French Military oversees Power-sharing Deal

After deploying several hundred troops to the Central African Republic late last month, the French government has overseen the signing of a peace agreement between President Fran?ois Bozizé and leaders of the rebel militias that had threatened to overrun the capital, Bangui.

As well as agreeing not to nominate for another term as president after 2016, Bozizé has sacked his government and appointed rebel-nominated Nicolas Tiangaye as prime minister. Tiangaye will soon establish a so-called national unity government ahead of fresh legislative elections next year.

The political realignment underway is being driven by the French government, which aims to reassert control over its former resource-rich colony and counter China’s growing economic and diplomatic influence. The operation in the Central African Republic forms part of a wider drive by US and French imperialism to bolster their strategic domination over Africa through direct military interventions. The latest involves a French-led ground offensive in northern Mali and the stationing of US drones and French troops in neighbouring Niger.

Bozizé, a former army general, appointed himself president in 2003 after leading a coup that was backed by the French government. He subsequently depended on French support to maintain power in the impoverished and chronically unstable country. In 2006 and 2007, French military forces stationed in the country launched air strikes and ground attacks on rebel militias, halting their threatened takeover of the capital and overthrow of the government. Last December, the loose coalition of anti-government militias known as Seleka (“alliance” in the Sango national language) launched a renewed offensive, capturing swathes of territory in the country’s north and east.

The French government responded by more than doubling its existing 250-troop deployment in the Central African Republic to nearly 600. But unlike in 2006 and 2007, Paris refused to back Bozizé against the rebels. French troops—together with those in the Central African Multi-National Force that was formed between several neighbouring states—instead secured the capital from a further rebel advance while the French government demanded peace negotiations.Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet.

The French government is developing new political mechanisms in the Central African Republic (CAR). US diplomatic cables, published by WikiLeaks, detailed the breach in relations between Paris and the Bozizé regime. Several cables in 2009 revealed French hostility toward various obstacles that were placed before French corporation Areva as it attempted to secure the rights to mine uranium at a site in the country’s south. On June 17, 2009,We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production. US ambassador Frederick Cook dispatched a cable,Which Air purifier is right for you? “French-CAR relations seriously strained,” that concluded: “Bozizé may believe that he has successfully rendered himself the least of the evils in the CAR political landscape. He thus appears to imagine himself indispensable to his neighbours and the French,Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lamp to communities that don't have access to electricity. an assumption that AmEmbassy Bangui believes may be badly mistaken.”

Another cable sent five months later was headed “Growing Chinese influence in the CAR evident.” It detailed the extent to which both American and French interests were losing ground to Beijing, which was “ramping up its military cooperation, public diplomacy and development efforts.” The cable noted that whereas there were only four resident diplomatic agents in the American embassy in Bangui, the Chinese embassy had about 40 employees. It added that approximately 40 CAR military officers were being trained in China every year, compared to the two or three officers who went to the US and 10-15 to France.

Making clear the predatory calculations behind the US and French presence in the Central African Republic, the cable referred to the country’s “rich untapped natural resources” and warned: “With French investments moribund and French influence in general decline, the Chinese are likely positioning themselves as the CAR’s primary benefactor in exchange for access to the CAR’s ample deposits of uranium, gold, iron, diamonds, and possibly oil.”

The US ambassador also cautioned that Bozizé “is welcoming this relationship as an alternative to more restrictive relations with the French and the West” and would likely “increasingly embrace the Chinese as an alternative to the French and other Western benefactors.”

On December 27, Bozizé gave a speech in which he hinted that French opposition to the earlier issuing of oil exploration contracts to Chinese corporations was behind the crisis. “Before giving oil to the Chinese I met with [oil company] Total in Paris and told them to take the oil,” he declared. “Nothing happened.How cheaply can I build a solar power systems? I gave oil to the Chinese and it became a problem.”

According to Voice of America, at the same time that Bozizé signed the power-sharing agreement on January 11, he declared that he would “work to strengthen ties with China, and to promote oil exploration and development.”

Bozizé likely remains in power only due to the absence of any viable alternative for the imperialist powers. The Seleka rebels are a fractious coalition, comprising various militias with different agendas. Some of the militias were formed by supporters of former President Ange-Félix Patassé, some purport to represent the country’s Muslim minority, while others were organised by different tribal communities, defending themselves against Bozizé’s brutal security forces. It is unclear whether all the militias will accept the terms of the January 11 deal, which involves the rebels relinquishing control of the towns they captured to government forces.

Vija Celmins painting not shown for 50 years

An early still life by Vija Celmins that has been hanging in its owners' kitchen for almost 50 years will go up for auction in May at Los Angeles Modern Auctions.

Celmins once described this body of work to painter Chuck Close as a break with the emotional maelstrom of Abstract Expressionism that influenced her early on: “I decided to go back to looking at something outside of myself. I was going back to what I thought was this basic, stupid painting…. I don’t embellish anymore, I don’t compose, and I don’t jazz up the color.”

The couple who own the knife-and-dish image, who decline to be identified, say they bought the painting in 1964 for less than $100 from the artist. The auction house, which is increasingly known for contemporary art offerings as well as design and furniture, will offer the work in May with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.

Los Angeles Modern Auctions founder Peter Loughrey said another dealer tipped him off to the Celmins one day in early January. He made an appointment to see the owners the same day. “I had the painting in my hand with a signed [consignment] agreement an hour and a half later,” he said.

And yes,You must not use the laser cutter without being trained. the painting shows a bit of its domestic history: Loughrey said it is now being cleaned to eliminate “some particulates and grease” on its surface, though he described the overall condition as "excellent."

Did you just hear a giant sigh of relief? It came from General Electric after the White House announced the end of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

Two years ago, GE chief Jeff Immelt agreed to the lead the council after being asked by the president. It wasn’t long before the Tea Party was regularly blasting the CEO and painting GE as the poster child for perceived coziness between big business and big government. The decision also produced some grumbling among GE’s ranks, as some executives groused privately about the political fallout.

Today, Mr. Immelt sent a note to all the members of the council thanking them for their work. “After two years of work, I think we have helped build a broader understanding of what is needed to strengthen our economy,” Mr. Immelt wrote according to a copy of the email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “We leave behind a strong record of action and accomplishment.’

He noted that 90% of the council’s recommendations including fast-tracking key infrastructure projects and selling more leases for both oil and gas production were implemented. GE doubled the number of engineering interns it hires to 3,600 as part of its work on the Jobs Council, a spokesman said.

Well, it’s a start. Just for the record,Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. the unemployment rate since the council was formed has come down from over 9% to under 8%, but that’s still considered to be high.

Mr. Immelt always defended his move as a call to duty. At GE’s 2011 annual shareholder meeting, Mr. Immelt said only 4% of the company’s revenue came from U.S. government contracts.

But his time on the council may have tired the 56-year-old CEO of Washington’s political paralysis. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose on PBS News, Mr. Immelt noted that President Obama enacted 54 of the 60 recommendations made by the Jobs Council that could be implemented with an executive order. But of the 30 recommendations that needed legislation, only four got done.

Asked whether he would answer a call from the president in his second term,A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon. Mr. Immelt said: “I’d say I’ve had the honor of serving you already, Mr. President.Which Air purifier is right for you?” Adding, “At the end of the day what you really want me doing is selling jet engines.”

"In our district, I feel like most of the art teachers are artists themselves. ... That doesn't always happen in a school district," says Garfinkel, who taught art in another county before coming to Lancaster.

"It's neat that the kids in the city are being taught by people who can really make art," Garfinkel says. "That's what I wanted to come across in the show."

Each of the 10 teachers is exhibiting between one and three pieces, ranging from paintings to sculpture and glassware to photography.

Garfinkel is showing his "Silo City," a mixed-media work in pastel colors that juxtaposes elements of urban and rural architecture.

"It's pretty much my take on Lancaster County, and since I teach in the city, it's the art of the city mixed with silos in the background," Garfinkel says.

"I love my students, and their energy is catching, and I love seeing what they create. They inspire me every day," he adds.

The exhibit represents the first non-school show for recent Messiah College graduate Diane Nicole Carroll, a new art teacher at Edward Hand Middle School.

Carroll, who works in wood and steel,Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lamp to communities that don't have access to electricity. is exhibiting "Answered Prayers," a steel base that holds a black-walnut bowl filled with wooden cubes.

"Art of the State" at The Arvada Center galleries presents

The Arvada Center galleries, mighty in size at 10,000 square feet and aggressive in programming, has established itself as the premier showcase for contemporary art in Colorado over the past few years, stealing that mantle from the less-focused exhibition spaces in the big city next door.

