Clearwater artist creates sculptures that reflect her peaceful ideals

In a sunlit home nestled along Clearwater Harbor, she sits in her artist's studio bent over a clay model she calls a "freedom angel." The current figure stands about 2 feet high, but it's destined to be cast in aluminum reaching 15 feet. The angel, with a swirling clay skirt, has a small child tucked under her arm.

"Mothers will understand this piece," Winters said of the statue, which she describes as a symbol of a world free from war. "I'd like to incorporate pieces of old war planes into the final product, as if recycling war into freedom."

Most of her pieces make a similar statement.

"Our problems are less than we are made to believe," she said. "They can be handled."

Winters, a New York City native who moved to Clearwater in the early 1990s, sculpts without the use of a sketch.

"I sketch directly in clay," she said. "I don't know what to do with a 2-D surface."

Her themes of peace and the human ability to achieve it are depicted in two of her early works positioned on each side of her living room fireplace. Both stand about 2 feet high, cast in bronze with a black patina on the bodies and highly burnished bronze faces.

The first she calls Earth Protector. The chunky, modernistic figure, which features large hands and big feet moving forward, carries a small model of the earth under one arm. An orange headpiece streams backward resembling the wake of a ship. The second, titled Creation, depicts a woman with the same highly polished bronze face and large hands and feet of the nearby sculpture.

Winters' art involves a lengthy process.Enter the Indoor Positioning System (IPS). The clay model of her freedom angel is just the beginning. The next step will take her to Montana to a foundry where the clay,We also are a plastic Injection Moulding Manufacturer manufacturer. after the making of numerous molds and waxes,Our vinyl Floor tiles is more stylish than ever! will be cast in bronze. From those molds and waxes, future replicas of her initial statue can be made in different sizes.

Several other steps will follow. From Montana, Winters travels to Portland, Ore., to a workshop that will digitally enlarge her sculpture to the size she wants. To finish her freedom angel, she also plans to meet with collectors or military agents from whom she can purchase parts of old war planes.

"I just need one piece of an old plane, perhaps with lettering on it," she said.

Eventually, Winters will select yet another foundry that will cast the mold into aluminum, incorporating the plane part.

The time and money it takes to go from clay to aluminum or bronze is no small matter.

"I can easily put $2,000 into a piece before I even know if anyone wants it," she said.

Each piece consumes vast chunks of time as well.

Working 10 to 12 hours a day, she takes a month to do a piece. Then the travel begins.

"It's intensive work, but I love it," she said.

Winters sells pieces by word of mouth and through galleries and exhibits.Looking for the Best Air purifier ? Working through an agent, she currently has pieces in galleries in London, Texas and Hawaii. Locally, she has exhibited at the Temple Beth El annual art show and sale in St. Petersburg, and around the state at shows in Jupiter, Miami and Palm Beach.

Statues range in size from 6 inches to 2 1/2 feet and sell from about $900 to $15,000. A piece called Galactic Samurai, representing a confrontation with evil, was recently purchased by a corporate executive in Dallas for his private residence.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail.

Oceana County, Rothbury celebrate foundry reopening

The 38-year-old Crane of Twin Lake was a long-term employee of the former Kurdziel Iron Foundry before it closed in February 2009. Crane is now one of the 50 new employees of the steel castings foundry that was officially opened at a ribbon-cutting event at the new company, 2625 W. Winston in southern Oceana County.

Crane went back to work in the vacated plant in September after receiving his welding degree from Muskegon Community College during the two years he was off work. Rothbury Steel expects to have 200 workers making huge steel parts for the railroad and mining equipment industries by the end of the year and 300 people by the end of 2013, company President Chris Moein said.

Rothbury Steel is a sister company of Muskegon-based Michigan Steel Inc.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail., the historic foundry on West Western Avenue along Muskegon Lake. Michigan Steel,TBC help you confidently buy mosaic from factories in China. which makes smaller parts, is “booming” with 200 employees, Moein said.Protomold offers custom Injection mold parts in as fast as 1 day.

“This is the perfect location for the next great steel foundry in the United States,” Makary told employees, customers, suppliers and community officials gathered at the Rothbury plant. “This business is not for the meek and mild. We will be making from 1,000- to 10,000-pound parts. And our goal is to reach 20,000 pounds.”

Makary said he began in the steel foundry business 40 years ago when the United State dominated the sector worldwide. But today, 80 percent of the factories have closed with much of the work going overseas, he said.

There once were 25 plants in the United States with Rothbury Steel’s capabilities but now there are only two, Makary said.Our vinyl Floor tiles is more stylish than ever! The converted plant – work managed by Triangle Associates of Grand Rapids – is 415,000 square feet of industrial space that now melts recycled steel with electrical equipment rather than with blast furnaces used in the old iron foundry, company officials said.

In just re-equipping the Rothbury plant, the owners have spent more than $6 million on mixers, furnaces, heat-treat ovens, mold machines, ladles and other foundry devices, they said.

Rothbury Steel is a “reshoring,Enter the Indoor Positioning System (IPS).” a recent movement of manufacturing back to the United States from places like China and Eastern Europe, Moein said. American manufacturing has become cost competitive and is producing superior quality in a timely manner.

Rothbury Steel is being opened on the strength of two customers, Makary said. The plant will produce under carriages for North American railroad cars for Web Tech and frames for huge vehicles for Komatsu – the global mining equipment leader with a plant in Peoria, Ill. The company will be a Michigan exporter, spending 95 percent of its expenditures in West Michigan with local workers and suppliers, he said.

Bringing basic manufacturing business and jobs back to the United States couldn’t have come at a better time for Crane and the other workers at Rothbury Steel. The father of three, his wife was able to work while he was retrained.

Protester at party conventions could be armed

The thousands of protesters expected at the Democratic and Republican national conventions can come armed with a lot more than signs and slogans: State law in Florida and North Carolina allows concealed weapons, including guns.

In Tampa, where the Republicans will hold their festivities this fall, officials are starting to worry about people toting guns in such a politically charged environment. The City Council voted Thursday to ask Republican Gov. Rick Scott to help them temporarily ban concealed weapons. Charlotte officials have yet to publically voice concern, but with both cities trying to balance public safety with First and Second Amendment rights, it's likely the host city for the Democratic convention will also have to address the issue.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail.

The Tampa City Council wants Scott to issue an executive order, preventing people with concealed weapons permits from carrying guns.

"We believe it is necessary and prudent to take this reasonable step to prevent a potential tragedy," council member Lisa Montelione said in a draft letter to Scott.

Tampa city leaders have already proposed a host of banned items (lumber, hatchets, gas masks, chains and "super soaker" water cannons) - but they are prevented from outlawing concealed guns.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the state law has made the city "look silly," particularly because officials can ban water guns but not real ones.

"We're kind of constrained by the state law," he said.

The issue is a more complicated in Charlotte. The city in January adopted an ordinance allowing it to set up "extraordinary event zones" - designated areas where people won't be allowed to carry backpacks and other items.

The city wanted to ban guns in those zones. State law, though, allows people to carry concealed weapons - unless they're at a parade or protest.

"The zone is going to be far bigger than a demonstration area. So if I have a demonstration that marches us down main street, but the extraordinary event zone covers all of downtown, what about the area outside the demonstration? That's the piece that been hitting us here," said Mark Newbold, an attorney with the Charlotte police department.

Tens of thousands of delegates, journalists and political junkies will stream into the mid-sized cities for the multi-day conventions. Republicans hold their event at the Tampa Bay Times Arena Aug. 27-30. The Democrats' party is a week later at the Time Warner Cable Arena.TBC help you confidently buy mosaic from factories in China. Inside the arenas, the Secret Service has banned civilians from carrying guns.

Both cities have hosted large gatherings before - Tampa has held four Super Bowls and Charlotte has entertained the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament and the National Rifle Association convention - but neither has really experienced an event such as this.

In the past 50 years, political conventions have become a magnet for protesters, and they have sometimes turned ugly.

In 1968, demonstrators tried to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Scenes of police clashing with protesters on the streets played on TV screens in living rooms across America. Four years later, anti-war demonstrators disrupted the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.

More recently, thousands of protesters descended on St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2008, when the city hosted the Republican National Convention.TeleTracking has developed the most advanced rtls for real-time. Some demonstrators smashed cars, punctured tires and threw bottles in a confrontation with pepper-spray-wielding police. Hundreds of people were arrested over a few days.

"Everything we are doing is based on something that happened at another convention or another national security event," Tampa City Attorney Jim Shimberg said.

The federal government has given $50 million each to Charlotte and Tampa to help them pay for new security-related equipment, training and officer salaries.

