, including 10 megawatts used by the Azure installation, which can provide enough power to serve a town of 50,000 people,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. according to the company.Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. But analysts say that the national 20,000 megawatt goal is achievable and that India could reach those numbers even a few years before 2020.

“Prices came down and suddenly things were possible that didn’t seem possible,” said Tobias Engelmeier, managing director of Bridge to India, a research and consulting firm based in New Delhi. Chinese manufacturers like Suntech Power and Yingli Green Energy helped drive the drop in solar panel costs. The firms increased production of the panels and cut costs this year by about 30 percent to 40 percent, to less than $1 a watt.

Developers of solar farms in India, however, have shown a preference for the more advanced, so-called thin-film solar cells offered by suppliers in the United States, Taiwan and Europe. The leading American provider to India is First Solar, based in Tempe, Ariz.

India does not have a large solar manufacturing industry, but is trying to develop one and China is showing a new interest in India’s growing demand. China’s Suntech Power sold the panels used at the Azure installation, which opened in June.

Industry executives credit government policies with India’s solar boom, unusual praise because businesses usually deride Indian regulations as Kafkaesque.

Over the last decade, India has opened the state-dominated power-generating industry to private players, while leaving distribution and rate-setting largely in government hands. European countries heavily subsidize solar power by agreeing to buy it for decades at a time, but the subsidies in India are lower and solar operators are forced into to greater competition, helping push down costs.

This month, the government held its second auction to determine the price at which its state-owned power trading company — NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam — would buy solar-generated electricity for the national grid. The average winning bid was 8.77 rupees (16.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.5 cents) per kilowatt hour.

That is about twice the price of coal-generated power, but it was about 27 percent lower than the winning bids at the auction held a year ago. Germany, the world’s biggest solar-power user, pays about 17.94 euro cents (23 American cents) per kilowatt hour.

India still significantly lags behind European countries in the use of solar. Germany, for example, had 17,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,000 megawatts of solar power capacity at the end of 2010. But India, which gets more than 300 days of sunlight a year,Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. is a more suitable place to generate solar power. And being behind is now benefiting India, as panel prices plummet, enabling it to spend far less to set up solar farms than countries that pioneered the technology.

Birth of Christ came with hope for Luzira inmates

Christmas comes with good news and many Christians use it to reflect on their past and lay strategies to live a better future. The way this happens is miraculous because both the happily living and those who are burdened perceive Christ as the saviors.

Last Thursday as the country was busy preparing for Christmas, a chain of inmates at Luzira Upper Prison saw light and decided to abandon their tainted past. They sought the sacraments of baptism and confirmation.

A total of 15 convicts were baptized and 49 confirmed. Among those who received confirmation were five inmates on death row. But amidst the challenge of being in jail the inmates wore beaming faces and sung praises with vigor, like they were possessed by the Holy Spirit.

They gave several testimonies on why they had decided to receive Christ. The theme of their messages was life without him was like being beautiful but badly behaved.

Robert Ojara a 35 year old death row inmate said that he wanted to get baptized because he had learnt a lot while in jail and feared that he wouldn’t get a chance even if released to receive the sacrament since there were no worship centers on his village in northern Uganda.

“By the time I was jailed I had started understanding the importance of God, but the Lord’s Resistance Army war had ravaged my village and there was no chance for me to get baptized. This is the chance I have to embrace Christ,” Ojara said. The other inmate, Simon Kiyemba 18, on remand over allegations of defilement said that he lost his parents before he was baptized and saw this as an opportunity to embrace Christ.

“There is nothing that is as sweet as living in Christ. All the challenges we have are nothing with Christ,” Kiyemba said.Buy oil paintings for sale online.

Like anyone preparing for the birth of Christ, the inmates were smartly dressed in their yellow uniforms and white for convicts on death row donned rubber shoes locally known as Nigina. Their Church which also doubles as carpentry was well decorated and its walls were shining, like a modern hotel room.

There are over 600 Catholic inmates in Upper Prison majority of whom attended the baptism and confirmation ceremony that was graced by the Bishop of Masaka Dioceess John Baptist Kagwa. During the function, the inmates sat quietly on their mats and chairs as the prelate fed them with the gospel.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.

The inmate’s choir gave the function more life with the hymns of praise. The Chairperson of Roman Catholic Church Luzira Upper Prison also an inmate, Paul Kikube made several representations on behalf of his colleagues.

Bishop Kagwa’s message was centered on instilling discipline, love, perseverance and hope among the inmates. He preached on the need to manage anger and strong emotions which he said have led many youth into jail. “You should avoid taking decisions when you are annoyed.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, Some of you have been jailed because of that. You must be sober when reacting on anything that has angered you.” The bishop appealed to the congregation to remain devoted to their faith noting that only Christ has solutions to their problems.

“There is no permanent situation and with prayers things can change.Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. Some of you were sentenced to death but who knows God can reverse your sentence to light ones.”

The Bishop commended the Prison Authority for giving prisoners freedom of worship.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. “I did not expect to find such an organized worshiping environment within the Prison. I was hoping to meet you dressed in tattered and dirty clothes; it’s encouraging to find you appearing healthy, well kempt and wearing very clean uniforms.”

With the coming of Christ signifying the end of suffering for mankind, the inmates who received the sacraments left with great hope that their burdens had been taken away from them.

Circuit breakers

A group of DIY gizmo and robot inventors seek to rewire their futures. Wang Kaihao reports.

The 20-square-meter room is on the second floor of an unassuming building called Fuhao Xiezilou, which literally means, "Office of the Superrich", in Beijing's Xuanwumen area. But the people inside don't look rich, and the messy space doesn't look like a typical office. It's heaped with circuit boards, silicon chips and various electronic components that appear bizarre to laypeople.Overview description of rapid Tooling processes.

This is "Beijing Makerspace", where a group of developers tinker with electronic components to create everything from gizmos to robots as hobbies and careers.

Xiao Wenpeng quit his four-year stint as an IT company programmer in 2005 to start his own business, producing handmade digital devices and developing new silicon chips.

But he found the undertaking tricky to tackle alone.

"I want to meet different people with the same interest in DIY electronics," the 33-year-old says.Buy oil paintings for sale online.

"We can make more dreams come true by joining forces."

That's why he opened the Makerspace in 2010. More than 20 young people gather there weekly to exchange ideas and plans to translate their blueprints into electronics.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.

Website employee Chen Wu says he was inspired after learning about Makerspace through its micro blog.

"It's great to communicate with so many people with the same passion and eagerness for creation," the 32-year-old Beijing resident says.

"I really envied the tech-savvy guys in university, because they would always be invited to the women's dorms to fix computers. That was one of my initial motives to do something cool."

But a lack of materials, DIY experience and time off work suffocate much of Chen's inventive productivity.

However, he uses what spare time he has to read about robots. And in 2008, the man who calls himself "Dynamic Old Boy" online created a miniature robot out of Lego that can solve any Rubik's cube within six minutes.

"When I actually started working on the robot, I found it's not as difficult as I'd expected," Chen says.

"It's just like building with blocks but with electronics."

Chen still shows off his first DIY robot, even though it's not as fast at solving the Rubik's cube as the record holder, which can finish the puzzle in 5.35 seconds. Chen's robot is a personal milestone for the self-described "geek".

As a geek, he says he watches many movies, from which he often takes ideas.

He took inspiration from the film Inception, which gave him the idea of using magnetic levitation theory to create a gyroscope.