Its weapon: an inclusiveness that stretches across Colorado's 64 counties and ignores the established hierarchy of who gets to show their work in this state. Arvada lets everybody in, newcomers, veterans and the overlooked. Last year's "Women of Influence," for example, featured all three.

Those years of prep work positioned the gallery well for "Art of the State," which takes the idea about as far as it can go. Arvada issued an open call for artists to submit work — anybody, any medium — and the response was overwhelming. More than 1,600 images poured in from 588 artists.

Arvada's Collin Parson, along with guest curator Dean Sobel from the Clyfford Still Museum, pored over, wrestled with and reduced the offerings to 191 works, on display in all three of the center's galleries through March 31.

"Art of the State" is a massive, rambling show, and it comes together nicely. The exhibit is a challenge to take in, 10 times the size of many shows. But it does capture the nature of work in Colorado these days, which is to say much of it is good and some of it is great.

There's a terrific diversity in the rooms, stretching from a recent piece by 80-something Bernice Strawn to up-and-comers like Zach Reini, who graduated from the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design just last year.Where you can create a custom lanyard from our wide selection of styles and materials.

Both have a point of view. Strawn has put together a large, flat construction made primarily from aged, salvaged wood. Impressive beyond the fact that it had to be a physically demanding piece to make, it wears its oldness proudly.

Reini comes at things from a trendier place. For "Robin Hood,Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet." he brought his bow to the gallery and shot three arrows into a frame; wherever they landed,Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lamp to communities that don't have access to electricity. that was the piece. It's fresh and fun and just the sort of expression that has become the norm for younger artists in this conceptual age.

Variety keeps this exhibit going. Jewelry, prints, textiles, big, bronze sculptures, they're all here. There are lovely, little watercolors and serious moments of abstraction. One of those moments, Andrew Roberts-Gray's "Abstraction #40," a striking landscape cut across and up with an abrupt swath of red, is one of the show's best works.

"Art of the State" has worthy examples from a few local legends. Phil Bender and Tony Ortega have pieces. So do frequent showers Theresa Anderson, Margaret Kasahara, Mai Wyn Schantz and Lauri Lynnxe Murphy. These artists do much to give the show credibility.

But the exhibit also gives space to lesser-known names, some you've never heard of, others whose work you see around town but who rarely get the attention they deserve. Among the pleasant surprises to check out: Joseph Coniff's oddly tall "School Chair"; Emil Brady's "Expulsion" mobile; Kevin Kissell's animation-inspired needlepoints; Chris DeKnikker's lumpy, lumber painting "Rounding Corners."

If this sounds like a lot of art, it is — probably too much. Its clear sentimentality is at work in some of the choices. It must be hard to reject veterans from an array like this, too tempting to want to represent all genres and far-flung regions. A viewer might wish it was smaller by a third, though part of the charm here is a prevailing democratic aura. It's a tough call.

And in a sense, it could use a little more. For a Colorado show, "Art of the State" lacks the regional feel you might expect from a mountain state. There's not so much that updates Western art for the current age. There are red rocks and natural vistas in the mix,You must not use the laser cutter without being trained. but a disappointing lack of geographic specificity. Walter Barton's whimsical "Ursa Arctos," a folk-art bear made from wood and bark, is one of the exceptions that stand out.

What it does offer is a touching, insider quality that is both comfortable and revealing for viewers from Colorado. Kendrick Howard photographs the "16th Street Mall," but from an alley. His black-and-white shot of bricks and fire escapes reminds us of the Denver we know but tourists don't see. There's a similar urban intimacy in Robert Gratiot's realistic painting of the revolving doors at the skyscraper known as "1999 Broadway.A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon." He brings warmth and familiarity to the building's dominant glass and steel.

Little moments like that make "Art of the State" an important effort. The curators deserve a hand for taking it on, and so does the Arvada Center for making a statement about who it is and who we are here. The idea of regionalism is important in a world where every city is starting to look the same. We've got to consider it, honor it, and this show does.

“It has been a particularly challenging two years for these artists, with the loss of studio space and limited opportunities and venues for them to exhibit. So the Gallery is pleased to offer this chance for Christchurch gallery-goers to see new work by three artists with strong ties to Canterbury, where they have all trained and worked for many years.”

The new works exhibited in De Hammond include a selection of De Lautour’s recent geometric abstract paintings, Greig’s exquisitely executed dreamscape monoprints and photo-relief montages and a stunning new painting by Hammond, featuring his iconic morphed birds inhabiting a primeval, subterranean landscape.

Ambassador Ries Speaks at the Atlantic Club Event

Thank you Solomon for that warm welcome. The Atlantic Club is a longtime and valuable partner of the U.S. Embassy here in Bulgaria and I am pleased to join the distinguished list of Ambassadors who have spoken to your audiences.

As many of you know,Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. I arrived in Bulgaria at the end of September. I have spent the past four months meeting with Bulgaria's leaders and with representatives of the opposition, with journalists, with artists, with students, and with representatives of civil society. In short, trying to get a sense of what Bulgarians think is important and especially how you would like to see the relationship with the United States develop.

The United States and Bulgaria already enjoy a productive partnership that encompasses many fields. We work together on security and science, on energy and education, on the arts and archaeology to name a few. In September of this year we will celebrate 110 years of bilateral diplomatic relations. That is over a century of U.S.-Bulgarian friendship.

Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca said that one of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. That expresses very well an important goal of partnership and of diplomacy in general. We strive to understand and to be understood.

But it is also true that for countries to collaborate they must have mutual interests, and for that collaboration to be sustained, they must have shared values. For the U.S. and Bulgaria these include a commitment to democracy, to a free market economy, and to equal rights for our citizens.

We share a desire for our children to have more than their parents. We value education. We embrace modernity. We have a pride in our countries' national endowments - in the case of Bulgaria the mountains, the seaside, a history as long as that of civilization. Americans are proud of our national endowments as well and,Where you can create a custom lanyard from our wide selection of styles and materials. like Bulgarians, are concerned to protect them.

I am one of those who continues to believe that Europe is the United States' most important partner. It is with Europe that we have our largest volume of trade, with which we are partnered in the world's most important military alliance, and with whom we have a shared global perspective.

I hardly need to remind this audience of the value of the transatlantic partnership since the Atlantic Club played such an important role from the beginning.

Together, we are committed to keeping our Alliance strong, to protecting Western Democracies and to securing prosperity for future generations.

It is these common values and common commitments that underpin the relationship between our two countries.Since arriving in Bulgaria, I have been listening to what the people of Bulgaria want from our bilateral relationship in order to make our joint work responsive to our shared needs. As I have met Bulgarian citizens in Sofia and outside the capital, they have shared with me the things they are proud of about Bulgaria, and in moments of candor, the things they want to change, so that their children and grandchildren can inherit a more prosperous, more secure Bulgaria with strong democratic institutions.You must not use the laser cutter without being trained. One of the messages that I hear repeatedly is that they would like more U.S. business cooperation and more collaboration. We, too, would like to make that happen.

Bulgaria is six years into European Union membership, has been a member of the NATO alliance for nine years, and is on the path towards evolution into a mature European democracy. We envisage the role of the United States to be one of a supportive partner enabling Bulgarians to achieve your own aspirations.


Coping with the challenge posed by international terrorism is another shared commitment.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. Recent events in Algeria, which involved hostages from eight different countries taken by militants of at least four different nationalities claiming to protest events in a neighboring African country, demonstrate the global nature of the threat and the need for collaboration amongst like-minded states, like ourselves, in countering it. The bombing in Burgas was another crime in which innocent people from another country were attacked here in Bulgaria. We are impressed by the professionalism and determination with which Bulgarian security experts have approached the investigation and we await the results.

Beyond the pure economic impact of American investment in Bulgaria is the social impact. American companies have a strong culture of corporate social responsibility. American companies bring this corporate value with them when they go abroad and create lasting and meaningful change in communities they support. Here in Bulgaria, American companies have banded together to create programs such as the American Chamber of Commerce Volunteer Days, when employees go out and work on projects around the country organized by the Bulgarian Charities Aid Foundation.

Going forward, I hope to see many more American companies attracted to Bulgaria by its highly skilled workforce and beneficial tax conditions. For companies to come here and thrive though, we all need to work together to promote an atmosphere of openness, predictability and partnership in which business truly has a voice in the country's economic vision. There are ample opportunities for U.S. investors and exporters to expand in Bulgaria. Part of growing foreign investment will be taking steps to ensure that Bulgaria continues to be seen as an attractive location, where rules are consistent and consistently enforced.We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made.