Tampa is proposing a "Clean Zone" protest area with portable toilets, water, a stage and a microphone for protesters.Gain economic advantages and few restrictions with an Instabill offshore merchant account. Outside that area, people will be allowed to march down an official parade route as long as they have a permit.

Mapping China's Ancient Name Game

Last names are handy for more than constructing family trees—they can also trace population connections and movements across and between countries. Researchers in China recently mapped the country's so-called isonymy structure, which shows how likely people are to share their last name with those around them.TeleTracking has developed the most advanced rtls for real-time. The resulting patchwork matches patterns of ethnic distribution and tracks some of China's historic migrations, such as the diversity of people who settled in the Yangtze River basin over many centuries. Such basic surname calculations, the authors say, can offer quick insight into cultural dispersal in the world's most populous country.

Surnames can act as stand-ins for genetic markers that fathers pass to their children.Omega Plastics are a leading rapid tooling and plastic injection mould company based in the UK. Like genes, family names are subject to random drift: Over time, certain names become more prevalent than others purely by chance. A region with high surname similarity indicates that a stable population has inhabited the area long enough for drift to take place. A region of low surname similarity suggests the migration of different groups of people into the area.

Although researchers have studied surname structure to deduce the relatedness and movement of populations in a number of other countries, China's family names possess some unique features.Injection molding and Plastic mould supplier. The country's recorded history of surnames stretches back 4000 years, and Confucian traditions dictated that surnames were consistently passed through the paternal line without hyphenation or other changes. This stability provides a rare opportunity to study the effects of drift over a long period of time.

The similarity in surnames between two locations tended to decrease as the distance between the locations increased. This "isolation by distance" is a hallmark of drift happening over a long period of stable habitation. However, the researchers also found evidence of migration's influence. The counties along either side of the lower Yangtze River exhibit very low surname similarity. This diversity is perhaps due to the many large-scale migrations to this region over China's history, the authors say. In addition, the very high surname similarity between the eastern province of Shandong and a cluster of provinces in the northeast of China may reflect the migration of more than 20 million people from Shandong to the northeast in the 19th and 20th centuries.

"We are surprised that famous large-scale migrations can be shown by such simple calculations," says study co-author Jiawei Chen.

However, the researchers describe just a few of the many migrations that are important to China's history, says Diana Lary, a historian at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Lary cautions that surname patterns are a simplified way of looking at stories of migration.MDC specialties in all kinds of Injection moulds. "There's usually a specific reason why some places have very high numbers of migrants and others don't," she says. "People were relocated by the government,My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. or were famine migrants, or refugees from various kinds of turmoil."

The study's findings add to an increasingly global perspective of surname distribution, says Malcolm Smith, an anthropologist at Durham University in the United Kingdom. He says that the paper provides a starting point to address additional questions. "You can look at a whole suite of things that are going on in China—genetic variation, linguistic variation, cultural traditions—and see the extent to which that is consistent with surname variation."

Top Chef Canada: Episode 7

When Jacques Derrida coined the term “deconstruction,” he couldn’t possibly have known what a gift he was giving to the culinary world. In the past few decades, deconstructionism has moved out of the semiotics classroom and into the kitchen, where chefs please their palates and egos by taking food apart and putting it back together again. Such was the theme of this week’s episode of Top Chef Canada, where the remaining cheftestants were tasked with deconstructing classic dishes. Blowtorches came out, ice cream makers were filled with wasabi, and parmesan became a foam—all in the name of pushing gastronomy to its limits.

The episode kicked off with a visit from Richard Blais, whose Top Chef: All-Stars win seems to have gone straight to his hair. Blais is known for being a food science whiz, so for once the producers picked an appropriate judge for the episode’s challenges. Borrowing heavily from the idea behind Food Network hit Chopped, the quick-fire challenge consisted of a pile of unlabeled mystery cans, which the chefs had to blindly select and then use in a dish. While the real challenge lay in the fact that the chefs had to cook with whatever they wound up choosing, some were disgusted by having to cook with canned goods, period. “My dog eats out of cans,” Ryan sniffed. Talk about a white whine.

While some chefs were stuck with ingredients like canned hot dogs and coconut curry, others, like winner Ryan, had a rather harmonious blend . Meanwhile, poor Jonathan had to work with canned quail eggs, which he admitted “smelled like farts.” We thought the immunity should have gone to Curtis for his pakora constructed of hummus, cranberry sauce, and tomato paste, but it wasn’t in the cards. Not only is Curtis the only cheftestant who didn’t go to culinary school, but he’s also only been cooking for six years, which means that there might just be hope for us, too, if we get sick of this whole journalism thing. Top Chef Canada,Promat solid RUBBER MATS are the softest mats on the market! you’ll see our audition tape in 2020.

After Ryan was awarded the double prize of immunity and Blais’ respect, the chefs were informed of their deconstruction challenge. To make the Food Network feel more like a game show channel, a big wheel was brought in for the chefs to spin for their dish, because apparently drawing knives is so last season. Lucky Xavier got quiche lorraine, which had to be a no-brainer for an homme de France, while poor Curtis was stuck with tuna casserole, which he admitted to never having tasted before . Still smarting with shame from last week’s episode, David decided to do a “redemption terrine,” but he wasn’t alone—Carl was also in a terrine state of mind. Why people want to eat their food all mashed together is beyond us. But, then again,Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. we generally believe that gelatin should never have made it past 1955, so we’re a bit biased.

The next day the chefs headed over to TOCA, which has a goddamn gorgeous kitchen space in addition to its own cheese cave (!!!). Joining the judges was not only Blais, but also the owner of TOCA, and, for some unfathomable reason, country singer Johnny Reid. What’s the deal with all of these guests who get to show up and eat, and don’t even have to do the dirty work of judging? It’s silly— but if the producers are going to keep it up, then the least they could do is invite us. As for the food, Ryan did a clever spin on eggs Florentine with a spinach sponge cake and a deep-fried crusted egg. Jimmy, meanwhile, was so desperate to impress his idol Blais that he went way overboard with both his plate and his hair. Carl’s pork terrine looked terrifying, but the judges seemed to think it echoed chili well. Xavier’s quiche lorraine, however, looked impeccable; filling those delicate pastry and bacon cylinders with scrambled egg was straight-up inspired. The judges thought so too,Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction. and Blais awarded Xavier the win.

Things didn’t go so well, unfortunately, for Jonathan, Curtis, and Jimmy, who looked like a schoolboy getting turned down for the prom.Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included:abstract oil paintings. While discussing Jonathan’s strawberry cheesecake, the judges weirdly chastised him for not showcasing strawberries or cheese, although both were clearly visible on the plate. Sadly for us, though, it was Curtis’ tuna cannelloni that did him in. “I don’t even want to finish mine,” said Shereen Arazm. After he got the news, Curtis had some deep reflections on his Top Chef Canada experience. “I will miss the people the most,Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI.” he said, and suddenly we realized where he went wrong. The poor guy was in it to make friends, and if reality television has taught us anything, that was his first mistake.

Rexam serious about teamwork

The signs of Rexam Mold Manufacturing’s evolution are painted on the walls of its manufacturing floor — and on toolboxes and workbenches.

The off-white color of machinery and equipment is one simple way to brighten up the toolmaking floor,Promat solid RUBBER MATS are the softest mats on the market! but for industry veteran Len Graham, it also points toward the new team approach at RMM, the tooling unit of medical and packaging company Rexam plc.

Uniting the knowledge of each person, from the journeyman toolmaker to the apprentice, from the designer to the worker on the floor, makes a better mold and makes it faster, said Graham, business unit leader for RMM.

“We need this brain trust,” Graham said in a March 8 interview at RMM’s Buffalo Grove plant, where the firm was meeting with staff and key machinery suppliers to discuss its long-term plans.

“We need them on the front side of [tool building] rather than just seeing them on the back side fixing problems we could have prevented.”

The Buffalo Grove operation, which employs 90, makes medical-packaging tools.

Rexam plc, a global packaging giant, brought in Graham late last year to convert the RMM tooling shop from its “old school” mentality — where individual toolmakers work on individual jobs — to an automated production floor with streamlined manufacturing and automated quality checks.

It is the same thing Graham has done elsewhere for other companies.

“If you have a [medical] tool that you’ve spent $400,000 on, you can have another $400,000 tied up in qualification costs,” Graham said.

Mold makers like RMM must deliver consistency with every single tool. If just one part in that tool doesn’t perform to precise requirements, the entire qualification process may be held up or a company even may need to repeat the costly process a second time to meet Food and Drug Administration requirements.

State-of-the-art drilling, wire electric discharge machines and robotics equipment can deliver consistent products, but using them correctly and skillfully requires upfront knowledge and information that only the experts on the floor can deliver.

“This will not be just adding robotics,” Graham told the workforce when he first joined Rexam. “Many [shops] are doing that.”