After watching the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots, he tried to replicate the quadrocopter - an aircraft powered and steered by four propellers - featured in the film. But the process has been anything but smooth.

"The most difficult thing is to keep the aircraft's balance," he says.

"I'm seeking others' advice at Makerspace."

While toy quadrocpoters can be purchased for 1,700 yuan ($269), Chen believes it's much more meaningful to hand-make one, especially as a gift for his 18-month-old daughter. He believes he can finish it by Spring Festival.

"My greatest wish is to make a 1-meter-tall robot to play with her," he says.

While Chen treats robotics as a hobby, Renmin Univeristy graduate Wang Shenglin treats it as a career.

The 23-year-old finance major didn't search for a job after graduation but rather decided to work full time developing devices at Makerspace.

The Shanghai native has created a 1-meter-multi-touch table that resembles a gargantuan iPad.

"I first saw a multi-touch table made by Microsoft on TV in 2008, but it costs more than $20,000. So, I made my own. We create some interesting devices," Wang adds, pointing to a remote control.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,

"I could take this to the store and change the TV channels. But I don't want to be a troublemaker. We make stuff like the guys in the The Big Bang Theory," he explains, referring to the hit US sitcom about a group of hyperactively intelligent but socially laggard friends.

"But I'm not a nerd like them."

Wang's past does suggest a relatively hip lifestyle.

He played on the school's tennis and cricket teams. And he flirted with advertising and even tried his hand at fashion design.

"If I don't try something new and exciting when I'm young,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. when will I?" he says.

"I ultimately find myself most interested in DIY electronics. My parents completely support me, even though I'm far from home."

But Makerspace faces financial challenges. It must pay a 3,000 yuan ($474) monthly room rental and hundreds of yuan more for materials. Testing equipment is also a big expense.

While their inventions may attract popular attention - the multi-touch table was spotlighted at this year's Beijing Design Week - most have yet to capture market demand.

But hope might come from the 3D printer Zhang Ming quit his bank job to invent. The device has aroused investor interest.

The printer lays down successive layers - usually of plastic or metal - to create 3D objects. It's widely sought after in the design industry, because it saves bundles on mockups.

Xiao's team initially believed it was merely a tool for rendering models of the electronics they develop. But the team discovered huge market potential for the device, as imported 3D printers cost 300,000 yuan ($47,400), but Zhang's retails for less than 10,000 yuan.

Zhang says the printer will be ready for the market next spring.

"We can't always stay in the lab," Xiao says.

"This project might turn things around."

And Makerspace's inventors and developers believe the 3D printer might be just the start.

The team hosts DIY salons and a book club to brainstorm about the latest technology and its potential. It also plans to organize a carnival next April to encourage more people to try DIY electronics.

Their hope is that those who work in the "Office of the Superrich" might actually live up to their workplace's name.

Pack, rack and stack small hay bales

HANDLING hundreds of small bales of straw is no longer a laborious time-consuming job for Callington oaten hay, barley and pea straw specialist producers Colin, Nathan and Brett Wegener.

The family produces about 35,000 bales of mulching and bedding straw annually,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. much of which until this year had to be manhandled as many as three times before being carted off the farm.

For this year's production, the Wegeners invested in a Canadian-developed Super Bale Baron bale accumulator machine that operates behind their traditional small baler and literally packs and stacks 21 small bales into one compressed-and-tied large bale before discharging it onto the ground.

Nathan Wegener says the Bale Baron has virtually given the family a hands-free handling system for its entire 35,000 straw bale production business.

"It has allowed us to get the baled straw into storage quicker and this is important in retaining the quality, particularly with the barley and oaten straw bales which are predominately used as bedding material," he said.

"It has reduced our labour time and cost, and because of the reduced handling and pickup trips to the various paddocks, it has also cut our fuel costs."

He says the machine, believed to be one of only two Bale Barons in South Australia,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. looks like a big and complicated machine, but is fairly straightforward and simple to use.

"It is feature-packed with a number of built-in safety provisions including a Smart/solve computer control system that constantly monitors and warns the operator of any problems," he said. "And it is equipped with a central lube block that services the machine's 16 grease points consistently and automatically.

"We have also added a couple of cameras to the combined baler and Bale Baron unit with a monitor in the tractor cabin to give the operator an overall view of what is happening behind him.

"The Bale Baron is fully hydraulic-powered and in our case we take the power direct from the SUV outlets of our 112-kilowatt John Deere 6920 FWA tractor."

The machine is directly hitched to the rear of the baling machine, from which the small bales are fed to a receiving chute on the big bale-forming Bale Baron.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here!

"From this chute they are fed onto a revolving turn-table that mechanically rotates the bales 90 degrees and lifts each batch of three small bales at a time that are then forced into a ram loader-packing chamber," Nathan said.

"This process is repeated seven times until all 21 bales are compressed ready for tying.

"The Bale Baron is equipped with Hesston plastic twine-knotters and is equipped an audible alarm in the rare case of a missed tie-function.

"The knotters are fed from a 16-ball twine box.

"As the process is continues and the next 21 small bales pack are being formed, the preceding big bale is slowly forced against the rear doors of the machine and on to a discharge roller ramp and placed gently on the ground.

"From this point the big pack of small straw bales is ready to be picked up with our fork-equipped front-end loader for carting to one of our on-farm undercover storage sheds."

The small bales are formed from the windrows left by the family's John Deere 9670 STS combine which, for pea harvesting, a dedicated rigid front with pea-plucker is used.

"For baling the straw directly behind the harvester we simply bypass the straw-chopper by swinging it out of the way,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air." Nathan said. This year the family will produce 25,000 bales of pea straw, 5000 bales of barley straw, and 5000 bales of oaten hay, which will be reduced by the Bale Baron to about 1700 big-pack bales.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.

Demand for Wegener straw comes from far and wide, reaching as far as Melbourne for bedding straw. It is particularly popular in the Adelaide Hills for mulching straw.

"The Bale Baron represented a fairly big investment for us, but after only one season's work, we can appreciate the extra efficiencies and savings it has afforded us," Nathan said.

The Wegeners bought their Bale Baron from State distributor G&J East, Strathalbyn, after seeing an advertisement in the Stock Journal Ag-Trader pages and checking-out further on the internet, as well as at a demonstration day held nearby.

Chamberlain’s sculptures utilized automotive scrap

John Chamberlain, a prolific American sculptor whose use of crushed automobile sheet-metal became his signature during a career that spanned half a century, died Wednesday in New York City. He was 84.

Reportedly in poor health, he had been working on a retrospective exhibition scheduled to open Feb. 24 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, his second at the Manhattan institution. The artist’s death was announced by his wife, Prudence Fairweather, although no cause was given.

The artist claimed that his knowledge of art history was scant, but he often made sculptures that acknowledged ancient precedent in up-to-date materials.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. The welded metal “totems” David Smith made in the 1950s from old boilers, shop tools and other industrial scrap were the most important immediate antecedent to his work, as were the muscular abstract paintings of his friend Franz Kline. The linear space and vivid Expressionist palette of Willem de Kooning also had a profound impact. Yet, piecing together junkyard scraps of twisted automobiles, Chamberlain could create imposing abstract monoliths that displayed the dramatic sweep of Hellenistic Greek carvings or the coiled energy of Italian Baroque tableaux.