Trade between our two countries amounted to 643.3 million dollars in 2011 and could expand even more with the introduction of better intellectual property rights protection, including of copyrights. Now, I know that my saying this will not be popular with some, but it is just a fact of economic life. One last point on economic cooperation and that is the current discussion of a U.S.-European Free Trade Agreement. As the U.S. Special Trade Representative said this week, President Obama is committed to reaching an agreement to smooth trade with the European Union. Though, all acknowledge that there will be tough hurdles to overcome.

I would like to speak now about perhaps the most challenging and sensitive part of our relationship - our work together to combat organized crime and strengthen the rule of law in Bulgaria. In recent years, we have identified drug trafficking, cybercrime, ATM skimming, and other economic crimes as priority areas for law enforcement cooperation. Collaboration between our respective law enforcement services is excellent in these areas and is producing concrete results. This, in turn, has persuaded the U.S. Government to significantly increase our resources for joint law enforcement activities here in Bulgaria.

Fighting crime is a lot more than just policing. It requires an able and efficientprosecution service as well as a determined and impartial judiciary. Recent events have demonstrated that there is considerable interest in Bulgaria in having a prosecution service and a national judiciary that can truly uphold the rule of law. And there has been progress in that regard. The selection of the Supreme Judicial Council as well as the Prosecutor General involved a serious examination of the credentials of the candidates and were conducted in a more transparent manner than before, though there is still room for improvement. Most important will be whether those selected will institute needed reforms. There is a lot of work to be done. The U.S. is committed to assisting Bulgarian efforts to reform the legal system so that the process of administering justice can be efficient and effective, but ours is a supporting role - the impetus and energy has to come from Bulgarians.

Council wants action on Village Entrance

The City Council spent about half of its annual retreat talking about the Village Entrance project.

A top council priority in 2012, the project was the major topic of discussion again this year at the retreat, held Saturday at the South County Water District offices on West Street.Other companies want a piece of that iPhone headset action

"Over 18 years ago, a Village Entrance task force of community members, including representatives from our Planning Commission, Arts Commission, arts and business groups — as well as Village Laguna — created a concept for the Village Entrance," said Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Pearson.

The concept included rehabbing the historical digester building and putting it to use, creating a meandering pedestrian park, and constructing a parking garage that isn't a visual blight while adding parking spaces.

Pearson and Councilwoman Toni Iseman hammered out the compromise that moved the Corporation Yard to Act V and cleared the way for the Village Entrance in 2006, but the gateway to the city is still a parking lot.

"We need to follow through … and create a beautiful entryway into our city that includes additional parking," Pearson said.

Pearson and Iseman have been conferring this past year on how to get the concept off the drawing board.

"The Village Entrance is more than a park and a parking structure," Iseman said Tuesday. "We have to integrate the information from all the studies and reports to do things right.

"Parking, the Downtown Specific Plan, the Art District, shuttles and the transit system all have to be considered."

The project won't be cheap, but it is doable, provided the council reverts to using the city's parking fund for what it was intended — the creation of parking spaces, such as the Glenneyre Street Parking structure, according to Pearson.

Pearson has long been critical of the practice of transferring parking funds to the general fund to balance the city's budget, about $7 million in 10 years.

She said untapped parking revenue would support a revenue bond to help pay for the Village Entrance and some funding for the park,Laser engraving and laser laser cutting machine for materials like metal, garage and the digester might be available through grants.

Inside it’s a different story because the BMW is our clear favourite when it comes to interior quality and space. There is much more room available in the cabin of the 3 Series and trim quality is higher, too. The initially daunting but ultimately faster and more intuitive iDrive control system also shows the Mercedes COMAND set-up how it should be done. Its rotary controller and menu system has evolved into an impressive and powerful way of navigating your way around the car’s various functions. Climb into the Mercedes after a spell in the BMW and the interior feels cramped and dated in comparison.

Picking the right trim and engine combination isn’t easy with so many choices on offer,Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business. but the 320d SE is the BMW 3 Series to go for. Its diesel engine marries 181bhp performance to fuel economy of 62.8mpg and tax efficient CO2 emissions of 120g/km. Company car drivers should give the ED model a closer look as its extra fuel-saving features barely compromise the driving experience and cut emissions to 109g/km.

That puts the 3 Series on a par with the Mercedes C-Class as the C220 CDI produces CO2 emissions of 109g/km when fitted with its standard 16-inch alloy wheels. With such cost effective output and a higher standard kit count in SE executive spec, the C-Class is the car your accountant would tell you to buy. In SE trim the BMW comes with alloys, Bluetooth connectivity, cruise and climate control, rear parking sensors and a large colour central display. But the Mercedes SE Executive includes all of this kit, plus LED daytime running lights and artico artificial leather upholstery.Application can be conducted with the local designated IC card producers.

If you’re worried that buying a saloon limits practicality, split-folding rear seats are optional extras on both models, so bear this in mind when you’re pricing up your next company car. Only five litres separates them when it comes to luggage space, but if you need to carry passengers in the back, the BMW is the one to go for as it promises more comfort for rear passengers. Both models represent safe and reliable options and,We've got a plastic card to suit you. while the newer BMW scored more highly in its Euro NCAP test, the C-Class matches the 3 Series in the Safety Assist category thanks to a raft of active safety features.

The BMW also leads the way for driver appeal, with more precise steering combined with a more alert and talented chassis. The Mercedes isn’t as nimble or fast, and its engine isn’t as refined as the BMW’s on the move, but its adaptive dampers do ensure a comfortable ride. Its big weakness is a slack manual gearshift and numb clutch pedal, which makes the more costly automatic model a better bet.

Protesters break into gov't building in Athens

Protesters forced their way into a government building in Greece's latest anti-austerity protests Wednesday, reaching just outside a minister's office before being expelled and clashing with riot police outside.

Police detained more than 30 protesters, most union heads, sparking clashes with about 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Labor Ministry in central Athens. Police used pepper spray, batons and tear gas to repel them.

The government said the demonstrators caused damage inside the building and threatened the minister— an accusation the protesters adamantly denied.

Greece has been gripped by a severe financial crisis since late 2009 and is being kept afloat by billions of euros in rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund. In return, the government has imposed waves of spending cuts and tax hikes,Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. leading to severe salary and pension cuts and leaving unemployment spiraling to above 26 percent.

Union members were protesting planned reforms to the pension and income contribution system — part of the latest spending cuts in the bailout program.

Other measures that took effect this year include a new 25 percent cut to the incomes of most public servants, leading to a string of new strikes and protests.

At least one protestor in Wednesday's demonstration was taken to hospital in an ambulance, while at least another two were treated by fellow protesters on the spot after collapsing, apparently from the effects of pepper spray.

A ministry official said about 30 protesters made it into the Labor Ministry, breaking doors, overturning chairs and knocking files off tables. They reached the waiting room outside the minister's office, where the minister, Yiannis Vroutsis, was present but unaffected.

"Violence in all its forms must be condemned, not only in words but also by actions," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said. "The raid on the office of the labour minister, the material destruction and the threats against Yiannis Vroutsis are practices which aim to dynamite the political climate at a very critical time for the country."

Dimos Koumbouris,We've got a plastic card to suit you. head of a pensioners' union who was among those who entered the ministry, said union representatives had gone into the building seeking a meeting with Vroutsis.

Reached by telephone while still at police headquarters, where he said a total of 35 union heads and representatives were waiting to be charged, he said it was police who damaged the doors in their attempt to arrest the unionists.

"There was no damage. ...Laser engraving and laser laser cutting machine for materials like metal, why would we do any damage?" he told the AP, adding that they had wanted to meet the minister over social security reforms.

The minister himself issued a statement saying the demonstrators had tried to occupy the ministry, a common form of protest in Greece.

"The organized raid and attempt to occupy the Labor Ministry by force does not solve workers' problems," Vroutsis said. "Scuffles and the destruction of public property only cause sadness. I am sorry, because some people aiming to create impressions are setting up a scene of tension and violence."

Strikes are to intensify in coming days, with public transport workers and hospital doctors to hold a 24-hour strike in the capital on Thursday. Port workers start a 48-hour strike the same day, leaving islands without ferry services. Other state-run services are also to be disrupted by work stoppages lasting several hours.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet?

Last week, the government used emergency powers to force Athens subway workers to end rolling strikes that lasted eight days.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks!