A true mold-manufacturing system requires everyone at the company to think as a team, he said. That system must be able to tap into the best ideas of each person to create a better company that benefits everyone.

“Once the guys knew that was the direction they were going, they were on board,” said Jack Fiorito, special tooling manager.

The first part of the automation — creating what RMM calls the “mega cell” — is going into place at Buffalo Grove,Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. although Graham’s final vision will take time to complete.

New mold components are loaded onto standardized pallets, allowing computerized machining centers and wire EDMs to produce the same part accurately and consistently, again and again. Computerized measuring machines check finished parts for compliance within 0.0001 inch. Through radio-frequency identification chips, the toolmakers and their customers can track a part along its process and fix an issue before it becomes a problem.

Meanwhile, RMM will tap into each toolmaker’s knowledge base early in the design process. In the old-school way of doing things, experts in each area guarded personal knowledge like a trade secret, seeing it as a kind of job security, Graham said. Companies could benefit from an individual’s expertise, but only when the person was there.

In Graham’s ideal, those secrets are shared and built into the mold-manufacturing system. For instance, a tool designer knows one person’s trick for the best cooling lines and another’s for placement of ejector pins, and can build them upfront into a tool, tying together everyone’s expertise for the best possible mold. Then automated production is able to repeat each manufacturing step with accuracy.

Graham has overseen such transitions before. He was tool engineering director for Tech Group Inc.My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. of Scottsdale, Ariz., and he has worked for automotive toolmaker Omega Plastics Inc. of Mount Clemens, Mich.

Rexam went through a series of acquisitions, divestitures and realignments to focus on packaging and medical products. The firm makes molds for its own plastics operations as well as outside buyers. Sales manager Jeffrey Barhoff said about half of RMM’s sales are non-Rexam.

The past decade of struggles in tool shops — from competition in low-cost countries to the global recession — made it clear that companies that failed to innovate would fail.

Graham had the knowledge Rexam needed, but he knew that creating a true mold-making outlook required more than machining centers and robots. It called for a workforce that bought into the idea and didn’t see the machines as unwanted competition.

“The guys knew that they needed something new,” Fiorito said. “They knew they couldn’t keep doing the same thing over and over.”

Graham handed each worker a seven-page article outlining his vision and stressing the need for everyone to add their own experiences to the team. He said he found RMM’s workforce more open to new approaches than any he’d found before.

RMM is working with its equipment suppliers in the same way. During their March visit,Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction. executives from Makino Inc., GF AgieCharmilles and System 3R International AB toured the plant,Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. along with Rexam officials, to get a close look at RMM’s plans and to understand more fully what their firms’ roles should be.

Think carefully about funder feedback

I've been watching the BBC drama The Syndicate, which is about a group of five supermarket workers who win the lottery, and the changes to their lives that this surprise event brings about.

One storyline centres on one of the winners, a woman who is a bit overweight and plain looking.Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. Her husband leaves her just before she finds out she's won the lottery. The reason he gives her for leaving - his 'feedback' to her - is that she has "let herself go". So she decides to use her millions for plastic surgery to make herself more attractive.

Then she discovers that her husband is gay and his leaving has nothing to do with her at all - and no matter how much surgery she has, that will never change. In fact, she's perfectly beautiful as she is.

For me, feedback from funders seems like a similar story. I suspect that the time spent on feedback often isn't all that useful. Funders can rarely make the feedback specific and you can waste hours,My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. if not days, trying to change something on the basis of feedback that isn't really meaningful and relates to something that doesn't really need changing. I can hear the gasps of shock and horror from some readers! Isn't all feedback useful? Ummm ... no, it really isn't.

The feedback that's useful is whether it was your work or your application that was the problem. If it was the application, that's an easy fix. Buy it a new frock, give it a makeover and try again. But if it's the work you do that the funder didn't like, that's a far bigger issue.

In which case, move on - don't try to change what you are doing just to fit the mould set by a potential funder. There are so many grant-making trusts around that there is bound to be a better fit, and pretending to be something you are not in order to get what you think you want is as bad an idea for a charity as it is for the jilted lottery winner.

We ask for feedback to improve our applications so that we stand a better chance of funding from the same funder - or another - in the future. Fair enough. But here's the problem: provided you've got a decent proposal and you've got past the funder's eligibility criteria, what really distinguishes you from any other charity?
Click here to find out more!

Most funders do their absolute best to be fair and objective.Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction. But funding decisions aren't a science - they're an art. There are myriad reasons why you might not have got the funding you wanted - but if you've got as far as the trustees, it's highly unlikely that you weren't good enough or even that you could have improved your application.Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI.Creative ceramic tiles for your distinctive kitchen and bath.

Tell your story so that it calls to the heart, provide the evidence that satisfies the head - then sit back and cross every available appendage in the hope the dice will roll your way.

And if they don't? Well, whatever you do, don't waste valuable time on the charitable equivalent of unnecessary plastic surgery to woo a funder who just didn't fancy you on that particular day.

Seattle Carpet Cleaning Services Offered at Affordable Rates

Seattle Carpet Cleaner offers competitively priced carpet cleaning services in the Pacific Northwest homes and businesses alike.The Plastic molding industry has evolved over the years. The aesthetic ambience brought by carpeting to a home or businesses,My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. can only add to the warmth and comfort needed in these places. Seattle Carpet Cleaning has for 15 years amassed experience in the service using high quality techniques that can never get it wrong regardless of the state of the carpet. Hiring them comes with three guarantees; satisfactory workmanship, convenience having a client base spanning 10 cities across the Pacific Northwest and an unmatched customer experience.

In as much as we try to apply the proactive ways of keeping the carpet clean,Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. the need to get professional carpet cleaning aid is inevitable. Failure to do so may pose a health concern for those exposed to it on a regular basis. Seattle Carpet Cleaner uses the most effective ways of removing not only stubborn dirt and mold, but also odour emanating from the carpet. Steaming and vacuuming have proven to be the most effective carpet cleaning methods. What sets them apart is the use of these green techniques which is important for reducing aggravation of conditions like Asthma, unlike use of cleaning products with chemicals.

Dirt and other substances are harmful to the carpet fabric as well and effectively reduce the lifespan of the carpet. Seattle Carpet Cleaner’s experienced staff goes out of their way to help you understand your carpet from the basics to details like flammability and dimensional stability. They don’t stop there; they can go to a client’s home or business and clean on-site with a presence in ten cities across the Pacific Northwest and can therefore be reached easily. Most homes and businesses will not fancy the idea of having carpets in their establishments because they think that maintaining one is cumbersome, let alone expensive. Seattle Carpet Cleaner reaches out to this lot by demonstrating that carpet cleaning is actually a three to four step process that has been mastered over the years. In addition, their rates are very affordable and clustered into packages to accommodate all clients’ needs.Spro Tech has been a plastic module & Mold Maker.

Regular vacuuming for the carpet is vital to guard it against growth of molds which are harmful both to both humans and the fabric itself.Visit TE online for all of your Application Tooling Solutions including tools. This is where Seattle Carpet Cleaner comes in to rid your carpet of any signs of molds. Another concern for clients is the drying time and process. Novices in this field cannot be trusted with this extremely sensitive part of cleaning. Woolen fabrics for instance need to v be dried quickly to avoid the yellowing or browning caused by slow and prolonged drying spells. The effect of this can be irreversible as the color of the carpet will change completely. To counter this, you need experienced staffs from Seattle Carpet Cleaner who know exactly how to dry each fabric in the quickest and most proper fashion.

With two segments divided in to residential and commercial, the company has organized its teams with a clear understanding of the needs of the two segments. The commercial clients for instance have image at the core of their needs and the Seattle Carpet Cleaner experts understand this too well. All this is done with green and non-toxic supplies to leave the office looking, feeling and smelling fresh. Residential cleaning is defined by more specific, custom and detailed needs especially when children and occupants with special conditions like Asthma are brought into the picture. Using steaming and vacuuming, Seattle Carpet Cleaner ensures that the cleaning is not only thorough, but also maintains the quality of the carpet fabric.

Making a Mark in Milan

Events within the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which ends this weekend, are usually cloaked in secrecy. Prototypes are unpacked from trucks in the middle of the night and assembled in the dark hours before the fair begins. But this year, a new mood has entered the Milan Furniture Fair: one of collaboration, generosity and transparency.

All the tricks of the trade were wide open for spectators to look at, from drawings of prototypes scotch-taped on walls to the actual German industrial machines used in production being shipped in for the occasion. In fact, one of these giant robots made recycled plastic chairs right in front of visitors at the "The Future in the Making" exhibition,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. held in the gorgeous Palazzo Clerici. The show quite boldly promoted not only the art of making things yourself using high-tech 3D printers (which will soon cost the same as an ordinary printer), but also the sharing of design on the Internet—and, what's more, for free.