Chamberlain’s earliest sculptures were made from welded iron rods. His first sculpture using car parts was 1957’s “Short Stop,” made from the rusty fenders of a 1929 Ford that he found in the Long Island yard of his friend, painter Larry Rivers. With the incorporation of car parts,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. the linear nature of his earlier sculptures began to assume rounded volume. By 1961 his mature sculptural style was fully formed, the shallow space of “Short Stop” now voluminous.

Color, which hadn’t been a major factor in 20th-century sculpture, was also important. It was given by the choice of found materials. Color was also added or subtracted by a studio assistant wielding a spray gun or an industrial sander, or else it was embellished by Chamberlain using cans of spray paint in graffiti-like drawing.

John Angus Chamberlain was born April 16, 1927, in Rochester, Ind., the son of a saloon-keeper. His parents divorced when he was 4. After Navy service in World War II, he returned to Chicago, where he had grown up in the home of his maternal grandmother, and he used the G.I. Bill to study hairdressing.

Chamberlain also enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he became enthralled with the exceptional collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh. He was also taken with De Kooning’s large painting, “Excavation” (1950), in which fragmented, sliding planes are held in precise visual tension across the entire surface, and Alberto Giacometti’s tall, thin, attenuated bronzes of walking figures.

Automobiles are a loaded subject, especially in the decades following World War II in the United States,Buy oil paintings for sale online. which has led some observers to ascribe specific social meanings to Chamberlain’s art. The crushed automobiles have been connected to the violent death of Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock — who died in a car crash in 1956 — and then to the slightly later, 1960s car-crash paintings of Pop artist Andy Warhol. Chamberlain was skeptical. Of his choice of automobile sheet metal,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. the artist once said, “Michelangelo had a lot of marble in his backyard, so to speak; I had a lot of this stuff.”

Using a common material is best for sculpture, he added, because it “doesn’t get in the way of doing an uncommon thing.”

Painted sheet metal was not the only material Chamberlain employed.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! A large 1986 retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles included sculptures made from Plexiglas, paper, foam rubber and aluminum foil, as well as collages, drawings and paintings.

Vigilance Bureau resumes cash-for-vote scam probe

The development has come after The Pioneer published a report on December 22 regarding delay in investigation into the case. The Vigilance Bureau has summoned the other five accused persons. One of the accused, Teklal Mahto, has passed away.

“After repeated requests, the complainants in the cash-for-vote scam have come up and have given their statements. They have also shown us the place where the sting operation was done,” said IG (Vigilance) M V Rao.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. He also added that earlier these people were reluctant to come because of security reasons.

Six legislators, Teklal Mahto, Umashankar Akela, Simon Marandi, Yogendra Sao, Sawna Lakra and Rajesh Ranjan were caught on camera in a sting operation conducted by the Kobra Post in association with CNN-IBN.

Talking about the scam in Jharkhand Public Service Commission,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. Rao said in a 200 hundred page report submitted to the Government the department has clearly outlined the irregularities committed during the second JPSC exam. He also said he recommended the dismissal of most of the candidates as they had exercised the fraudulent means to pass the examination.

Rao also revealed that the department had to go through more than 3 lakh answer sheets to come to the conclusion. Besides, 90,000 copies were sent to Forensic Science Laboratory, Ahmedabad. Rao also alleged some JPSC officials were not cooperating with the Vigilance Bureau.

“It was a hectic exercise. Only then have we reached a conclusion. As it is a case related to the administrative officers,You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! you have to be doubly sure before pointing fingers at somebody,” said Rao.

He said bureau will now take it for granted that the evidences have been destroyed and will lodge a case against these persons.

Three charge-sheets have been filed as the accused have been categorised in three parts - office bearers of JPSC, who are already in jail, professors and members of interview boards and thirdly the beneficiaries or the candidates.Buy oil paintings for sale online.

Rao also disclosed that Vigilance Bureau has succeeded in completing investigations in some of the cases which were pending for several years, such as Electric Insulator Factory Scam of 1983 in which three people have been chargesheeted and final reports have been submitted in favour of three persons. The bureau has also disposed off sixteen cases relating to the medicine scam of year ranging 2004-2005 and only two cases relating to this are pending now.

Enquiry related to the equipment purchase scam in the 34th National Games is still on and twelve firms have been marked which had supplied equipments in the National Games. “It will take three more months to investigate the case,” said Rao.

Reviewing the achievements in the year 2011, Rao said that out of 100 pending cases, 64 have been disposed off while out of 117 pending enquiries, 53 enquiries have been completed. Rao also said that despite an acute shortage of officers and staffs in the Bureau they had tried to do their best and will continue doing so in the future.

2 dentists sue colleague for criticizing their bite-mark testimony

In the ongoing battle over the use of bite-mark evidence, two Chicago-area dentists have opened a new legal front, suing a colleague for alleged defamation because he used a Lake County, Ill., rape case they worked on as an example of the oft-criticized discipline gone awry.

Dentists Russell Schneider, of Waukegan, and Carl Hagstrom filed their lawsuit against Michael Bowers, a dentist in California who is a frequent critic of his fellow forensic odontologists for work that has led to numerous wrongful convictions.

The two dentists allege in their lawsuit that Bowers spoke at a conference of forensic dentists in Chicago this year and included a case they worked on in a list of 10 wrongful convictions caused by bite-mark evidence.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. That, the two allege, was wrong and subjected them to ridicule and a loss of business.

Bowers declined to comment, as did his attorney.

Bite-mark testimony has been criticized by courts for its lack of a scientific foundation, essentially leaving dentists to compare by visual examination bite marks on a victim’s skin with X-rays or molds of a suspect’s teeth and trying to determine if they match.We focus on solar panel products that function in the harshest environments, Even some of the forensic discipline’s leading practitioners, stung by reversals linked to DNA evidence, now argue that bite marks are best used to exclude suspects, not identify them.

A 2004 Tribune investigation, "Forensics Under the Microscope," showed that bite-mark evidence had been accepted by courts despite a lack of scientific rigor to justify its broad claims, and that its use in criminal trials had contributed to a number of wrongful convictions.

Bite-mark testimony has fallen out of favor among many prosecutors.

Schneider and Hagstrom filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court in November. They asked for an unspecified sum in damages.

Schneider and Hagstrom examined evidence for Lake County prosecutors in the case against Bennie Starks, who was convicted in 1986 of pulling a 69-year-old Waukegan woman into a ravine and beating and raping her. Schneider and Hagstrom testified at trial that they compared Starks’ teeth to a bite mark on the woman’s shoulder, and that there was a match.

Starks was convicted and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. He has maintained his innocence.

In 2006,Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, after Starks had served nearly 20 years, the Illinois Appellate Court granted him a new trial because DNA tests excluded him as the source of semen on the victim’s underwear; that evidence, the court said, showed that a crime-lab analyst had presented false evidence at trial.

The appeals court did not rule on the bite-mark evidence. Examinations of Schneider and Hagstrom’s work by two dentists retained by Starks’ attorneys concluded that their work was flawed. Those two dentists said Schneider and Hagstrom mistook the upper jaw for the lower and the lower for the upper.

"The victim was attacked by one person who sexually assaulted her. We know that wasn’t Bennie Starks, so it wasn’t Bennie Starks who bit her," said Jed Stone, one of Starks’ attorneys. "There is no other interpretation of this evidence that makes any sense and isn’t completely fanciful."

Although Starks was awarded a new trial nearly six years ago, Lake County prosecutors still have not retried him.

Schneider and Hagstrom allege in their lawsuit that Bowers,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. in a presentation at the February conference,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. listed the Starks case first in his list of cases in which bite-mark evidence had contributed to a wrongful conviction.