The Brussels-based European Trade Union Confederation strongly condemned the action taken by the conservative-led coalition government, noting that workers who defy civil mobilization orders face prison sentences of up to five years.

"The wheeling out of emergency powers to enforce austerity policies is unacceptable," ETUC general secretary Bernadette Segol said in a statement.

Farmers in central Greece angry at higher taxes and other austerity measures have been parking their tractors by central highways as their unions decide whether they will set up roadblocks. Similar protests in the past have completely blocked the highways, essentially cutting the country in two.

RIT takes steps to contain costs

Rochester Institute of Technology President Bill Destler announced Tuesday cost-savings and revenue-generating measures projected to amount to about $3 million.

Such steps, said Destler, should keep the annual tuition increase at 3.5 percent or less.

Destler said that he was taking these measures, effective July 1, at a time when RIT’s “fiscal health is quite strong.” Applications for admissions are continuing to rise and the student population is growing while RIT is being more selective in the students accepted.

But Destler noted that there is also a limit — increasingly a matter of public concern — on how much families can afford to pay for a college education.

“I think the handwriting is on the wall,” Destler said. “We’ve got to get some control over expenditures — or else we might have to do it in a crisis situation.”

The proposals adopted would put a limit at 145 credits for no tuition or greatly reduced tuition for the children and spouses of RIT employees in undergraduate programs. That means that they could get those benefits for almost five years of schooling. The changes won’t apply to students already enrolled at RIT.

Another proposal adopted by Destler would impose fees for parking on campus. A student permit would be $100 per year. Employees earning less than $38,000 per year can still park for free, with a graduated fee system kicking in for those who make more that has a maximum fee of $150 per year.

Almost $1 million in annual fees are expected to be generated by the parking fee changes. Presently, students, faculty and staff can park for free, although there are fees for those wanting reserved spaces near classrooms.Laser engraving and laser laser cutting machine for materials like metal,

The proposals grew out of recommendations made over the past year by committees consisting of more than 100 RIT faculty and staff. Destler selected areas that he wanted to address and in November floated proposals for comment.

RIT student Alicia Matherson, 20,Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. of Brooklyn welcomed the cost-containment measures. “The economy is not getting that much better. It’s hard to pay tuition as it is,” she said.

But Samuel Kennedy, 22, of Bristol, Conn., said that the annual tuition increase needs to be brought down more. “I don’t think I should be impressed by the 3.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet?5 percent. It’s a start but not exactly great news,” he said.

Destler said that about two-thirds of the $3 million would be used for reducing tuition increases, with the rest going for existing programs and new initiatives, including salary enhancements for faculty and staff where RIT is not competitive with other colleges.

RIT, which has an annual operating budget of $666.1 million, is taking these steps at a time that the cost of college is increasingly a factor for most families. President Barack Obama has also put colleges on notice that “if you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks!”

Moody’s Investors Service recently released its annual tuition survey and found that a third of universities expect net tuition revenue either to decline or grow at a rate below inflation. A Moody’s analyst, in a statement announcing the survey results, said that the “cumulative effects of years of depressed family income and net worth, as well as uncertain job prospects for many recent graduates, are combining to soften student market demand at current tuition prices.”

Destler wants to reduce tuition increases close to the U.S. inflation rate, which is growing at 1.7 percent a year, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Over the past three decades, college tuition and fees have increased more than four times the rate of inflation.We've got a plastic card to suit you.

Destler also adopted changes in purchasing policies such as requiring RIT to compete when outside vendors are being considered for catering pizza and subs on orders exceeding $400.

Council blacklists barber for warning people

A HAIRDRESSER has had a close shave with authorities after trying to warn illegally parked motorists of approaching traffic wardens.

Andy Blackwell uses his loud-hailer and a wailing siren sound to warn people when a traffic warden is going to give them a ticket outside his shop.

"When I told them what had gone on they gave me plenty of advice and said be careful because the council take a dim view of this."

Three days later Mr Blackwell said he received a letter from Cornwall Council saying he had been placed on the council cautionary contacts list and his name would be passed to other agencies as well.

Mr Blackwell , who runs Blackie's in Liskeard, added: "I thought it was extreme especially the first part saying I'd verbally abused causing extreme distress to some of their employees."

Cornwall County Council said the cautionary contacts list was an internal system designed to protect council staff from potentially harmful situations including physical assault and verbal abuse.

They added many local authorities have similar schemes and the information is only used within the council and is only available to employees who may be exposed to such risks.

Mr Blackwell has now hung up his megaphone and has started a petition for free parking in the town.

Cornwall Council said in a statement: "The cautionary contacts list is an internal system which aims to protect council staff from potentially harmful situations, including physical assault and verbal abuse.

Mexico City has long had a dark cloud hovering over it – both literally and figuratively – when it comes to traffic woes and vehicle emissions. As recently as 2011, residents of Mexico’s vibrant capital city reported “enduring the most painful commute,” according to a report in National Geographic. “Based on factors such as roadway traffic, stress levels, and commute times, the city scored worse than 19 cities, including Beijing, China, and Nairobi, Kenya.”

So it might come as a surprise that this megacity, home to 20 million people and more than 4 million vehicles, was recently selected to receive the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s Sustainable Transport Award.

National Geographic describes Mexico City’s progress, noting that over the past two years the city has taken great strides to become more pedestrian-friendly with car-free walkways and plazas, new bus lines, a bike-sharing program, and a system of parking meters.

Sure, traffic still exists and air quality isn’t perfect, but anyone who has been to the bustling metropolis knows the hurdles the city has had to confront and what great progress must have been made to entitle it to an award of this sort.

“In the three or four decades after 1490, the human experience on planet Earth arguably changed more than it had since the Year One,We've got a plastic card to suit you.” writes Todd S. Purdum in Vanity Fair. And the life-altering changes that took place – from international exploration connecting the Eastern and Western Hemispheres for the first time to the creation of movable type – may have been the most revolutionary years civilization has seen. Until now.

“[W]e know almost everything” today, Mr.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. Purdum notes.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? That’s thanks in part to a second round of radical change that started a few short decades ago and continues in full force. Changes such as the “ricochets” of money and people around the world, and the simplification of information sharing via the Internet. But our newfound knowledge and interconnectivity doesn’t necessarily mean we understand our environment or “The Truths” that confront us.

Unlike our forefathers – who may not have had enough information to understand that the “sweating sickness” (malaria) that suddenly plagued coastal England was linked to the slave trade, or who couldn’t foresee that the printing press might also launch freethinking and religious wars – we aren’t in the dark. We have overwhelming amounts of information that wash over us daily that we can’t seem to process.

Have you ever dreamed of coming home from work and having that pile of dirty laundry miraculously washed and folded? Or of having that book that’s been taunting you from your bedside table read in time for your next book club meeting? You, dear reader,Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! are not alone.

“Oh, to be rich and powerful,” Patricia Marx writes in the opening of her New Yorker article “Outsource yourself: The online way to delegate your chores.” Ms. Marx takes her readers through a humorous journey of “test driving” the world of online services. There,Laser engraving and laser laser cutting machine for materials like metal, “Task Rabbits” (errand runners) and “virtual personal assistants” can be hired to do everything from writing a brief history of outsourcing in the US for an article (hers) or even to read Proust and come up with insightful musings to impress book club friends (hers again).

There are numerous websites and Internet communities dedicated to outsourced work. But, as you might imagine, Marx’s adventures reveal that after spending time soliciting errand runners for simple tasks and then sifting through bids on these chores, it might just be quicker to do them yourself.

Kerry confirmed as secretary of state

The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Barack Obama's choice of five-term Sen.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. John Kerry to be secretary of state, with Republicans and Democrats praising him as the ideal successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The vote today was 94-3. One senator — Kerry — voted present and accepted congratulations from colleagues on the Senate floor. The roll call came just hours after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the man who has led the panel for the past four years.

Kerry could be sworn in as early as Wednesday. A welcoming ceremony is planned at the State Department on Monday.

Obama tapped Kerry, 69, the son of a diplomat, decorated Vietnam veteran and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, to succeed Clinton, who is stepping down after four years. The Massachusetts Democrat, who had pined for the job but was passed over in 2009, has served as Obama's unofficial envoy, smoothing fractious ties with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Sen. Kerry will need no introduction to the world's political and military leaders and will begin Day One fully conversant not only with the intricacies of U.S. foreign policy, but able to act on a multitude of international stages," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who will succeed Kerry as committee chairman.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the panel's top Republican, called Kerry "a realist" who will deal with unrest in Egypt, civil war in Syria, the threat of al-Qaida-linked groups in Africa and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Kerry, a forceful proponent of climate change legislation, also will have a say in whether the United States moves ahead on the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, a divisive issue that has roiled environmentalists.