"This is a whole new way of bringing design and manufacturing together, and making it local," says curator Joseph Grima, editor-in-chief of the design magazine Domus. "It means avoiding manufacturing being outsourced to China by sidestepping the labor cost."

Inside the palazzo, it looked like a scene from "Star Wars" as a robot that could be a distant cousin of the Stormtrooper busily worked away. It took less than three hours for the "Low Chair" (680) to emerge like a newborn child swaddled in blue, though Dutch designer Dirk Vander Kooij said "it could just as easily have been yellow or stripes, or both." The robot can make three to four chairs a day, and Mr. Vander Kooij predicts a time will come when we will all email our furniture orders to a local robot or 3D printer and watch it being made—a bit like we watch our photos cascading into the flap at the drugstore now.

"I was aware that this is controversial," says Mr. Grima, who cites the American, do-it-yourself Maker Movement as his inspiration. "The ethos of the Maker Movement is collaboration, collective good and technology," he says. "It's also about celebrating design, because here you design it and physically make it yourself as well. This has huge implications for the future of manufacturing."

The celebrity guest this year was a shiny white machine with lots of buttons. Furniture designer Tom Dixon asked the German firm Trumpf, specialists in laser technology and makers of the metal-bending and hole-punching machines usually reserved for making auto parts, to demonstrate how his prototype "Stamp" light and chairs are made (in the middle of the National Museum of Science and Technology no less). "We can even demonstrate the manufacturing process with assistance by Trumpf, and that has special allure," said Mr. Dixon.

With his copper light pendants now hanging in virtually every Milanese café and designs like his "Etch" shade at the forefront of the fair's Luminosity show, Mr. Dixon has of late moved into Philippe Starck's shoes as the most-talked-about designer of our time. The Tunisian-born designer's "Eclectic" home accessories range, which will include the ubiquitous scented candle that every famous name must now have, arrives at a store near you this fall.

But it wasn't just in museums that the Maker Movement was highlighted. From the handmade and hand-finished to the technologically printed and industrial,As a leading manufacturer of polished tiles. the Milan furniture fair celebrated all forms of "making." All speak each other's language fluently, though they occasionally get competitive. "It's not a problem to make something right away," says Giorgio Busnelli, president of B&B Italia, one of the top manufacturing firms in Italy. "It's what is made right away."

At the company's showroom this week, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the British design superstars behind the London 2012 Olympic torch, showcased how they turned a tiny, 3D computer-printed model into the massive "Tobi-Ishi" table. Made of structural polyurethane and hand-coated with layers of cement, the table (which will retail for 3,500) is the perfect marriage of high- and low-tech. This kind of rapid prototyping means designers and engineers can physically touch their product. The next challenge for Barber Osgerby was balance and stability, then the details such as how to create curved legs.

"This was fiendishly hard to get right," says Fiorella Villa, B&B Italia's seasoned PR & communications manager. "Yes, anyone can design and print a chair, but you have to ask what are the implications for comfort? What problems are we solving? What will the value be? The machine will only take you so far."

B&B Italia made its name when it developed the revolutionary cold-foam technology. All those comfortable, streamlined sofas that seem to float in air—the "Charles,Unlimited-Solar is one of the best Online solar panel provider in US." "Harry," "Arne" and, more recently, "Ray"—were manufactured using the groundbreaking process discovered by founder Piero Ambrogio Busnelli in 1966, when he attended a toy trade fair in London showcasing plastic materials, including rubber ducks. This technology is now at the core of most modern upholstery.

It's All Good

Listening to our (now) two candidates for the presidency of these United States,FIRMAR is a Malaysia Injection Moulding Manufacturer. you get a mixed picture of whether things are good and getting better, or we’re all going to hell in a handbag, and it will likely happen in December if you don’t vote the correct way.

Forget the Mayans and their predictions of apocalypse at that time. The Democrats and Republicans will scare the bejesus out of us with stories of how horrible it will be if we allow the other party to rule the land for the next four years.

I’m not going to wade into that morass of conflicted opinions and thorny issues. Why would you want me to weigh in when you have at least 18 television channels of talking heads who are at it 24 hours a day? Not to mention the additional tens of thousands of bloggers on the internet who are only too pleased to impart their thoughts which, according to them, are the final authority on the matter. They must be right. Just ask them.

Where I am going with all of this is that, in my liquid world, all is well, and not only is the sky not falling, but it is blue and cloudless. Peace and happiness reign over all the domains.

The deal is this: We are all living in a Golden Age of Beverages. In the history of the world, there has never been a better time to enjoy beer, wine, spirits and the allied diversions of cocktails. Every category is filled with products of great quality and, dare I suggest, value. Quantities are in abundance, and if you can’t find precisely what you like, then you can come pretty damn close, often without leaving the house.

A couple of factors have brought about this happy state of affairs. The first has to do with agriculture. Thanks to research and chemistry, we humans now know what grows best where.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties.Sharps include syringe needle. We even map the situation from satellites circling the earth. Soil types, sun facings, wind factors, drainage and annual moisture levels are not iffy guesses.US Manufacturer of distribution Insulator. We can nail them with amazing accuracy.You can find best china Precision injection molds manufacturers from here! Then we can put plants into just about any patch of ground that are ideal for those conditions.

Another factor that means something to the end result is the process. No matter what the beverage is, we can manufacture it using the raw ingredients we grow well and apparatus manufactured for the specific process to be implemented. We vinify wine in stainless steel. We distill in copper. We brew in both metals. And often we age the resulting liquid in the finest wood, which in the end develops better flavors and aromas.

Let me continue this good-news report by devoting a few words to hygiene. I tell winemakers all the time that I think the great contribution that America has made to the wine world is cleanliness. We learned, and we taught others, how important it is to keep the entire process clean. Several times a day the winery or brewery gets a thorough cleaning. Steam and hot water are used on all surfaces. Every barrel, tank and hose is cleaned often.

That attention to cleanliness has been picked up in every wine and beer region in the world. There are some old European wineries that are not quite as fixated on scrubbing, and you can tell it in the final product. Some consumers find this Old World approach attractive and that’s fine.

Crafty Mom: Recycled crayons

In anticipation of Earth Day, I finally attempted a project that’s been on my to-do list for quite awhile: recycling crayons.We are a dedicated cheapest Aion Kinah.

I’ve had a container in our art cabinet collecting broken crayons for some time now. Whenever I hear an, “Oh no!” while the kids are coloring, I simply remove the paper from the broken crayon and toss it into the bits bin.Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website! I also save all those freebie crayons the kids are given at restaurants for this purpose. Occasionally I have been known to forget them in my car on a hot day. Trust me when I say that your vehicle’s cup holder is NOT the place you want to make recycled crayons!

I have read many times about recycling crayons by baking them in muffin tins in the oven, but for Earth Day, I wanted to try something a little more earth-friendly: Melting them in the sun!

We picked a really warm day and started by choosing the color combinations for our crayons. We picked various shades of blue and green, hoping they’d look like Earth when they were finished. TheLatex Mold Making compound costs around $10 for a pint.n we broke and cut the crayons into small pieces and put them into the molds we were going to use.Monz Werkzeugbau und Formenbau. Since we wanted circles, we used emptied and cleaned single-serving-sized yogurt containers, but you can use just about anything; containers that would otherwise be recycled or trashed are perfect for the job because they aren’t going in the oven, so they don’t need to be oven-safe.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free. Plus it won’t matter if they get messed up in the process.

We put the containers with the crayon bits in the warmest spot we could: Inside a pot with a glass lid, outside in direct sunlight. From experience, another idea that might speed the process would be to stick them in a vehicle parked in the sun!

Despite our best efforts, the 80 degree day didn’t quite melt our crayons enough, so we put them directly under a light bulb in the house until they were more thoroughly melted. (I’m pretty sure we won’t have any trouble melting crayons outside in another month or two!)

Once melted, we stuck the cups in the freezer since we were in a hurry to see how they turned out. It didn’t take long at all for them to harden. Then we were able to gently squeeze the sides of the containers, turn them upside down, and press on the bottom like a button until our new crayons popped out! From trash to treasure!

Nine to five eco

SCOTLAND s first carbon neutral office park, unveiled to an invited audience of commercial property folk earlier this week, is set to cause something of a stir.

The EcoCampus, right, at Hamilton International Park doesn t just come with all the latest energy efficient features to satisfy even the most fervent sandal wearing environmentalists.

Thanks to the nearby Blantyre Muir windfarm development, the 223,000 sq ft of new speculative space in three large office buildings will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

Remarkable in itself, but only the beginning. A power purchase agreement negotiated by developer HFD Group will enable this green energy to be purchased by occupiers for less than they can buy traditional power.