They say Schneider stood up and told Bowers that Starks’ conviction was not reversed because of any of the bite-mark evidence, but Bowers "ignored plaintiff’s statement and did not retract his assertion that the Bennie Starks conviction was premised upon faulty bite-mark testimony."

Gov`t to tighten rules on credit card issuance next year

From the first half of next year, credit card issuance will be limited to people aged 20 or older who have more income than debt and who belong to grade one to six in credit ratings.

Out of the 6.8 million people with credit grades seven to 10, four million who have no credit cards will be banned from getting the plastic in principle.

It is also uncertain whether the credit card owned 2.8 million people with grades seven or lower will be allowed to get renewals when their cards expire.

The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service announced Monday the plan to reshuffle the card market aimed at curbing credit card issuance while promoting the use of debit or check cards.

The two financial watchdogs adjusted upward the age of people eligible for credit card acquisition from 18 to 20, the adult age under civil law,An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high ," and added the rule that people should have income exceeding the amount of principle and interests they pay in debt repayment, as well as having credit rating ranging from 1 to 6.

People who must acquire welfare cards such as teens without guardians, and housewives who stay at home while their husbands work, however, will be allowed to get their credit cards as exceptions. With the introduction of the credit rating requirement, four million people without credit cards among those with low credit ratings of grades seven to 10 cannot get credit cards unless they demonstrate that they have enough assets or income to pay for their credit card spending.

A 24-hour settlement system will also galvanize the use of debit cards and significantly increase the number of vendors using such cards for transactions. Because consumers can only use debit cards to buy up to the amount of their savings, the debit card is very effective in reducing household debts.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! The commission fees vendors pay to financial institutions for debit card-based transactions are also lower than that of credit cards.

New infrastructure for debit card use is planned for next year so that consumers can also use the debit cards without limit in service hours at vendors that accept credit cards. In addition, the government will request card companies to issue cards with the dual functions of credit and debit-based payments and lead consumers to be more comfortable using debit cards.

The dual function card is designed to enable consumers to pay for purchases first from their savings, and then use the credit function to pay for the remnant.

In the first quarter of next year, credit card companies has to ask customers whether they want to keep the cards or not through email or phone if those customers have not used the cards for more than one year. If customers want to nullify their cards, credit card companies must cancel them immediately.

Credit card companies will also be banned from conducting marketing activities such as bonus mileage points.

If a customer fails to respond within a month, the credit card in question will get suspended and then unconditionally nullified three months later. This means that a credit card that remains unused for one year and five months will become automatically nullified.

The financial authority will also tightly manage credit limits in order to handle mounting household debts due to reckless use of plastic. For this purpose, credit card companies should define credit limits when a client first signs up for a credit card, and set the credit limit at an appropriate level by considering the member`s capacity to repay, credit rating, and records of credit card use.

The government`s strict control of credit limit does not mean credit card companies can arbitrarily change or halt auxiliary service of credit cards. They will be banned from changing the conditions of auxiliary service within one year after card issuance, and must inform users of any changes six months prior to changes even after one year.

The commission fees vendors pay to credit card companies, a topic of heated controversy, will change from one based on industry type to one on an individual vendor basis. Instead of setting commission rates by the sectors of food and restaurants, luxury and entertainment, individual member vendors will be charged varying rates of commissions according to sales volume and cost portions.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen,

Detail measures will be finalized in the first quarter of next year, when the Credit Finance Association will announce the results of a study.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.

Could Derrek Lee Be An Option For The Cubs?

The Chicago Cubs are still in the market for a first baseman. Barring an unforeseen change of circumstances, a three way trade that would send Matt Garza to a third party while the Cubs’ received Anthony Rizzo from the San Diego Padres does not seem to be a likely scenario. The Cubs are interested in trading Garza, but it seems that the Toronto Blue Jays may be interested in a straight up deal with the Cubs rather than involving a third team in a trade. Having said that, the Cubs could still pursue Rizzo.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. Though, the Cubs would have to come up with a package of prospects that have equal value to Garza.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, The issue is that the Cubs do not have those prospects, thus making a trade for Rizzo unlikely at this point.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air.

While the national media has not eliminated the Cubs from the Prince Fielder sweepstakes, it seems unlikely that the Cubs are going to land the 27 year free agent first baseman. Unless the Cubs are working on a trade that has not been rumored yet, the front office is likely looking at veteran free agent first basemen that fit the mold of the other off-season acquisitions.An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high , Both Ian Stewart and David DeJesus are players that have had success, but are looking for bounce-back season after a poor showing with their respective teams in 2011.

One option that Cubs’ fans should be familiar with is Derrek Lee. Lee, of course, spent nearly seven seasons with the Cubs from 2004 through 2010. The Cubs traded Lee during August of the 2010 season. At 36 years old, Lee is not going to be long-term fixture at the first base position. Rather with the Cubs looking to mix and match their major league roster for the 2012 season while the front office’s primary focus is on re-tooling the farm system. In addition to the sentimental factor of allowing Lee to retire as a Cub, Lee would seem to be a fit for the Cubs’ major league team in 2012.

After struggling at the beginning of the 2011 season with the Baltimore Orioles, Lee showed signs of his former self after being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 101 at bats with the Pirates during the final months of the 2011 season, Lee hit . Not to mention that Lee is one of the better defensive first basemen in the game today. Another underlying factor would be the attitude that Lee would bring to the clubhouse. Considering Epstein has interest in bringing Jason Varitek as a backup catcher in order to improve the clubhouse chemistry, it would make sense for Epstein to be interested in Lee for the same reason. Not to mention that with the Cubs expected to undergo a youth movement this season, Lee would be a good veteran to have in the clubhouse for the younger players to seek mentoring from.

Not to mention that looking over the Cubs’ projected lineup that figures to include Geovany Soto, Darwin Barney, Ian Stewart, Starlin Castro, Alfonso Soriano, Marlon Byrd, and David DeJesus; it seems fairly clear that the Cubs are going to lack power. Lee does not have the same 30 home run power that he once possessed earlier in his career, but it is not out of the question to think that Lee can still hit 20 or 25. If Lee stays on the free agent market through January, then Epstein and Hoyer should seriously consider signing the veteran to a bargain deal. After all,You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! I would imagine that Lee would be interested in returning to the North Side.

Happy Holidays? Not for 200 Pacific Steel Workers in California

The end-of-year holidays aren't likely to be happy ones for 200 workers in the San Francisco Bay Area who have recently been fired—or are about to be. Today, just before Christmas Eve, yet another round of workers will be cut loose from Pacific Steel Castings Foundry in Berkeley, Calif., the largest steel foundry west of the Mississippi.

The company has laid off 22 workers each Friday since October, and will continue to do so until January 4.

The firings are fallout from a silent Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raid. The federal agency started its I-9 employee audit of worker immigration status back in February, as David Bacon reported for In These Times. The I-9 employee audits target employers who hire workers who are undocumented. The employers can face fines, jail time and the loss of government contracts.

ICE claims the 200 workers, many of whom had been employed at Pacific Steel for decades, had no legal immigration status. Employers notified of an audit have to turn over I-9 documents, which include Social Scurity numbers, birth dates and statements by workers about their citizenship status.

A spokeswoman for ICE told KTVU television station that the agency usually acts on tips when deciding which businesses to audit.

Pacific Steel, the fourth largest foundry in the United States, says it began the firing of more than a third of its workforce after pressure by federal immigration authorities. The company makes steel parts for trucks and custom molds with revenue totaling $100 million a year.