Voting against Kerry were three Republicans — Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas. Absent from the vote were Sens. Patty Murray,We provide payment solutions in the USA as well as high risk merchant account. D-Wash., and John Hoeven, R-N.D.

"Sen. Kerry has a long history of liberal positions that are not consistent with a majority of Texans," Cornyn said in a statement. The senator is up for re-election next year and could face a tea party challenge.

Kerry's smooth path to the nation's top diplomatic job stands in stark contrast to the harsher treatment for Obama's other national security nominees — Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary and John Brennan to be CIA director.

Hagel, the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, faces strong opposition from some of his onetime GOP colleagues who question his support for reductions in the nuclear arsenal and cuts in defense spending. Lawmakers also have questioned whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel and strongly opposed to any outreach to Iran.

Democrats have rallied for Hagel, and he has the announced support of at least a dozen members in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Six Republicans have said they would vote against him, with some opposing Obama's choice even before the president's announcement.

Brennan faces questions from the GOP about White House leaks of classified information and from Democrats about the administration's use of drones.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., threatened to block the nomination of both men until he gets more answers from the Obama administration about the assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Graham, who earlier this month signaled he would delay Brennan's pick, said in an interview Monday night with Fox News' "On the Record" the he would "absolutely" block Hagel unless Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testifies about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton testified for more than five hours last Wednesday before the House and Senate, but that wasn't sufficient for Graham.

"Hillary Clinton got away with murder, in my view," he said. "She said they had a clear-eyed view of the threats. How could you have a clear-eyed view of the threats in Benghazi when you didn't know about the ambassador's cable coming back from Libya?"

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters today that a hearing with Panetta on Libya is planned though the date is uncertain. Graham welcomed that news and said he would not thwart a committee vote on the nomination.

"Happy as a clam. News to me," said Graham, who met with Hagel for 20 minutes today.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said Panetta had not responded yet to the request but that the department has been forthcoming with information. He insisted that the Hagel confirmation process move as quickly as possible.

Two former chairmen of the committee — Democrat Sam Nunn of Georgia and Republican John Warner of Virginia — plan to introduce Hagel, according to officials close to the confirmation process. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the committee has not formally made an announcement.

As a White House emissary, Kerry has tamped down diplomatic fires for Obama. He also has stepped ahead of the administration on a handful of crises. He joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,protection and features only Safety goggles can provide. as an early proponent of a more aggressive policy toward Libya, pushing for using military forces to impose a "no-fly zone" over Libya as Moammar Gadhafi's forces killed rebels and other citizens. He was one of the early voices calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down as revolution roiled the nation two years ago.

During his tenure, Kerry has pushed for reducing the number of nuclear weapons, shepherding a U.S.-Russia treaty through the Senate in December 2010, and has cast climate change as a national security threat, joining forces with Republicans on legislation that faced too many obstacles to win congressional passage.

He has led delegations to Syria and met a few times with President Bashar Assad, now a pariah in U.S. eyes after months of civil war and bloodshed as the government looks to put down a people's rebellion.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. Figuring out an end-game for the Middle East country would demand all of Kerry's skills.

The selection of Kerry closes a political circle with Obama. In 2004, it was White House hopeful Kerry who asked a largely unknown Illinois state senator to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic convention in Boston,Like most of you, I'd seen the broken buy mosaic decorated pieces. handing the national stage to Obama. Kerry lost that election to President George W. Bush. Four years later, Obama was the White House hopeful who succeeded where Kerry had failed.

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“Whatever he decides to do – he’s already graduated – he’s going to be successful, because he knows how to sacrifice for the benefit of other people,” Grant said.

“I don’t know what his ambition will be once he steps away, if he tries to get into coaching or if he wants to move onto something else, but I’m telling any of you guys out here that if you’ve got a chance to bring a guy like that into your organization, you need to jump at the opportunity. He’s tremendous.”

“So he was going to be a student coach. He was at practice every day, totally committed to helping the guys get better. Whatever he needed to do, in terms of talking to them, being part of the scout team, doing whatever he could. Watching the scout team, it was evident he could still play, and we got some information from the doctors that allowed him to come back.”

“The injuries can take a toll, not necessarily physically but mentally, where you get worn down by it,” Grant said. “He’s been through a lot over the course of his career, but the thing about him: Not one minute do you see a guy that’s hesitant, do you see a guy that’s wavering in terms of his desire to play, his passion for the game, his passion for his teammates, his understanding of his impact, whether it’s starting a game, playing 25 minutes, finishing a game, whatever he can do. …

“For me to not be able to physically help my teammates was really tough," he said earlier this month. “The whole time, I think I just tried to be encouraging and even try to lead the best that I could. It was a lot better feeling to be out there with them physically to help them navigate the road we were going through.”

Steele’s brother, Ronald, starred at Alabama from 2004 -09. Grant believes that has helped mold Andrew.

“The media talk about who’s the leader,” Grant said. “My job is to provide the leadership, but the players have to take the ownership of the program. Andrew’s a guy that’s vested in terms of ownership and pride and what the University of Alabama is all about.

“He obviously followed the career of his brother here. His passion for this university – everything about this university, not just or program – he’s a great ambassador for our program, and great ambassador for this city of Birmingham.”

This title would interest anyone that has a pool deck, not just those buying or selling a house. You are educating home owners, buyers and sellers. If you shared an article like this and asked your Facebook community what other issues they see or if they are having any of the issues mentioned you are starting a conversation. You are being social and engaging your audience. Most importantly you are educating people on taking care of their homes and people love to be educated.

It is great to let people know who you are and what you have accomplished, here or there, but NOT all of the time. If you spend your day bragging on social about how fantastic you are, what awards you have received, why your brochures are the most creative of all, how rich you are or why God broke the mold making you, please stop. No one cares and you are irritating people.

When you try to get people to believe you are wonderful it is obvious and it turns people off. As I said in point #2, educate people. Give them something and educate them.

We should organise community clean-up campaigns

While it's still unclear what kind of "model" Al Jazeera America wants to pursue, it should be pretty obvious at this point what to avoid. Under the leadership of Al Gore, Current became a kind of lackluster version of hyper partisan MSNBC, only with poorer production values. Even liberal readers of the London Guardian conceded that Current had failed to connect, with one remarking "I found it to be painfully dull and weird. I felt at times like I was the only person watching this station. It was a bit like watching a college TV news show on public access television."

The odyssey of Current TV highlights some of the perils and pitfalls of cable news programming. Hoping to overcome mediocre ratings, Al Gore hired Keith Olbermann back in 2011. A pundit with "star power," Olbermann employed the same familiar packaging which had made him a household name on MSNBC. Stylistically, Olbermann combined a mix of jocularity, combativeness and ruthless sarcasm. Even with the new MSNBC pundit on board, however, Current continued to founder and its viewership remained puny.

During the Bush years, Olbermann's shoot from the hip style provided a much needed alternative voice to Fox News. However, the veteran pundit became slightly gimmicky over time and made little effort to innovate during his tenure at Current [a Jon Stewart impersonation on the The Daily Show successfully skewered Olbermann's hackneyed approach]. Far from undertaking a much needed overhaul at Current, Al Gore hired Democratic hacks Jennifer Granholm and Eliot Spitzer. In their new incarnation as media hosts, both sought to stylistically emulate MSNBC pundits. Ultimately, however, Gore's shakeup strategy proved futile and Current failed to gain any traction.

Though Olbermann later fell out with Current and left the network, the pundit's packaging style lives on at MSNBC. To a greater or lesser degree, many commentators on the network pursue Olbermann's penchant for sarcasm and combativeness. Take, for example, Rachel Maddow, an engaging host who also employs smugness toward the GOP and a kind of "wink,Custom laser marker systems for a wide variety of applications built by Control Micro Systems. wink" attitude towards her viewers, as if to say "aren't we superior to the right?" Unlike Fox, Maddow employs rigorous fact-checking and is much sharper than her conservative media counterparts. However, Maddow can also go too far at times with her entertaining style careening out of control into sheer wackiness.