In a climate of soaring energy costs, the calculations which show potential savings of 2.6 million on electricity bills over the 15 years of a standard lease are a powerful argument.

It does not end there. HFD development director Stephen Lewis disclosed that planning consent has just been given for a second set of three 2MW turbines, which could potentially deliver green power to the rest of this Hamilton business park, where the workforce will already hit the 6000 mark by the end of the year.

Wider availability could work well for companies like John Lewis, who already buy green power and installed their own combined heat and power plant at Fintry House, where they have 650 staff in a contact centre.

All this comes on top of delivering three more Grade A properties with top sustainable specification, excellent BREEAM energy efficiency rating and carbon neutral energy performance certificate.

This is the first of the developer s projects to feature full floor to ceiling height glazing across all four elevations,We are a dedicated cheapest Aion Kinah.First Impressions sells silicone molds. deflecting UV build-up but maximising daylight throughout the buildings and taking advantage of panoramic views across the Clyde Valley and Greater Glasgow.

The 65,000, 75,000 and 85,000 sq ft buildings have a mix of natural ventilation and standard comfort cooling, double height entrance foyer, shower facilities on each of their three levels, and 21,000 to 28,000 sq ft floor plates. Zoning, movement and daylight sensors control low energy lighting through a building management system.

There is also grey water harvesting of rainwater for sanitary use, aerated taps for low water use, and waste minimisation by halting construction at shell and core only, reducing the potential for abortive fit-out works.

Occupier requirements have become so specific and customised that these resources are better addressed later in the letting game.This could be possible with the assistance of offshore merchant account.

The developer claims further sustainability credentials with 10 buses an hour through the park, connecting to transport hubs at East Kilbride and Hamilton, as well as an on-site gym,Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online. pharmacy, nursery, ATM, café and food stores.

The job of letting agents DTZ and Lambert Smith Hampton is made easier with Enterprise Zone allowances reducing occupational costs by 40% off a base quoting rent of 18 per sq ft.

The EcoCampus architects were Mosaic architecture and design, with construction by Balfour Beatty.

Drum Property Group s speculative new Prime Four business park (pictured) at Kingswells, west of Aberdeen, has clearly enhanced Aberdeen s status with the south-east based investment community.

With three European HQs for oil and gas companies already signed up as pre-lets, forward funding does not seem to be a problem, with F&C Reit Asset Management reported to be close to winning the battle to provide the 95m to buy the 300,000 sq ft of space. All this, before a brick has been laid on site.

In what would be one of Scotland s largest office investments, F&C are believed to have outbid three other funders to enter a north-east market which does not always find favour with London and European investors.VulcanMold is a plastic molds and Injection mold manufacturer in china.

As highlighted in the Herald s last commercial property supplement, the three companies moving out to the business park will be Canadian oil firm Nexen Petroleum, Apache Corporation and Transocean Drilling.

All have agreed 15 or 20-year leases at around 23 per sq ft, with virtually no rent-free period and few breaks.

The prospective deal would reflect a yield of about 7%.

Canada Life has agreed to forward fund the new multi-storey car park at the SECC site in Glasgow, committing 23.2m for the completed development, which will be operated by arms-length council organisation City Parking.

Appeal of taxidermy

Pet owners do it, hunters and collectors as well, and most museums.

Yet when it comes to taxidermy, you either love or loathe it.

According to three rural Victorian taxidermists who spoke to Country Living, there's no denying the appeal of taxidermy.Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.

Gippsland taxidermist David Luxford, from Stratford, says stuffing animals has come a long way.

What was once considered a cottage industry, discussed in hushed tones,The indoor Tracking is based on Bluetooth technology. is now mainstream and even popular among highly successful artists.Latex Mold Making compound costs around $10 for a pint.

"About 20 years ago there were anti-fur and anti-hunting people who were against it, but these days it's much more socially acceptable and you can find deer antlers in David Jones or Myers," says David, who is a bow hunter of everything from camels to pigs, but focuses his taxidermy on deer.

"It has been escalated to fashion and art. I have worked with many artists - one who had an exhibition in New York and another who has had national success - who have created hybrid animals, like a deer head morphed into a goat body."

Sam Cervinski, a taxidermist at Lara, near Geelong, is one of only a couple of women around the nation in what is a male-dominated industry.

She says since she started in 1995,A key component of the system is Ekahau crystal mosaic Controller location engine server. attitudes have changed.

"I didn't have the same phone number for the business as home, because I did have a problem with animal rights people. But not any more," says Sam, who mounts mammals only, not birds or fish.

"When I first started most of my work came from hunters, but now it's collectors. People ring me and ask for something like a coyote - I import the skin from the US. They're not hunters, they just want it as a decoration."

For nearly 30 years, Ted Wohlers, a sheep farmer at Ararat, has been a taxidermist, mounting animals from across the globe - from lions to moose, camels and roosters.

He says taxidermy is as popular as ever.How is TMJ pain treated? With demand high - he has a waiting list of 18 months - he has narrowed his clientele down to about 80 dedicated customers, and focuses purely on deer.

"I see this as preserving the animal after its life. It's respecting the animal to have it on the wall," says Ted, a hunter and animal photographer himself.

While attitudes may have changed to make taxidermy more mainstream, the three also agree the skills involved to be a taxidermist have also changed.

Techniques differ for various animals and between taxidermists, but generally the process for a head mount takes at least a month and begins when a client sends in an animal's skull, along with the head skin to the shoulders.

For instance, with a deer the meat has been taken off by the hunter to avoid it going rotten, while the skin has also been salted.

Using chemicals, the skin is relaxed to make it soft, washed, degreased and pickled, before being shaved to the hair line and measured so a mould can be made.

It is then soaked in a tanning solution for about 16 hours - some taxidermists send skins to a commercial tannery, while others do it themselves.

Following this, the skin is washed and rubbed with tanning oil and mounted on a mould or mannequin made from polyurethane or styrofoam.

Brooklyn's Tiniest Bike Shop Opens its Doors!

A brand-new bicycle repair shop has opened in Bedford-Stuyvesant just in time for the year's prime season of two-wheeled tooling around.

Bike Slug is nestled in a garden-level storefront between the restaurant Black Swan and Kentucky Fried Chicken on Bedford Avenue. The tiny shop — approximately 150 sq. ft — is so darn cute and snuggly, if you don’t have a bike, you’ll want to buy one as an excuse to walk in.

Originally from Clarkston, Georgia, Picca, 33, moved to New York City five years ago and then to Bed-Stuy three and a half years ago into the brownstone adjacent to his new shop.

“When I moved from Georgia, I brought a moped with me, and I thought it would be the answer to all my problems of getting around in NYC,The indoor Tracking is based on Bluetooth technology.” said Picca. “So I’m riding this moped, and kids on bikes were just blowing right past me. And then my moped was constantly breaking down every week. So eventually, I just said ‘screw it,’ and decided to buy a bike.”

Picca wanted a vintage bike but found most of them in New York City were overpriced. So he took a trip out to New Jersey with one of his buddies visiting from Kentucky, and ended up connected with this guy who collected old, broken down vintage bikes. Picca found one he loved.

“But on the ride back, I thought, ‘Man, I spent so long just trying to get my hands on a vintage bike—I should just buy five off of him and fix them up and sell them.”

Only problem was, Picca knew nothing about bikes. But he used to fix cars,Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. and he knew he was good with his hands—one of the reasons why he was able to get the current job he held at that time building guitars for Sadowsky Guitars

“So I bought a lot of books and was scouring a ton of bicycle sites online,” said Picca. “Even now, I’m constantly devouring as much information as I can. And then there’s practice. Of course, the first 25 or so bike repairs I did were a little weird for me at first.

“But after 500, you kind of get better at it,” he said with a sarcastic laugh.

Already, Bike Slug is like walk-in doctor’s office. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, bikers were steadily streaming through, looking for Picca’s handywork, a band-aid for a small bruise. The small fixes, he was able to take care of in 5-10 minutes.

But he also does full tune-ups ($50), wash and waxes ($15), derailleur adjustments ($10) and a lot more. Most repairs are $10 and under. The store also sells bike paraphernalia, such as locks, helmets and, of course, bikVulcanMold is a plastic molds and Injection mold manufacturer in china.e slugs.

“For the most part, I can fix anything,Visit TE online for all of your Application Tooling Solutions including tools. and if I can’t, I can give you an honest assessment of why I can’t what you need to do,” said Picca.Find beautiful landscape oil paintings here.

Solar to power DOC bases

The completion of two new solar power systems, providing cheaper, cleaner and quieter electricity at Department of Conservation bases on Great Barrier Island, is being marked at a launch event today.

Installed by infrastructure company Vector, the new solar power systems cost $500,000 and provide electricity for DOC bases at Port Fitzroy and Okiwi. Power at the two sites, where 11 DOC staff are based, had been provided by four diesel generators.