Pacific Steel spokeswoman Elisabeth Jewel told the Contra Costa Times, "This was not an action that the company invited. It's been a very wrenching experience for the company to lose so many highly valued, highly skilled employees, some of whom have been there for decades."

The workers’ union, government officials and community members appealed the audit and mass firings. The only thing it did was delay the firings of the workers the company identified as “nonresidents” until October.

A resolution passed by the Berkeley City Council in June to try to stop the federal audit stated in part:

These are skilled workers ... [who] inject hundreds of thousands of dollars into our local economy each month and support other businesses and families. The company and the workers pay taxes that support local schools and services. If the I-9 audit goes forward and workers are fired as a result, we could lose money that Berkeley desperately needs in these challenging economic times.

Pacific Steel also has suppliers whose businesses could also be harmed... An immigration audit leading to the firing of these workers will not create a single job and instead will force workers into an underground economy where illegal wages and conditions are prevalent.

More than 2,338 companies throughout the country have been audited by ICE since the fiscal year began October 1, according to the Wall Street Journal. This tops last year’s 2,196.

At a time when businesses are struggling to stay afloat, enforcement audits that lead to a large loss of employees can leave a business reeling. It sends workers into an underground economy filled with workplace violations.

The Glass, Molders,An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high , Pottery, and Plastics International Union—which has been representing the steel workers since the 70s—has filed a complaint over the audit and mass firings with the National Labor Relations Board.

Last Sunday, several groups including the East Bay Interfaith Immigration Coalition, Pacific Steel Workers Co. Committee, the workers’ union and others organized a support drive.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here!

“We haven’t tallied it all up but what we’ve counted so far is a couple of thousand dollars worth of food and gift cards. And toys. Lots of toys,” said Rev.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. Debra Walker of EBIIC.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. “The Food and Commercial Workers’ Union donated 200 chickens.”

improve the metallurgical quality

First of all, to improve the metallurgical quality, advanced equipment and technology,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. using advanced metallurgical methods and processes, such as refining,This page contains information about molds, electroslag remelting, vacuum processing, and more to forging, forging, finishing, production of high quality purity steel; increase the production of high uniformity,You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! high anisotropy of the module, flat steel, square steel, plates, etc.; by machining, hardening and other methods of providing products, The quality of the mold steel products.

Followed by the development, popularization and application of new die steel. Wide range of domestic new die steel, but the development of new die steel is still much room Moreover, some room for improvement in the performance of new steel grades. Increasing number of large castings such as aluminum, aluminum alloy die-casting mold developing large steel remains a priority. Another example is the construction industry developed rapidly in recent years, developed low cost, high wear resistance, sufficient strength and toughness of ceramics, brick mold steel is also an urgent need to resolve the issue.

Once again, the establishment of plastic mold steel series. China's plastics industry has developed rapidly, plastic products are widely used in agriculture, machinery, chemicals, construction, toys, household items, cars, lamps, household appliances, high demand, high quality requirements, with corresponding rapid increase in demand for plastic mold steel of steel performance, process performance is also a higher requirement. Finally,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. it should strengthen the innovative surface treatment technology and applications. Surface treatment to maintain the mold in the original composition and performance, based on the mold surface to give a special performance (mainly wear resistance,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game. corrosion resistance, etc.), substantial increase in mold life, broadened scope of application of die steel, but also low price to replace high cost of mold steel mold steel, so by the world attention.

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Winter is captured in artists’ new display

A WINTER-themed collection of work by Banburyshire artists is displayed in the current exhibition at the Mill Arts Centre, Banbury.

The Winter Show will run until January 9 and features a diverse selection of media and subject matter,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. all of which share the flavour of the season.

The pieces on display are all produced by members of north Oxfordshire’s artists’ networking group, The Wheel, based at the arts centre.

The show includes paintings, photography, prints, ceramics and digital art in an impressive showcase of local talent.

It features the work of artists from the counties around Banbury and provides the opportunity to buy some unique and delightful Christmas gifts.

Fine art graduate Annabel Windsor is one of the many artists exhibiting her work in The Winter Show. She has two large oil paintings on display which bring the bustle of the city to life.

“My work is quite big as I am trying to bring out the experience of being in a busy city environment,” said Ms Windsor who moved to Souldern from London a decade ago.Buy oil paintings for sale online.

“I want the viewer to feel as if they are there, in the picture, rather than just looking at it and for that it needs to be large.”

Among the numerous artists whose work makes up this hugely diverse display are retired Banbury GP Roger Shapley, Josephine Murphy who makes sculptures from wire and reclaimed materials and jeweller Catherine Baum.

Also included is work by photographer David Snell,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. bespoke hat maker Ingrid Gibbs, painter and jeweller Athanesia Mavroudi and Bliss Hill of Culworth who creates hand-blown baubles.

“Artists have warmed to the theme of winter in this bi-annual show using colour and atmosphere to great effect,” said Karen Baum, co-ordinator for the artists’ network.

“From Ruth Harris’s stark branch patterns on deep snow to Bill Simpson’s scene of a Christmas fair in 1955, painstakingly rendered in oils with each stall and cluster of people exuding warmth and festive cheer, we are sure visitors are going to be delighted with the work on show.This page contains information about molds,

“Tina Burnett’s mixed media landscape Winter Fields is attracting praise from staff and visitors alike and Eleanor and James Moore’s highly detailed and accomplished paintings feature typical winter subjects such as snow covered cottages, lonely woodland pathways and swans flying overhead.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here!

“Iain Hodgkinson’s collagraph Village Snow is a monochrome intaglio print depicting a small village in a snow storm, the blizzard puncturing the surface of the paper.”

Violin trio paints an ethereal landscape

Synergistic synchrony among the violin trio in a concert led by Sangita Kalanidhi T.N.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. Krishnan was a breezy touch of class at The Music Academy on Christmas morning. The concert was of vintage value as the octogenarian vidwan — active in the field for nearly seven decades — chose to play from the choicest list of the best of the stalwarts he has accompanied over the years.

The concert began with Maguva ninnekori, a rarely heard Narayanagowla varnam of Veenai Kuppaiar in Ata tala that was played in two speeds with an excellent understanding between the trio. Though TNK said that the raga has been almost out of vogue, Neyveli Santhanagopalan presented a beautiful sketch of the same just a couple of days ago at the same venue. The straight ga-s and the glides from ga to sa in the opening phrase,Buy oil paintings for sale online. with just the right intonation, were absolutely delightful to hear.

The ever fascinating Evarani in Devamritavarshini that followed was a painting of an ethereal landscape of colour and peace blended in one. The long notes of right measure woven with aesthetics in the nirnayinchira ending of the pallavi filled the auditorium with tones of elevated artistry.

Devadeva, a kriti immortalised by the resounding voice of Semmangudi, was relived by the strings of the TNK trio; a good raga sketch, sublime in nature suited the devotional content of the composition. The neraval and the kalpana swarams in the never boring jatarupa nibhachela phrase were a true tribute by TNK to Semmangudi and exhibited the same verve and the briskness.

The brief polished delineation of Kanada with predictable patterns, and plenty of long stretched phrases, almost touching the northern shores of music, was wholesome and enjoyable. A blissful exposition of Sukhievvaro won a deserved applause.