Maddow, however, is more independent politically than other MSNBC hosts who can seem relentlessly partisan. Take, for example, Reverend Al Sharpton, who serves up a nightly dose of GOP abuses and misdeeds. Other commentators, too, seem more intent on throwing red meat to their liberal audience than actually raising the intellectual bar. Take for instance Lawrence O'Donnell, a commentator espousing radical politics who nevertheless seems to stick to the fairly tame and liberal MSNBC script.original handmade custom bobbleheads Head dolls made to look like the photo you provide to us. Like Olbermann, O'Donnell has developed a political fixation on Rush Limbaugh and runs countless segments refuting the right wing talk show host.

Yet another grave shortcoming of cable news programming in the U.S. is the networks' tendency to focus on domestic news to the detriment of international coverage. Indeed,Info Store about make your own bobblehead and Bobbleheads in general. it might be said that MSNBC is just as insular and parochial as Fox, with the liberal network rarely alerting its viewers to issues of vital international concern. MSNBC's failure in this regard is somewhat surprising in light of the network's ties to The Nation magazine, an outlet which historically did much to elevate the tenor of political and intellectual debate in the U.S.

In recent years, however, The Nation seems to have made a calculated decision to emphasize narrow-minded inside baseball in Washington as evidenced by the front page of the magazine's web site [when The Nation publishes a rare piece on Latin America, for that matter, it is cause for celebration]. In an effort to gain more visibility, the magazine has exported several of its columnists to MSNBC. Once ensconced at the network, The Nation crowd promptly conforms to the MSNBC template and tends to emphasize domestic issues while passing over international news.

With fewer and fewer cable options, the American public has been forced to turn elsewhere for international fare. To be sure, the U.S. viewing audience may tune into the decidedly middling CNN International. On the parent network, however, CNN has largely eschewed international coverage, let alone any kind of serious investigative journalism, in favor of inane political banter. Perhaps sensing the true mediocrity of its own programming, CNN seeks to distract the viewer with silly graphics and even holograms. Lacking a sense of direction, CNN has turned to new CEO Jeff Zucker in the hope of shifting the network's fortunes. A former NBC Executive, Zucker wants to transform CNN into a glorified entertainment vehicle modeled after the Today Show.

Surveying the lamentable state of cable news, it's easy to see what's wrong with the media milieu though it's far from clear what kind of new model al-Jazeera might want to pursue. Part of the problem lies in assessing the overall mood of the U.S. public and setting a bar for the viewing audience. On the left,British designers and Manufacturers of laser cutting and laser engraving machine. some have argued that if the American public simply had more facts and international journalistic excellence at its disposal then society would be galvanized and the media would finally succeed at prompting meaningful political change.

Such arguments, however, can seem overly idealistic or even obtuse in light of the lackluster capabilities of many Americans. Indeed, if Al Jazeera America wants to compete it may have to wrestle with issues of style as well as content. Stan Collender, a spokesman for al-Jazeera America, recently remarked to the Washington Post that the new channel would not be an opinion network or deal with celebrity news. "It's not going to be people screaming at each other,Site describes services including Plastic Mould." Collender said. Such declarations are music to the ears of cable consultant Cathy Rasenberg, who told the New York Times "there's a major hole right now that Al Jazeera can fill. And that is providing an alternative viewpoint to domestic news, which is very parochial."

Rasenberg, who has also worked with Al Jazeera on distribution issues in the past, also added however that "there is a limited amount of interest in international news in the United States." Al Jazeera itself admits that the new network is going to be something of a work in progress. Speaking to NPR recently, Al Jazeera Executive Producer Bob Wheelock remarked "our challenge is going to be to come up with new programming that is more tailored to a domestic U.S. audience."

Wood-pellet furnace market heats up

When the Sandri Companies won a $3.2 million federal stimulus grant as part of a push by Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration to encourage the renewable energy sector, it was touted not only as a way to get high-efficiency wood pellet boilers into use at Greenfield Community College, the Greenfield Fire Station and businesses around the region,original handmade custom bobbleheads Head dolls made to look like the photo you provide to us. but to give the third-generation petroleum-based business a foothold in an emerging alternative energy sector.

Since then, Sandri, which has also moved to diversify its energy-businesses to include propane, solar power, as well as geothermal and pellet stoves, has installed more than 50 of the Austrian-designed wood-pellet boilers, which unlike regular pellet stoves are sophisticated central heating systems that automatically feed themselves, clean themselves and — most importantly — modulate temperatures according to outdoor temperature and the temperature of heated water returning through the system.

Through the federal stimulus program, the 82-year-old Greenfield company arranged 100 percent funding for installation of low-emission wood pellet boilers at eight institutional or commercial sites, offered dramatic discounts on the boilers to homeowners in Franklin and Hampshire counties; and purchased three $215,000 bulk pellet delivery trucks.

On the lower end of the spectrum is a 68,000 BTU boiler installed by Barry Elbaum at his six-apartment Montague building on Route 63.

By replacing the oil-fired boiler and then weatherizing the building and installing a solar water-heating system between the time he bought it 25 years ago and last year, Elbaum had already cut annual fuel consumption from 5,000 gallons to 1,Info Store about make your own bobblehead and Bobbleheads in general.200 gallons. With the cost of a gallon of oil at nearly $4, he said, “I was looking for a way to control the cost of running a building. I was looking for alternatives, because I was just petrified of oil.”

With natural gas not available and propane seeming “still tied to being exploited,” he’d dismissed pellet boilers as being too exorbitant in cost. And then the stimulus funding underwrote the system’s $40,000 cost down to just $10,000, he said.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” said Elbaum, who figures his payback on this system will be five years.British designers and Manufacturers of laser cutting and laser engraving machine. “This wouldn’t be possible without a subsidy. Without a subsidy, I don’t know how anyone could afford to do this. The subsidy’s created an infrastructure for there to be an industry for other than selling wood pellets by the bag.”

He figures that in addition to 300 gallons of oil to back up his water heater, he will burn about six tons of pellets this year, the equivalent of about 720 gallons of oil, at $240 per ton.

“It’s all economics,” he says.

On the other end of the spectrum is Full Bloom Market Garden in Whately, where owner Dewitt Thompson estimates the four boilers he installed to heat more than two acres of greenhouse space is displacing 60,000 gallons of fossil fuel a year for about $125,000 savings.

“It wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the grant,” said Thompson, adding that his 3.2 million BTU system would have cost $300,Site describes services including Plastic Mould.000 for the three boilers alone. The boilers’ cost was entirely underwritten by the grant, leaving Thompson with $100,Custom laser marker systems for a wide variety of applications built by Control Micro Systems.000 in costs for related improvements to accommodate it. “Projects like this will help the boiler companies get things together and hopefully bring down their cost,” he added. “I think they’re expensive for the amount of heat they’re actually producing, as with any kind of newer burning technologies. These are gasification boilers, very efficient, very clean burning, and they produce very little ash or fly ash. This could be the future.”

That’s the hope of Sandri, where the bulk of its energy business is still in gasoline and diesel fuel sold at 105 stations in four states, but where renewable heating technologies now account for about 7 percent of the business in its heating-air condition-ventilation sector. That’s been beefed up with the company’s purchase of Pioneer Valley Cooling and Heating and of New England Pellet LLC’s Propell Energy subsidiary, and this year, it’s on target for its pellet sales to equal 1 million gallons of heating oil, said company spokeswoman Kristin Wedegartner.

“Our bulk wood pellet customer base is growing,” she said, adding that that growth is coming in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire, as well as Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Jake Goodyear, Sandri’s vice president of renewable energy, said the stimulus funding helped anchor what may be one of the nation’s largest concentrations of wood-pellet boilers here with the subsidized sale of 20 Austrian-designed boilers at seven or eight commercial sites and half a dozen or so homes from the fall of 2010 through last spring. The business has also been helped by a New Hampshire boiler rebate program that provides homeowners with 30 percent of the total costs of their wood-pellet systems.

Goodyear said the OkoFEN and ACT Bioenergy systems — are about 87 percent efficient, and the cost of delivered wood pellets now is about half that of heating oil, so it makes sense for larger users, even without the federal subsidy.

Mint Announces Signing of Agreement with Arab Link Money Transfer

Arab Link provides a comprehensive range of currency exchange and money transfer services for individuals and businesses. A formal Remittance Product Agreement ("RPA") will be developed and executed over the next 30 days. Mint and Arab Link will then begin to offer Money Transfer services to Mint's payroll cardholder base in UAE for sending money home.