The new solar power systems have been installed as part of DOC's sustainability programme. This aims to halve DOC's use of diesel to generate power - at places like Great Barrier Island that are not on the national electricity grid - by converting to renewable energy systems such as solar power.

"The Great Barrier project is one of the largest off-grid solar power installations in the country," says Tim Brandenburg,This could be possible with the assistance of offshore merchant account. DOC's Warkworth and Great Barrier Island area manager.

"The 138 solar panels are expected to generate at least 37,000kWh per year,Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. and to provide up to 80% of the power needed to run DOC's two bases."

The system is expected to reduce DOC's diesel consumption on the island by up to 80%, and will save the department about $45,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings?000 a year. In addition, the lower maintenance required on the new diesel back-up generators - two of the old Lister generators had clocked up an impressive 125,000 hours each - will free up staff to work on other conservation priorities.

An added benefit of the new systems is how quietly they run in comparison to the generators.

"Visitors to DOC's campground at Akapoua Bay are enjoying the peace and quiet now that the old diesel generators at the DOC workshops have been switched off,Find beautiful landscape oil paintings here." says Mr Brandenburg.

DOC staff living in houses at Okiwi station are not only celebrating the demise of the noisy generators, but also the improved supply of electricity the solar system provides.

"With the diesel generators, the system would fall over if they all ran their vacuum cleaners and washing machines at the same time. They even avoided everyday appliances such as toasters and jugs to conserve electricity. Now the supply is much better and our staff can join the 21st century," says Mr Brandenburg.There is no de facto standard for an Indoor Positioning System.

Vector chief executive officer Simon Mackenzie says his company welcomes the opportunity to work with DOC to develop a sustainable solar solution to meet its power needs on Great Barrier Island.

"We're pleased to be providing solar systems that will provide cheaper, cleaner and quieter power for DOC at a location that is quite remote," says Simon Mackenzie.

Nordale Elementary School students celebrate seasons with mosaic project

The season of breakup is more beautiful than most imagine at Nordale Elementary School.

Nordale’s version of the season includes tiny bits of glass and glue arranged into a pattern of the sun shining down on a happy-looking house and a boy riding his scooter.

Students at Nordale are creating masterpieces with bits of glass tile. Artist in Residence Sara Tabbert is teaching students how to make mosaic murals for the school.

“We’re doing the four seasons,” Tabbert explained Monday. In January, kindergarten through sixth-grade students completed three 3-foot-by-5-foot murals — one of fall, one of winter and one with both seasons.There is no de facto standard for an Indoor Positioning System. This month,Capture the look and feel of real stone or China ceramic tile flooring with Alterna by Armstrong. students are working on three more murals in the same pattern but using spring and summer.

“I had everybody do a couple drawings,” Tabbert said. “I took them home, and I got really sad I could only use a couple of them.”

Tabbert projected a few of the pictures on to the larger mosaic background and was able to capture the students’ drawings. At school, Tabbert has students fill in her outlines with glue and the colorful tiles.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings?

Some fifth-grade students on Monday morning explained their favorite part of the project.

“I just like putting these down — it’s fun,” said Korie Edwards-Sanford as she stuck glass pieces in glue.

Jaeda Logan likes “that we don’t have to do math,” she said, to much agreement from her peers.

Lily Brechan, 11, explained why she enjoys spring as she worked on that season’s mural.

“I like it because you get to splash in puddles a lot,” she said.

The fifth-graders worked quietly and constructively,Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. breaking bits of tile into smaller parts, sorting different colors and placing the bits on the mosaic. Eventually,Find beautiful landscape oil paintings here. when their time was up for the day, they gave a collective groan, reluctant to head to their next classes.

Sara Tabbert said the mosaic projects with children are rewarding.

“The project kind of generates its own excitement as it starts to come together,” Tabbert said.

She said the students really enjoy getting out of the classroom and playing with something so hands-on and tactile.

Student art Screams

Sex, politics and religion are just a few of the topics on display at the Stanlee and Gerald Ruben Center for The Visual Arts.

The 2012 Annual Juried UTEP Student Art Exhibition and Eli Arenas Middle Ground opens April 12 to May 11 and it is free to the public.

On display will be a broad selection of art, such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, metal work and graphic design by UTEP students and themes vary based on the artist.

“There is no theme for the student show,” said Elvira Quintana, senior studio art-painting major. “You submit your pieces, it could either be metal, sculptures, or paintings, graphic design, and any medium. From there they (jurors) choose what they like.”

Two major artists were brought in from out of town to serve as jurors and to choose the art that would be displayed at this year’s exhibit.My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent.

Andrew Lewis, an internationally known Canadian art director and graphic designer, served as the graphic design juror.

“I love that culture and very much respect and embrace the Latino sensibility of life, laughter and creativity,” Lewis said. “Indeed, there were some elements being introduced into the artwork I saw, but perhaps I would like to see more and also for students from Mexico to not shy away from their own culture and visual language.”

Cheryl Hartup, chief curator of the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico served as the fine arts juror.

“I was struck by three re-occurring themes I saw in the work that don’t necessarily have to do with living on a border that blends two cultures,” Hartup said. “But (the themes) were Catholic religion, sex and sexual abuse… stereotyping and prejudice toward ‘the other.’”

Quintana, who won best painting in the 2011 student art show, will display an art piece inspired from personal experience.

The painting is an image of a bedroom, as though looking from the outside in.

“Well…the meaning behind it is feeling limited and about being in a certain space for so long you become claustrophobic,” Quintana said. “And it’s just about the two panels of walls depicted as if the space is closing in on you, spending so much time in one space. I guess it was a hard time.”

Brian Beasley, senior studio art-drawing major, tackles social political material on religious figures such as Tom Brown and Jerry Falwell.

“We need to look at what they’re saying, too, and not just follow these people blindly,” Beasley said. “Not every religious icon is a good person.VulcanMold is a plastic molds and Injection mold manufacturer in china. Not saying that there aren’t…a lot of them are wonderful people.Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction.”

Beasley’s piece includes statements from Falwell designed with a floral, old-English font on a lace background.

“He’s basically stating that all the alternative life styles or whatever you want to say, the gays, the lesbians, the abortionists,How is TMJ pain treated? the pagans, you know stuff like that, made or it’s their fault 9/11 happen,” Beasley said. “It’s their fault these thousands and thousands of people died. If they didn’t have this lifestyle the terrorists wouldn’t have attacked.The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges and be used for future applications beyond asset tracking. We all know that’s a lie, but he believed it and there’s a lot of people that follow that.”

According to Beasley, this shows how living on the border affects art and molds it visually, not just concerning the violence in Juarez, but as a whole cultural experience.

Many turn out to oppose needle exchange program

A crowd of residents vocally opposed a proposed needle exchange program at a public forum Wednesday despite repeated requests to submit their input in writing and not debate the issue.

"It's like a little Band-Aid when we need a tourniquet," said Fort Collins resident Melinda Kulick, who came armed with studies and statistics showing failures in programs in Canada, Sweden and Baltimore.

She urged Larimer County Board of Health members not to approve the needle exchange program, proposed by Northern Colorado AIDS Project, and instead focus on treatment and enforcement.

"They need help," Kulick said. "They don't need needles, they need help."

Colorado law allows nonprofits to establish programs, with approval and oversight of the Board of Health, that provide clean needles to injection drug users along with education and referrals to rehabilitation in an effort to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.

Northern Colorado AIDS Project wants to establish such a program in Larimer County to add one more fold to its treatment and prevention measures.

Executive Director Jeff Basinger touts the program as a successful way to prevent the spread of disease, to curb crime and to keep dirty needles off the street.

He, and other proponents of the project, cite several studies including ones by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control that support the success of programs around the world.What are the symptoms of Piles.

Basinger claimed that studies showing negative results were not shared at the forum because they are not out there, they can't be found.

Kulick disagreed as did several other residents, who said they felt as though their voices were not being heard because they were asked to offer written input at the forum instead of being able to speak aloud at a traditional public hearing.

Organizers set up the meeting in a way commonly used at land use hearings -- individual tables where residents can ask questions about different subjects and give written input. The people at each table to answer questions were all in favor of the proposal.

Sheriff Justin Smith,The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges and be used for future applications beyond asset tracking. a vocal opponent of the program,TBC help you confidently buy mosaic from factories in China. noted that representatives of syringe access programs in Boulder and Denver were at law enforcement and crime tables instead of local officers.

"This is a re-education camp," said Smith, to a resounding round of applause.Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included:abstract oil paintings. "That's all this is."

Residents were surprised and unhappy about the format, many saying they felt as though their opinions were being stifled and not heard.