Though Gananayakam in Rudrapriya was a surprise at this point in the concert, it broke the almost sombre pace and made the audience sit up ready for the RTP in Todi to follow. Todi sailed along the classical contours without frills and fireworks as old schools have done. The tanam that followed was in Todi, Sahana, Kapi and Behag. The pallavi line was in 2-kalai Adi and the absence of sahityam did not give a clue to the placement of syllables, which felt like a miss.

Once again, devoid of any complex arithmetic, the pallavi ended with well-understood exchanges of kalpanaswaras between the three and usual kuraippu (reduction) culminating in a standard korvai. The understanding between the three, the support, respect and warmth by the son-daughter duo to their master-artiste father were observable throughout the concert.This page contains information about molds,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air.

The percussive support by Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam (mridangam) and Vaikom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) was mellow and supportive of the trio, if not embellishing. After a well-played taniavartanam,You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! a quick array of tail-enders, Eppovaruvaro in memory of Madurai Mani Iyer, and Alasharaparitapam in Suruti and mangalam concluded the concert.

Lull before the holiday?

Following a dispute and police investigation, Kevin M. McCafferty, 56, of Shelter Island was arrested on Monday, December 19 shortly after 11 p.The company pioneered the manufacture of Coated Abrasives,m. on charges of assault in the 3rd degree.We are passionate about polished tiles. Mr. McCafferty was arraigned in Shelter Island Justice Court, Judge Helen J. Rosenblum presiding, and released on $500 bail. He will return to court at a later date.Information on useful yeasts and moulds,

George E. Butts of Shelter Island reportedly did not see the traffic barricade that had been put up on West Neck Road on December 18 due to construction in the area. He drove through it, destroying one wooden barricade and a metal light stanchion. There was only minor damage and no damage to the vehicle.

Police received a call at about 11 p.m. on December 18 that a man had urinated on a South Ferry boat headed for North Haven and then had gotten into a verbal dispute with another person that involved pushing and shoving. Shelter Island police responded but the parties involved declined to press charges. At about 1 a.m., after police had left, one of the men pulled the other from his vehicle, according to information in the SIPD report, and began hitting him. They were fighting on the deck until the boat docked and Southampton police came on board.

According to a Southampton Town Police report issued yesterday, Brian Maloney, 34, of Babylon was charged with disorderly conduct and released on an appearance ticket. Michael N. Nomikos, 34, of Massapequa was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was held for arraignment in court.

Police assisted a law enforcement agency on December 13 by advising a person wanted on an active warrant to respond to court or be subject to arrest.

A dog at large was reported in the Center on December 14; it was gone when police arrived.

On December 15, police followed up on a call about a vehicle that may have been abandoned in Silver Beach; the vehicle belonged to an employee in the area.

A tree was reported blocking the southbound lane of a South Ferry Hills road on December 15.

Police received a complaint about a barking dog in the Center on December 16. The dog’s owner told police she would get a bark collar.

An owner reported that his dog had run off near Stearns Point Road on December 16. Police located the dog and returned it to its owner.

Police responded to a domestic dispute in the Center on December 16; the victim was referred to the Retreat.

A caller told police that an unknown vehicle had nearly hit the caller’s vehicle while driving through a construction site in West Neck.

Police responded to a domestic dispute in Cartwright on December 18.

On December 18 police assisted the Southampton Town Police with a burglary investigation.Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas.

On December 19, a Hay Beach caller reported a hunter in his back yard. The hunter had gone when police arrived and his pick-up truck was not located.

Responding to another December 19 report about a hunter in the Center, police did not find the hunter but located hunters who said they were hunting in the area and were driving the deer.

A petit larceny was reported on December 19 in Menantic —the cable ties on a trailer had been cut off and the license plate removed.

The Shelter Island Fire Department responded to an automatic alarm in the Heights on December 13; it turned out to be a false alarm. The SIFD was called out again on December 17 to an alarm at a Hay Beach residence. There was no fire and no other problems noted.

Police responded to two burglary alarms at homes in Hay Beach and West Neck on December 15 and 16 respectively. The owner used the wrong password in the first case; in the second,The temporomandibular joint is the joint of the jaw and is frequently referred to as TMJ. there was no apparent break in and no known reason why the alarm was set off.

Chew on this

A quiet revolution is stirring in local kitchens.Information on useful yeasts and moulds, All over San Luis Obispo County, people are claiming their right to decide what goes in their mouths and their power to choose where it comes from.

Residents with various income levels are filling their forks with fresh food from local farms and fields as the local food movement gains ground. The Central Coast is among the easiest places for people to pack their plates with food from the community, rather than corporate commodities.

Eating fresh local food is moving beyond farmers, markets, and fancy restaurants. Today’s options include home delivery of just-picked fruit and vegetables from dozens of local farms; improved access to fresh, local produce for people with limited incomes; backyard gardens and chicken coops; a push to grow old-fashioned crops to meet local demand; even a new SLO City-owned farm.

“There’s definitely a shift away from corporate food,” said Caroline Ginsberg,We are passionate about polished tiles. on a break from picking ripe red apples from an orchard at SLO Creek Farms on a sunny afternoon earlier this month. She’s the volunteer coordinator for GleanSLO, a local nonprofit whose volunteers harvest thousands of pounds of excess local crops for distribution to hungry families by the SLO County Foodbank.

Foodbank staff and volunteers are working to increase the amount of local produce provided to hungry people, rather than relying on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “heavily processed” commodity foods, Ginsberg said.

In addition to GleanSLO and the Foodbank, other groups and agencies are pushing to give people better access to fresh foods in SLO County, according to Clint Slaughter, board chairman for the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County (ECOSLO). A new countywide effort known as the Food System Coalition aims to see people with limited incomes use their food voucher cards to buy fresh, local, nutritious products for their dining tables. Under a $100,000 Hunger-Free Communities planning grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, other actions to enhance the county’s food system are also under study.

“Even on a budget, if you cook it, you can make a delicious healthy meal—but it is more challenging until we relearn how to do it,” Slaughter said, pointing out that earlier generations grew a large percentage of their food in backyard victory gardens.

“You can actually grow a decent amount of food on your balcony, or in a community garden plot. Plus the Central Coast has so much opportunity for healthy, locally grown food. You see the benefits across the board,You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! on health and the local economy,” he said.

As an emergency room physician, Slaughter is concerned about the costly obesity epidemic in the United States: “Obesity is preventable; it depends on what we’re eating. By eating locally grown fresh vegetables and fruit without sugar or additives, we have the opportunity to avoid obesity.”

Locally raised, grass-fed beef is also healthier than the meat from cattle kept in concentrated feed lots, he added, where the amount of antibiotics used on the animals is “quite appalling,” leading to problems with the development of resistant bacteria. He and his family bought a share of a grass-fed cow raised in the Cayucos hills, part of a growing local movement to provide healthier meat and poultry.

Along with more than 500 other local residents, the Slaughters also subscribe to a weekly home-delivery service for freshly harvested local produce: SLO Veg. Owner Dan Melton collects crops from more than 60 Central Coast farmers, assembling the yield in various sized boxes for delivery to his customers at their homes or workplaces.

“There’s a huge amount of awesome farmland around here, some with fourth- or fifth-generation farmers, some new to it. The farmers have definitely embraced SLO Veg,VulcanMold is a plastic molds and Injection mold manufacturer in china.” Melton said.

So have his customers, as the business continues to expand.

“It’s a growing social psychology to want to know where your food comes from,” he explained. “It’s a great change in people’s attitude. Even people with less income, people who are struggling, are willing to spend more, to look me in the eye and have confidence in their food.”