Mint payroll cardholders will be able to access money remittance services through Mint ATMs, Mint POS machines, mobile remittance and directly through Arab Link. Beneficiaries of funds will be able to receive funds as cash over-the-counter, credit to their bank account and door-to-door delivery where available.

Nabil Bader, Mint CEO, said today, "Mint recently announced a change of course in respect to our money remittance delivery strategy. This is a very fast moving business with new technologies and service providers entering the space all the time. Mint is a very large customer for any of these providers. Our partnership with Arab Link is a low risk, lower reward strategy than the previously announced acquisition but one we are now more comfortable with following completion of the Arab Link negotiations. Mint and Arab Link have agreed a revenue share arrangement on a per transaction basis."

Chris Hogg, Mint Executive Chairman, said today, "Changing course is part of building a dynamic business model in a very fast growing market. We have to be ready to respond. We are delighted with the potential of this new relationship with Arab Link which enables us to now complete our value added services offering in addition to our existing mobile top up and micro finance business units."

"The UAE remittance market continues to grow and our partnership with Mint is aimed at capturing a sizable share of this market, whilst simplifying the money transfer process, making it more convenient, quicker and less costly for customers," said Rob Groombridge, CEO of Arab Link.

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events or our future performance. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including the risk that the Company may not receive all necessary approvals to proceed with those transactions. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks.original handmade custom bobbleheads Head dolls made to look like the photo you provide to us. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of Mint believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, Mint cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and Mint disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

Yesterday,we sell dry cabinet and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. Travis reported on Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard’s prediction that in 30 years, the National Football League will die because making necessary changes to improve the safety of the game will produce a sport that no one wants to watch. I think both that scenario and the one that Travis himself lays out are not unrealistic. But it’s also worth remembering that the NFL’s life or death won’t happen in a closed surgical theater. There are people other than the players and owners,Info Store about make your own bobblehead and Bobbleheads in general. and in college, the athletics programs and fundraising departments, with a vested interest in keeping football alive and immensely popular.

Significant among those interests? Broadcast television and ESPN. In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the League is touting the performance of football on television. 55 percent of the television broadcasts since September 1, 2010, that averaged at least 20 million viewers were of NFL football games, or 135 out of 247 broadcasts. The next-closest program? American Idol, with 39 broadcasts, followed by the London Olympics, with 18. The first scripted program on the list is NCIS, with 11 broadcasts that hit 20 million. There’s no wonder broadcast nets pay big for the games they air: Sunday Night Football is part of what’s helped NBC rebound from fourth place to first in the ratings.Custom laser marker systems for a wide variety of applications built by Control Micro Systems.

Some of that’s an indication of the increasing weakness of broadcast television, which has had a tremendously difficult time launching scripted programming that finds an audience anywhere near that large, and which has seen the numbers on big reality programs, like Idol and Dancing With The Stars decline. But that weakness means the value of football is two-fold. Football broadcasts prop up television’s advertising revenue model. And they provide a potential launching platform for new programming. That’s one of the reasons the Super Bowl rotates from network to network every year: it’s such a critically important platform for showcasing existing programming to one of the largest audiences that assembles in front of the television anymore.

And that’s just on broadcast: football’s even more important to both cable networks and the cable business model. People who oppose cable bundling frequently complain about the price of sports channels, but access to lots and lots of football is one of the reasons sports make cable seem like a good deal for the more than 100 million American households who subscribe to it. The death of football through formal dismantlement or a rising disinterest and distaste would make bundled cable television seem less valuable.

Television, in other words, badly needs the NFL to stay healthy. What that means the industry can,British designers and Manufacturers of laser cutting and laser engraving machine. and will, do remains an open question. But football and television’s futures are deeply intertwined, and at a time when the content television is creating for itself is having trouble finding an audience, those ties are tighter than ever.

Mobile Money Operators to Test NFC At World Congress

Nigerian telecommunications networks and mobile money operators are set to test Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to exchange information and conduct financial transactions with their mobile phones at the Mobile World Congress coming up on 25-28 February in Barcelona,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. Spain.Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics.

The NFC experience at the largest world's telecoms conference and exhibition gives operators from around the world opportunity to experience the latest technology that allows subscribers make mobile payments with their mobile phones to a contactless device. NFC builds upon radio frequency identification (RFID) systems by allowing two-way communication between endpoints.

NFC devices can be used in contactless payment systems, similar to those currently used in credit cards and electronic ticket smart-cards, and allow mobile payment to replace or supplement these systems. For example, Google Wallet allows consumers to store credit card and store loyalty card information in a virtual wallet and then use an NFC-enabled device at terminals that also accept MasterCard PayPass transactions.

"We're excited to launch the NFC Experience for Mobile World Congress, as it provides attendees to the event the opportunity to experience first-hand the power of NFC technology both throughout the Mobile World Congress venue, as well as in the city of Barcelona," said Michael O'Hara,Like most of you, I'd seen the broken china mosaic decorated pieces. Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. "We hope that all attendees will take advantage of the many benefits of NFC, from venue access to retail transactions to transport, among others."

The GSMA will showcase an integrated range of mobile NFC services. Attendees with NFC-enabled handsets will be able to take advantage of NFC technology at locations throughout the Fira Gran Via and in the city. NFC touch points will be abundant throughout Congress, rewarding those who 'tap' with instant access to information such as downloads on the conference sessions and keynotes, as well as information on restaurants and tourist attractions around Barcelona itself.

The NFC Experience features a dedicated zone in the heart of Congress Square which will be one of the key locations to visit and see NFC-enabled handsets and their capabilities as well as gaining information on the NFC ecosystem, NFC smart posters, NFC partner pods and a dedicated NFC support function and more than a dozen NFC Interactive Zones located along the walkways, entrances and exhibition halls.

As at April 2011, several hundred NFC trials have been conducted. Some firms have moved to full-scale service deployments, spanning either a single country or multiple countries. Multi-country deployments include Orange's rollout of NFC technology to banks, retailers, transport, and service providers in multiple European countries, and Airtel Africa and Oberthur Technologies deploying to 15 countries throughout Africa.

The city will ask interested parking companies to apply - through an expression of interest - and outline upgrades to the city's parking meters. From there, the city will ask for bids in the form of business proposals.

Mike Gutek, manager of infrastructure services, said the city's cash-only meters have reached the end of their service life and need replacing.

Council rejected a previous proposal city officials put forward last year, Gutek said, adding he hopes this plan gets the green light.

In a testy debate last March, council rejected a $1-million overhaul to the parking meter system that was recommended by the administration. A slim majority of councillors said the criteria set out by administration didn't put enough value on the revenue that could be gained from pay-and-display parking stations and credit card payment

The new meters also shall not, the document says, allow for reimbursement of unused parking time or display remaining unused parking time for use by the next driver who comes along.

The new parking system must include an option whereby people can dispute tickets online instead of by phone or in person, the document says.

City officials have set a price limit of $950,000 for the new parking meters, although additional money can be spent in the coming years to operate and maintain them.

The request for expression of interest also says any new parking scheme must continue to retain the Corps of Commissionaires as parking enforcement officers.

The Broadway Business Improvement District, the Riversdale Business Improvement District and the Saskatoon Downtown Business Improvement District (known as The Partnership) have expressed their support for an upgrade to the city's parking meters and are urging the city to get on with it.

The PN also failed to mention the law on party financing and the Whistleblower Act, two laws that a Labour government would enact immediately, he said.

Dr Muscat commented on the fact that, though Lawrence Gonzi had said he agreed with Labour’s pledge to remove the time bar on corruption cases involving politicians, the PN did not include this in the electoral programme.

Dr Muscat said there were undercurrents pushing to keep the country dependent on the purchase of oil as the PN-led government had three times refused offers for a pipeline supplying gas to the island.

“Who has an interest that Malta continues purchasing €1 million worth of oil every day? There are people who have oil-stained hands and who pocket commissions on these purchases,” Dr Muscat told supporters at the Valletta Waterfront.

Book of heartfelt messages planned from Easton

Kathy Endriunas could not stop thinking of the heartbreak suffered in Newtown, Conn.,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. after the school massacre there took the lives of 20 children and six staffers.

After watching a mother of one young victim say she hoped that through the tragedy love would win out, Endriunas came up with the idea of sending hope, encouragement and love to the residents of Newtown through a book of messages written by Easton residents.

“I just wanted to do something,” Endriunas, of Easton, said. “It got me to thinking, if we do something as a town it would be wonderful.”

Endriunas today launches a town-wide drive for residents to pen their thoughts or simply sign their name to a special message card to remind the folks of Newtown they are not forgotten.