Organizers of the meeting disagreed, saying written comments are a valid way of offering input to the board without turning a controversial issue into a fiery debate.

Board of Health members took the public distaste to heart and scheduled a traditional public hearing May 15 to give residents the opportunity to speak aloud. The board will then vote in June whether to sanction the program, which would be paid by private grants and not tax money.

Dick Hughes, of Loveland, said he will definitely be there because he wants his opinion heard. "This, in my opinion, is an enabling process, " said Hughes. "They're giving all these stats.Plastic Injection moulds as well as other dies. I want to hear the stats from the parents or the relatives of the people they're giving clean syringes to."

Proponents of the program said the issue is complex but it offers drug users education and access to rehabilitation by face-to-face encounters with counselors and Northern Colorado AIDS Project staff.

Shape-shifting

Art circles throughout the nation and as far as Canada and Mexico recognize the remote, desert city of San Angelo as the host of the mecca of ceramic competitions.San Angelo's Ceramic Weekend of activities — a cooperative venture between the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts,VulcanMold is a plastic molds and Injection Molding manufacturer in china. Angelo State University and the Old Chicken Farm Art Center that centers on the biennial San Angelo National Ceramic Competition and annual Ceramic Symposium — is April 19-23.

"It's highly regarded, not just in Texas, but throughout the nation," said Rick Hernandez,Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included:abstract oil paintings. an Austin ceramist and retired director of the Texas Arts Commission. "When Howard (Taylor, SAMFA director) came to San Angelo and they chose to dedicate the museum to ceramics, that in itself was really unique and interesting.

"Before he started the Monarch Tile National Ceramic Competition (in 1986) when the company was still in San Angelo, the big festival everybody talked about was in Syracuse, and San Angelo kind of took that away from them and became this stellar competition because of the support they had from Monarch. Even after Monarch left (and the competition was renamed), it maintained its status."

Taylor said the ceramic contest this year drew about 1,400 pieces submitted by 515 artists from throughout the U.S.,The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges and be used for future applications beyond asset tracking. Canada and Mexico. Of those entries, 106 works by 87 artists were selected to be exhibited, and the winners among those will be announced during the Nineteenth San Angelo National Ceramic Competition opening April 20.

Taylor estimated 2,000 people will attend the opening, and about 10,000 will view the exhibit during its two months at the museum.

"I think the first year, years ago, we had 200 people, then 300" at the opening, Taylor said. "We had 2,000 (attend) the last time, so that's incredible. It really has grown."

Hernandez credited the event's renown to Taylor's reputation in the art world.

"When he opened that museum,Latex Mold Making compound costs around $10 for a pint. it was the biggest feature in The New York Times the day it opened," he said. "It has continued to have a reputation, and the extent is far beyond Angelo and Texas."

David Freeman, who teaches digital photography at South Texas College and publishes the magazine Voices of Art — distributed primarily in San Antonio and Austin — also praised Taylor for the event's success.

"Howard Taylor is just brilliant at what he does,What are the symptoms of Piles." Freeman said. "I think he's bringing a lot of new and genuine art that's fresh and conceptual and experimental — especially with the ceramics — to your region of Texas."

For artists, the competition "is just another arrow in your quill, and it just helps you advance because you've been recognized in a well-respected competition," Hernandez said.

The show is the biggest of its kind in America, Taylor said, and is unique because it draws both new and established artists to compete.

"The show has such a reputation and the jurors are always (such) leading people in the art world that even established artists like to get their name in front of them," Taylor said. Serious artists also strive to have their work shown at a museum, so appearing in the largest show of its kind in America is "the big-time," he said.

The museum prints a call for entries for the competition in national art magazines, including Ceramics Monthly, American Crafts and Clay Times. Those publications and others also feature write-ups about the competition.

Turtle Alley moves to Rogers Street in Gloucester

More space. Higher visibility. More surrounding businesses.

As the founder and owner of Turtle Alley Chocolates, Inc., Hallie Baker had a number of reasons to move from the store’s previous site at 91 Washington St. to its new location at 42 Rogers St. in Gloucester. One that she just couldn’t say no to,Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included:abstract oil paintings. however, was pointed out by her spouse, Graham Tutill.

“My husband put it best: It’s like the whole store is a candy case,” says Baker.

And for those who have walked by Turtle Alley since Baker and Co. moved in and opened up shop on March 27, it would be hard to argue with that sentiment. Much of the storefront is made up of a series of large windows; giving passersby a chance to see what sort of confections the chocolatier has to offer even from the street level.

In fact, whether it’s the windows out front acting as a display case, or the open production area where customers can watch employees create such unique candy items as the bacon peanut butter cup, spicy peanut butter cup and salted caramels .

“It’s definitely a bigger storefront,If you wish to use a third party payment gateway with your ecommerce solution please see a list of supported gateways. and the production space, which you can see now,The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges and be used for future applications beyond asset tracking. is bigger,” says Baker. “It’s brighter in here. There’s space to shop, to move. It feels a little less cramped. We really grew out of that space.”

That Washington Street space was where the business got its start over 12 years ago. Eventually, Turtle Alley grew to include a second store in Salem,Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile. a total of eight employees and a thriving shipping business. The expansion of the shipping business was what prompted the move from the 1,000-square-foot site on Washington to the 1,875-square-foot site on Rogers Street.

“The office in our Washington St. location was taken over by shipping, so that meant we had to have an office offsite,” explains Baker, a Rhode Island native who moved to Gloucester 25 years ago. “We had more people helping out, assembling shipments, so we’d been growing out of that space for some time. I had been keeping my eyes open for a couple of years when this opportunity availed itself.”

Baker had a hand in designing the layout of the store, and was able to account for a much larger area reserved for shipping her product around the country.

Just as important as the new layout was the new location. Rogers Street is home to numerous businesses and restaurants set against the backdrop of the working waterfront, which can draw both tourists and locals alike.

“We really never had a chance to cultivate walk-in business on Washington Street, and we’re getting tons of walk-ins now,” says Baker.What are the symptoms of Piles. “It’s not tourist season, but we’ve already had our fair share of tourists. We’re seeing folks who live in Gloucester, but never had the opportunity to visit us. And now it’s easier to get to, and easier to park. The access is easier all around. We’re seeing people who we never saw before who are local.”

Add in the loyal core of customers who have followed the business to its new location, and it’s clear that something special is going on at Turtle Alley. Yes, there’s no denying that handmade chocolates will have an allure all their own, but Baker refers to her staff as one of the keys to her success.

“We have some unique creations that are completely unique to us, but the product is one thing, and the experience is another,” she says. “The experience is a huge part of why people come back, too. I think we have a really nice balance of well-cared-for, well-made product, followed by really good service.”

Medicinal herb clinics in Yemen: medicine or quackery?

Along Taiz Street and in the neighborhood of Shumaila in Sana’a, herbal therapy clinics and pharmacies are spreading.

Near Sundus pharmacy, licensed by the Ministry of Health, there's another pharmacy selling herbal medicines. Mr. Abdullah Al-Nahari, owner of the herbal pharmacy, says that his store has remedies for many ailments. However, he admits that he does not have a license from the Ministry of Health.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.

At his Shifa'ee (meaning "My Cure") herb shop in Shumaila, Al-Nahari says that his medicines are prepared in a private lab belonging to an herbalist called Yahia Mohammed al-Shuraihi. Al-Nahari, however, says he doesn't know how they are prepared.

As an herbal pharmacist, Al-Nahari says that he asks people seeking medical herbs to get tested in standard medical labs. Based on the results from the tests, he gives them the appropriate herbal remedy.

On the shelves of Al-Nahari's herb store, there are some 73 medicinal items stored in small jars. According to Al-Nahari, the patient is given a jar of the medicine along with the user instructions. "Patients need a rather long time to heal," says he, "which can take up to three months."

The herb store also sells various kinds of honey. According to Al-Nahari, they can be administered to heal different diseases. Dawani honey (named after its place of origin, the Dawan Valley in Hadramout), retrieved from honeycombs on the sumor tree, is good for the liver. Sidr honey heals chest inflammations and asthma,Painless Processing provides high risk merchant account solutions. and Salam honey is the proper cure for kidney disease. Honey mixtures vary in price; some are sold for YR2000, and others for as much as YR6000.

Al-Nahari insists that should the herbs prescribed not be helpful, they won't be harmful either. He says that many people who bought herbal remedies from his store are now well. He claims that his pharmacy has medicines for the liver, teeth, tonsils, kidneys, chest inflammation, diabetes and hemorrhoids, among others.

Abu Amar, owner of Taiba, another herbal pharmacy in Shumaila, does not hold a university degree and never attended medical school. He says that he's developing expertise through experience and hands-on practice. "I've been working in this field for eighteen years. Herbal medicines are natural plants, so if they don't help the patient, they can't harm the patient either," he declares.