His customers compare their weekly veggie box to opening a Christmas present: “I hear them say with excitement, ‘The box is here! What’s in the box?’” he said.

For Laura Slaughter, who does most of the cooking in the family home, receiving the weekly box is fun. She and her 2-year-old son unload it together,External Hemorrhoids are those that occur below the dentate line. remarking on each vegetable or fruit.

“We’ve made lots of new things—bok choy, pomegranates—and I do enjoy it. Sometimes there’s a little hesitation—what do I do with a daikon radish?—but that’s part of being local. The food is so healthy, and we know a carrot is a carrot, not something shipped across the country with no taste and no nutrition,” she said.

London Brokers ‘Throw in the Towel' as Crisis Hits Revenue

London's stockbrokers are shrinking as Europe's sovereign debt crisis and competition from international firms squeezes revenue and fees.

“This isn't just a blip, this is much worse,” said Tim Linacre, who is stepping down as chief executive officer of Panmure Gordon & Co.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties,, a 135-year-old brokerage. “It's a desert for activity, which is why you are seeing some firms throw in the towel.”

In the past month, Altium Capital closed its securities unit. Evolution Group Plc, Merchant Securities Group Plc, Arbuthnot Securities Ltd. and Collins Stewart Hawkpoint Plc have all accepted takeover offers from larger competitors.

“It feels worse than any other time,” said Lorna Tilbian, an executive director at Numis Corp. who began her career in 1984. “All I hear about is people putting up a white flag.”

The firms are being squeezed as Europe's sovereign debt crisis reduces the number of shares traded as well as fees from initial public offerings and share sales. Commissions paid to brokerages in Europe may be down 17 percent this year on 2008, according to estimates by Westborough, Massachusetts-based research firm Tabb Group LLC. Global firms are gaining market share from their smaller London rivals because they are better able to bear the rising costs of electronic trading.

“The lion's share of the business really belongs to the global bulge-bracket firms,” John Colon, a managing director at research firm Greenwich Associates, said by telephone from Stamford, Connecticut.We are passionate about polished tiles. “They can afford investment in infrastructure, technology and compete in electronic trading.”

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell 12 percent from its February high through yesterday as European policy makers struggled to prevent the crisis from spreading beyond Greece. The gauge climbed 1.3 percent today. The value of stocks traded on the benchmark in the first three quarters of 2011 is down 63 percent from its peak, the same period in 2007.

“Customer volume levels are low, and boutiques will struggle,” said Stephen Dainton, head of Credit Suisse Group AG's European equities unit in London. “A boutique that provides a very narrow research service and ability to transact in cash equities should find it very difficult to compete. We have got scale, geographical diversity and product diversity and that is key in this environment.”

At the same time, companies are pulling IPOs and takeovers, which can account for more than half a broker's revenue, according to analysts. Companies in western Europe have either canceled or postponed offerings valued at $22 billion this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Of the 25 that were withdrawn in 2011, 10 were slated to be in the U.K.

“For a lot of brokers, the primary business can certainly be the difference between being profitable and not,” said Greenwich's Colon. “For some firms, the secondary side of the business, like trading and execution, are almost break-even types of businesses.”

Brokers of all sizes have also had to contend with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or Mifid, which came into force in 2007. The regulations have helped to shift trading on to different platforms, raising costs for brokers. By the end of 2009, multi-trading facilities, or MTFs, had taken about 20 percent of all trading in Europe from historic exchanges such as London Stock Exchange Group Plc.

About a third of the turnover in equities has moved into so-called dark pools, algorithmic trading and platforms offering clients direct market access, according to analysts. Credit Suisse said its electronic platform generates about 40 percent of the firm's cash equities business, a figure that will likely increase to 60 percent in the next few years.

“Execution has become more complicated and expensive,” said Julian Palfreyman, CEO and founding director of Winterflood Securities Ltd., a London-based market making firm that services the brokerage industry. “Getting access to those other venues is very expensive.Information on useful yeasts and moulds, For the normal brokers out there, that's a spend that they are not used to and they are finding it very difficult.”

According to the Financial Services Authority's latest annual report, of the 19,057 firms registered with the U.K. regulator, 955 firms are classified as trading in securities and futures, a definition that includes brokers. That, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Peter Lenardos, is too many.

“The city is over-brokered,” he said in a telephone interview. “A hundred-odd boutique stockbroking firms is still too much capacity. You need consolidation and elimination.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here!”

Altium announced the closing of its securities division in November, saying the “outlook remains bleak for U.K. centric brokers.” It plans to focus on its advisory unit, which accounts for 75 percent of revenue. Matrix Group, another broker, said it will focus on corporate finance work following a strategic review in the middle of the year.

British brokers' shares have dropped this year amid the sovereign debt crisis, making them attractive targets. Panmure has declined 64 percent in London trading this year and rival Arden Partners Plc has dropped 36 percent. By comparison, the FTSE All-Share Index has dropped 9.6 percent. Bidders have also been attracted by those firms with wealth management units that have generated stable income.

Investec Plc, a private bank with operations in the U.K. and South Africa, agreed to buy Evolution for 233.2 million pounds ($371.8 million) in September, seeking to gain access to the firm's Williams de Broe unit, which oversees about 6 billion pounds in assets.

The following month, Merchant Securities Group Plc, another London-based broker,We're also Australia's leading online Bedding retailer. agreed to be bought by Sanlam Ltd. for 12.2 million pounds as South Africa's largest insurer looks to expand its services for wealth clients. Last week, Canaccord Financial Inc., Canada's largest independent brokerage by assets, bought Collins Stewart for 253.3 million pounds.

“Companies that have got choices are taking those choices now,” Altium CEO Phil Adams said in a telephone interview. “It's a long while before we get a more palliative environment.”

Spokesmen for Collins Stewart, Merchant Securities, Evolution and Arbuthnot all declined to comment.

Among the larger independent firms, Panmure Gordon warned in November it will report a second-half loss after “severe market turmoil” crimped income from investment banking. Charles Stanley Group Plc said in October earnings will be lower. Arden, which yesterday posted a 5 percent drop in full-year revenue, said the industry faces the “most difficult and challenging conditions since the 1970s.”

“Most of us have had four down years on the trot,” said Panmure's Linacre, who will step down as CEO in 2012. “We are all spending time looking at what the right business model is. We will do what it takes to survive whether that's consolidation or integration.”

Linacre said he expects four or five independent firms will survive. Those that remain will be become larger and more diversified, he added.

“It feels like a mortal battle every single day,” said Numis's Tilbian. “But it's a battle that I want to win. We would love to be one of the last men standing. Once we get to the Promised Land, there will be milk and honey again.”

Brand Beckham meets Brand Qatar

His representatives have denied the media reports, but by all accounts, David Beckham is headed to Paris St. Germain, where he will be paid a salary double what he made with the Los Angeles Galaxy. At 36 and with a recent history of injuries, Beckham's value to PSG is debatable. But as the French great Michel Platini, now president of UEFA, famously said, if Beckham is coming to Paris, it isn't to play soccer.

Beckham is part of a game of geopolitics that involves France and Qatar at the highest levels.

Qatar is scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup and needs to legitimize its place as a player on the international soccer scene.

Just as they bought the World Cup, the Qatari royals have set out to buy everything that is big and beautiful in the world of soccer.

For the first time ever, Barcelona -- the best team in the world by a mile -- has agreed to accept money to give someone the right to put its name on the front of its jersey.Information on useful yeasts and moulds, That someone is something called the Qatar Foundation, operated by the Qatar government, and the amount is $230 million over five years.

The inside connection: Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, whose sports marketing agency, Bonus Sports Marketing, helped establish the Aspire Football Dreams program that is believed to have done much of Qatar's grassroots bidding on its World Cup 2022 campaign.

In the case of Paris St.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, Germain, the Qatari crown prince, Sheik Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani,Exclusive RUBBER SHEET flooring in 15 different colours and designs. has gone one step further and bought a 70 percent stake in the club through Qatar Sports Investments.

On the television front, Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-owned Arab broadcaster, has moved into France and started buying up soccer rights: French cable rights to Ligue 1 games each Friday and Sunday and most recently the UEFA Champions League and overseas rights to Ligue 1 matches.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the chairman of Qatar Sports Investments and the person responsible for running PSG, is also the head of sports at Al-Jazeera.

The Qatari-French link goes to the top of the French government, where President Nicolas Sarkozy has developed close ties to the Qatari royals.

According to the French magazine So Foot, Sarkozy organized a meeting on Nov.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! 23, 2010 -- nine days before the World Cup 2022 was awarded -- at which were present Platini,We are passionate about polished tiles. Al-Thani and Sebastien Bazin, the European representative of Colony Capital, the American investment firm that owned PSG. The subject: Qatar's possible investment in PSG.

Platini denies his 2022 vote for Qatar -- one of the European votes the USA coveted -- was on orders from Sarkozy, but let's put it this way. He would have had a lot of explaining to do if he returned to Paris and the USA had won.

PSG surely doesn't need him on the field. Yes, he enjoyed the best of his five seasons with the Galaxy, helping it win the MLS title, but he was given a very defined role in the middle of midfield to take advantage of what he could do and not do.

But Beckham will struggle in Ligue 1, a league that puts a premium on athleticism. Platini was blunt about the Englishman's move to PSG.

"I love this player but he is not the footballer he was," said Platini. "And if he comes to Paris now, it will be to do something other than football."

Beckham is a natural fit for the Qatar Sports Investments, a player whose worldwide fame far exceeds what he has accomplished on the field in his career.

During the World Cup 2018/22 race that pitted Qatar against England in opposing camps, Beckham was about the only person involved in the English bid effort who came of it with his reputation enhanced.

"David Beckham is bigger than sport," Al-Khelaifi told L'Equipe. "He is an ambassador, a brand, an example for others." Then Al-Khelaifi added, "He is also and still a very good soccer player whose age isn't a problem."

Morning Owl Farm Has Its Ducks in a Row

In the pre-dawn December darkness, Mary Rohlfing nodded toward a familiar silhouette perched in a tree on the edge of her Boise farm.Buy oil paintings for sale online. As if on cue, a great horned owl let loose a burst of hoots as Rohlfing pulled on gloves, preparing for her morning chores.

"Now that it's getting a little bit lighter, you can see the bib on her neck area there. She's kind of the mother owl," Rohlfing said, her words condensing into translucent clouds.

"And you named the farm for her?" I asked.

"Yeah, we did name the farm for her because, in the morning, I'd come out and hear the owls, just like we are this morning, so we named the farm Morning Owl Farm."

That was 10 years ago, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Rohlfing, a tenured professor at Boise State at the time, decided to make a radical career change.

"I was in my garden on about the 30th of September in 2001 and just realized I was at home and where I wanted to be," she said.

Rohlfing wasn't thinking only of changes she needed to make to her life, but of changes she felt the whole nation needed to make in light of that then-fresh tragedy.

"I felt that we needed to, on a grand scale, rethink how we were doing everything. And it seemed to me that one of the big changes we could make to be more self-sufficient and safe in the world was to begin to eat more food that was grown closer to where we lived."

Rohlfing owned 8 acres of land in the Northeast Boise Foothills and decided to give up her professorship and turn her fallow land into a farm. Along with organic produce, she wanted to raise ducks based on advice she'd gleaned from the books of Eliot Coleman, an authority on small-scale organic farming.

As the light behind the Foothills brightened, sliding from slate gray to salmon pink, Rohlfing began her duck-related chores: breaking up ice in several drinking basins, adding fresh water to rubber wading pools, gathering bags of feed, then finally heading toward her duck coop.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.

"So the girls are in there," she said as she approached a shed containing 200 sleepy ducks. "They're being pretty quiet for us so far, but they'll get noisier."

With the sound of Rohlfing's voice, a few quiet quacks coalesced into a low chorus, then rose quickly to a cacophony of duck calls that soon threatened to blow the coop apart. When Rohlfing finally unlatched the door, flung it open and shouted,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. "Come on girls," ducks burst out of the coop like a fire hose spewing feathers.

"Some run straight for water," Rohlfing yelled over the flapping, quacking din.

"They're like school kids at recess," I said as the ducks ran into a fenced field, dove into pools and guzzled water, backlit now by a cresting,You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! yoke-colored sun.

"It's part of the reason I love what I do," said Rohlfing. "I like the routine of it all. I like the fact that you're working with something that's alive ... that's a mutual dependency. I didn't know this when I started but I think it's really hard to imagine farming without having livestock or poultry as part of the system. It's sort of the way it's suppose to be."

Endless studies have found that diversified farms--as opposed to vegetable monocultures or factory feedlots--are healthier farms. According to Rohlfing, her ducks were an integral part of clearing this once-infertile horse pasture of weeds and insects and greatly increasing its fertility with duck dropping-enriched compost.

"Using the ducks as part of our plan has been a real help," Rohlfing said. "And that's why we try not to get too angry when it's 8 degrees out in December and you're trying to get a hose to run water."

Not to mention the 110 to 130 duck eggs she collects every day during winter.

"Speaking of eggs," Rohlfing said as she grabbed a basket and walked into the now-empty coop, "let's collect some."

Rohlfing is known in the Treasure Valley as much for her duck eggs as her organic vegetables. Those eggs, with their large, golden yokes and viscose whites give extra lift to baked goods and a tender texture to omelets. Cafe de Paris in Boise uses them in creme brulees and duck eggs Benedicts.

"They're just a great egg," said owner Mathieu Choux. "I really like the color of the yoke; it's a very deep, orange-colored yolk. I like the flavor; it's richer, more full of flavor [than] a chicken egg--and we really like Mary."

"Once you go quack, you never go back," Rohlfing joked--parroting her business slogan--as she filled her basket to the brim with large, alabaster eggs.

And yet, as sunny as this farmer-duck partnership seemed, Rohlfing said her second career as a diversified, local-food farmer had come with some challenging caveats.

"When I started to raise ducks in 2004, my prices for feed were half of what they are now," she said as she walked from the coop to her egg washing room.

Not only that, but the kind of community-based, small-scale agriculture Rohlfing hoped would help move America forward after Sept. 11 is extremely labor intensive. Over a sink of soapy water, she scrubbed every egg she'd collected before shining a light through each one to check for cracks and other defects.

"I have a friend who calls it 'the dirty secret of local food,'" she said as she scrubbed. "No one can charge what it really costs them to produce, whether it's a carrot or a duck egg."

Without the subsidies and economies of scale enjoyed by industrial agriculturalists, local-food farmers are often trapped between their ideals and the limits of what consumers, even those who value local food,Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings? will pay.

"If I really wanted to make a profit on duck eggs--I mean break even on duck eggs--I would have to probably retail these eggs at about $7.50 a dozen," Rohlfing said.