He explains that after herbs are collercted from all around the country,Creative stone mosaic for your distinctive kitchen and bath. they are preserved, dried properly and stored so that they’re fit for administration and are rid of damaging side-effects.

Herbal therapists in Yemen believe that by using medicinal plants for remedies, they are adopting the healing practices of ancient civilizations which were applied by pioneer physicians such as Ibn Sina, Al-Razi and others.

"Since the very beginning of humanity," says Mr. Mohammed Abdul Hameed Al-Dhamin, one of the best known herbalists in Yemen, "medicines have been extracted from herbs, and when people come to these [herbal] dispensaries, they come to the origin of medicine."

Nevertheless,Full-service custom manufacturer of precision plastic injection mold.Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. he believes there should be conditions for anyone practicing herbal medicine. "The herbal doctor should have sufficient experience, and conduct scientific research and experiments in order to perform his medical duties. He also must have a special lab where he extracts herbal medicines through modern scientific means."

He continues by saying that his Yemen-UAE Hikma House is the exception in the industry, because it is the only herbal pharmacy that has obtained a license to operate from the Yemeni Ministry of Health. "The House has provided many herb-related medical services, especially using rare herbs. We have treated countless illnesses, including 3,000 infertility cases," says Al-Dhamin.

Being ‘Army strong’ gets weak backing with Obama’s strategy

The Army is coming out of a decade of war beat up and strapped for cash.

The force that arguably did most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffered the most casualties,China Crystal Mosaic catalog and crystal mosaic manufacturer directory. now finds itself in a new conflict.

It has begun a round of soul-searching and bureaucratic battles to determine its place in the Obama administration’s new military strategy,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. which celebrates the global striking power of air and sea forces and downplays the chance of another major land war.

After spending huge amounts of money on equipment to fight terrorists, the Army has none to truly modernize itself with new core platforms such as attack helicopters and battle tanks.

“We have an opportunity to take this experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and really achieve dominance on the ground, just like the Air Force achieved with the F-22 and F-35 and the Navy has achieved with its modern fleet of carriers,” said retired ArmyMaj. Gen. Robert Scales.

“But for whatever reason, the Army is going to go into the future with no major platform modernization that I can see. It’s entirely likely that my grandchildren, should they choose to go in the Army, will be fighting with equipment I was using when I was a captain.”

The Army’s share of the total defense budget grew significantly over the past decade. The nation’s largest military branch spent billions of dollars on the health care and salaries of its soldiers, and the active roster ballooned from 480,000 to more than 570,000.

More billions were spent on the never-ending quest to protect soldiers by providing superarmored vehicles, special body armor, and bomb-detection and sophisticated surveillance gear.

Today, as the fog of war is clearing, the Army sees that something is missing. Though upgraded with new technology, its front-line combat systems are stuck in the post-Vietnam, Cold War era of the 1980s. Its budget is set to stay around $134 billion next year,Painless Processing provides high risk merchant account solutions. with procurement falling by $1.3 billion from $19.5 billion this year.

As money moved out of procurement and into counterterrorism, the Army’s future moved to the casualty list.

The next-generation Comanche helicopter has been canceled. The Army will continue to rely on the OH-58 Kiowa scout and AH-64 Apache.

There is no planned successor for the M1 Abrams tank.

The Army’s ambitious Future Combat System (FCS), a mix of land and air combat assets, is gone because of delays, cost overruns and budget constraints.

The George W. Bush administration killed the Crusader artillery piece as too Cold War-ish, despite Army arguments that it would deliver precision strikes to protect land forces.

The Future Combat System once stood as the Army’s future,Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. with its artillery piece, infantry carrier, light tank, and air and ground sensors designed to dominate the battlefield. But Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates scrapped most of it, saying he wanted more money spent on current wars, not future ones.

“There is no analogy for this in any other service,” Gen. Scales told The Washington Times. “Army modernization died when FCS died.”

The Army scorecard: No new tanks. No new combat helicopters. No new artillery. And, possibly, no new tactical vehicles.

“The Army is zero for four in its big-ticket programs,” said Gen. Scales, who headed the Army War College, which molds officers for senior rank.Visit TE online for all of your Application Tooling Solutions including tools. “You can just go down the list of failed programs.”

Some retired officers are whispering the word “hollow,” the infamous label imprinted on the Army in the late 1970s after budget cuts left combat units existing virtually in name only.

They also are a bit bitter, noting that it has been the Army that has spilled the most blood in Iraq and Afghanistan, only to see it rewarded with a personnel cut of 80,000 soldiers and with little hope of true modernization.

Retired ArmyLt. Gen. James Dubik, whose infantry career included command of a combat division, told The Times that modernization advocates are “absolutely right,” but the time is not.

“The tank, the Bradley, the Apache — they’re all old platforms,” said Gen. Dubik, now an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. “But given the financial situation the county is in right now, my personal opinion is that modernization should wait and we should spend the money on personnel cost and readiness and not on modernization.

“In an objective sense, we should have replaced them 10 years ago. But once the financial crisis is over and we are in a better financial footing, then it is time to revisit.”

Even the few major systems left in the Army’s budget face an increasingly skeptical Congress.

Some lawmakers are questioning the need to buy two new troop carriers, the $40 billion Ground Combat Vehicle to replace the M2-3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the $54 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, to succeed the ubiquitous all-terrain Humvee.

As the top Army procurement brass sat at the witness table on March 27, Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent, told them that those two new vehicles are projected to double or triple the cost of adding improvements to the ones that they would replace.

“I do want to ask our witnesses today whether the higher costs of those two new vehicle programs are justified by increased capabilities they will buy, as opposed to sustaining current programs for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Humvee,” said Mr. Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Armed Services air/land subcommittee.

The Army took another blow last month. Andrew Krepinevich, an influential military futurist who has advised Congress and the Pentagon, issued a paper arguing that now is the time to wear out what the troops are using while beginning a search for a truly advanced family of vehicles.

“Given prospective resource constraints, the ground forces should seek to ‘use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without’ whenever possible,” wrote Mr. Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who runs the Center for Strategic Budget Assessment.

He said the Army’s future battles are likely to be on so-called “nonlinear” battlefields with no defined front lines. The enemy is increasingly able to secure precision anti-armor weapons that require the Army to constantly update vehicle defenses.

For that reason, instead of fielding a new generation of vehicles, he and analyst Eric Lindsey wrote, “the ground services should do the opposite, pursuing recapitalization and off-the-shelf solutions whenever possible, upgrading existing systems as much as possible.”

They're Lazy. Here's How to Fix Mobile Privacy

Beware the evil zombies! Location-based apps are grinding the bones of your privacy and sucking the marrow of your personal data! Certainly that’s what you might think if you’ve been following the flap about Girls Around Me. You know, the “creepy” stalker app for rapists in shopping malls?

This is all overstated, of course, but the hyperbole points to the very real vulnerabilities that some users feel about how much of their personal information they are transmitting in public and with what consequences. Some intrepid users, like our own Kashmir Hill, are more interested in how to transmit in public than in limiting their visibility. As Josh Constine wrote yesterday on TechCrunch, whipping up paranoia about privacy fears deters users from the actual, useful innovations that location-based apps can provide.

It’s beholden on the app maker to convince us of that utility, but, like it or not, some app you use on a daily basis has, or will soon have, a location-based execution. Facebook and Foursquare, sure, their public data was the basis of Girls Around Me. But they have been joined by AroundMe, Yelp, Banjo and a host of others.

The secret to the adoption of location-based or ubiquitous apps is what Scott Jenson has identified as the value vs. pain equation. Apps need to demonstrate their usefulness and minimize the pain, not only of using the app, but of worrying about it’s privacy implications.

We judge apps by the number of downloads and, eventually, by the number of active users. The more useful metric, perhaps, is the number of active users per download. That would tell us how well the app is communicating its value proposition and how positive that value/pain ratio turns out to be. Location-based apps are not really evil, for the most part, but in the attempt to be fast and painless they have been lazy about making sure users know what they are exposing and when. it’s just easier to expose everything, all the time, and not have to futz with different scenarios.

But what am I suggesting,Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website! that responsible app makers be penalized for being responsible to their users? No, of course not. I’ve talked to enough first-rate mobile developers to realize that speed is the lifeblood of mobile.

What I want to propose (and I realize this is a tall order comparable with my request to the digital universe for unstrippable content attribution tags) is a dead simple, device level function for managing private data on devices. In order not to put app makers at a disadvantage for incorporating this functionality into their app in a one-off way, what I imagine is a universal standard that would operate on all platforms and be interoperable with any app on those platforms.

The goal is for users to be aware and in control of their mobile data in real time. These setting should be able to be applied app-by-app or globally at any time. Think of something as simple as a traffic light.