She has gathered card stock that will be painted with pink hearts, pens and plastic sleeves for the cards to fit in.

Once she has gathered all the messages, Endriunas said, she plans on putting them all together in a beautiful hardbound book with Easton’s town seal on the front.

“The idea is that it would be something held in your hand to look at or get passed around to families of victims to look at,” Endriunas said. “It will be a way for us to show our caring from our town to their town.”

While there are over 23,000 residents in Easton, Endriunas said she was hoping to get at least 2,000 people to turn out and write messages.

“I just hope it brings them hope that Americans care, that we’re united, and that they just feel loved,” Endriunas said. “I hope that they will know that we care about them and that we, the town of Easton, haven’t forgotten them.”

Each card has an assigned point value which adds up in the total deck value. The cards also have a set of stats and discard value as well as playing cost. There’s a description of what the card does, and minion cards will tell you what the minion’s stats will be when the minion is in play. Once you’re in and actually playing, your deck is shuffled and you always have an option of 5 cards pulled from your draw pile.Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. If you do not play anything from your hand, you lose a point of health that turn. To play a card, you have to have so many points in your pool that you get from discarded cards in your hand, based off their discard value. On your turn, you can play cards or use points in your pool to tell your minions what to do specifically. Normally, minions act in a certain manner, positioning themselves to follow a set of rules. Dragons and Sorceresses will always try to attack groups of enemy minions to unleash the most amount of damage, for example. Kobolds will always go after the weakest of the enemy units on the board. They follow these basic guidelines unless you spend some of your points to order the minion to do something else, like guard a tile or a unit, or to attack a specific unit.

Minions are good against certain units, but weak against others. Terrain will also affect their attack and defense stats. Their attack chances are given and determined by a dice roll we can’t see, hailing back to the tabletop origins of the game. Your minions are summoned at your Avatar, a color-coded tower that sits on the field of tiles. As your minions die or you take damage to the tower directly, your tower will chip away until nothing remains, which means you lose. Eliminating your opponent’s tower will get you the victory. There are cards that can increase your health and your minions health, as well as special attack cards or cards that give your minions special abilities or defenses as well as upgrading them. While you can do one on one style games, there is an option to have up to six people playing at once, and you can also set up teams to play against one another, or play co-op with a friend to take down an enemy AI unit.

Being able to customize your deck to just about your heart’s content, a full blown level editor, and being able to set-up your own custom matches just about pushes this game’s replayability through the roof. The somewhat no-holds barred nature of the game and letting you mix and match minions to your heart’s content without limiting based on types adds quite well to the game. The random nature of CCG’s also adds to it, as you have a basic strategy for a deck, but its performance is also based on what you’re up against and how well you’re pulling against your opponent, making each match unique. The multiplayer aspects would be better if there were more people online to play against, but if you have a friend pick it up, it’s easy enough to pop on at the same time online and hook up that way.

As far as balance goes, as long as you don’t back yourself into a corner with how you build your deck and leave options, no one deck is better than the other. The minions have strengths and weaknesses, and as long as you try to use their tactics against them, things generally move smoothly. Deck point costs are fairly accurate, as are the points required to get the cards out and how much you get for discarding. Also, because the game is online, the developers are looking to tweak the cards on an ongoing basis, so that if there is an issue with a card being too over-powered, they can adjust it for everyone so that it’s not something that gets banned from play, as so often happens with one of the longer running CCG’s out there today, Magic The Gathering.

Overall, I’d have to say the game is solid. I never had it crash on me, the visual tweaks you can do to make it look prettier work great, and other than me having very little brains and skipping the tutorials, I managed to figure out how to play pretty quickly. I’d easily recommend this to anyone interested in tabletop miniatures, CCG’s, or both. It’s got enough depth to keep people interested in the strategies, and being able to just create your own tile layouts, coupled with the deck builder, is a fantastic experience.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken china mosaic decorated pieces. The price is good and it’s free to at least try with a 150 point deck, so you have little to lose on it. My only complaint, and this is minor, is that you can’t build your decks when offline. I understand the logic behind it, but I’d have liked that option in there.

Minion Master

Take one part Heroscape, one part Heroclix, throw in a dash of Magic: The Gathering and the strategy of a mix of turn-based and real-time combat,Firmoo offers cheap and discount mens prescription Eyeglasses frame. containing a significant amount of depth to its core, throw it into a very well designed and capable PC interface and layout, and you’ve just described Minion Master. Is it a miniatures game? Yes. Is it a strategy game? Yes. Is it a collectible card game? Yes. This is such a unique hybrid existing on the PC it’s hard to define, but I do know one thing: it’s a lot of fun.

The game is actually a culmination of lots of different ideas, combining the collectible card game and miniatures games into something workable on the computer, meaning there is an actual physical version of the game that the developers created for use on the tabletop, as well as in digital form, which I get a big kick out of. But the point of making something digital was because they could never get together to play, and when they did, they spent too much time setting up and tearing down instead of playing. This is meant to solve all of that.

While there isn’t much of a story to this, other than you’re one player out to take out the other using varying tactics, there are a number of game modes. Single player lets you run through a series of challenges with pre-determined decks against pre-determined enemies on already decided on maps. You also have the option of running against AI opponents using the deck and board set-up of your choosing as well. Multiplayer lets you log in and pit your skills against other opponents or set up an AI game while you wait. The same game set-up rules apply in multiplayer as they do for setting up a custom game in single player. Minion Master also has a level editor, so you can go in and set up your own board, piece by piece or section by section, how you want it, keeping that miniatures game feel there, but there’s also a deck editor you can tweak your deck with. The deck editor, however, can only be used when you’re connected to the internet, as the decks are all stored online as well as on your PC for offline play. This does give you the option of building your decks off BitFlip’s website for the game as well, however, when you’re bored,We sell 100% hand-painted oil paintings for sale online. in your free time or just when you want to tweak outside the game.

Visually the game feels like a budget title,Buy discount Mens Sports glasses online. but a good one. There are options to crank everything through the roof, so it looks smooth, and I didn’t notice any problems playing it on my laptop with all the settings set to maximum. The character pieces have decent animations as they attack and defend, but they move around the board like you would move miniatures by hand, which is a nice touch, but I could see people looking for more. The visual design is nice and I appreciate the work that went into making the cards look as good as regularly printed cards as well. While it won’t win any titles for the most visually arresting game, it’s easy to tell your pieces from other pieces on the board, what tiles are what material and their height, which is what really matters in these sort of games.

Audibly the game gets the job done. I’ve played with audio on and off and I wasn’t missing a whole lot with it off. I will admit the sounds the Kobolds make are kind of cute, and the attack noises are decent as well. The game isn’t really about looking and sounding pretty though, but more on gameplay, which is where they focused and continue to focus their attention. First, we should touch on controls. The game is run through the mouse and keyboard, though the keyboard end of things is more for chat than anything else. You do everything in the level editor, the deck builder and in game with the mouse. To select a unit, click with the mouse; to select which cards to play or discard, use the mouse; to issue orders to a unit and bring up the menu, you guessed it, mouse. Yes, even moving the map around to get a better view of the battle is done with the mouse. It’s simple and effective, and I like it when that works, as the way the game is played is deep enough without having to remember lots of keyboard shortcuts to make it work.

You have a few options in getting this game. You can go the free route, which means you can only pick between one pre-assembled deck set at a 150 point value, which is pretty standard. You can customize that deck and make new ones, but you’re limited by the number of cards you get from that deck and what you get with it, meaning if you only get 7 cards with that free deck, you won’t be able to put more than 7 into another deck. You’re not limited to making more than one deck, and can include those cards in multiple decks, but you are limited to just the single deck. There are options to expand your card roster, just like a regular collectible card game, through the developers website. This is, however, much cheaper than any current CCG, and is even cheaper than when I jumped in on Magic: The Gathering back in ’94 and ’95.We have a wide range of Cycling sunglasses and eyewear. You can buy themed packs in sets of 5 and 12: the Fantasy set, which gives you all the fantasy themed cards plus three decks, the Horror set, which is all the horror cards plus two theme decks, or you can opt for the Release Package, which is both the Fantasy and Horror set as well as the themed decks. For review purposes, I received the Release Package, and an extra Sorcery deck, as that was the deck I picked when I created my free account. You can’t just buy the themed decks from the store, nor individual cards and you also cannot trade them.

The Deck Builder lets you select any cards from your available pool. While there are themed decks, you can build them out of whatever you have available. While you can build your decks online through the website, I recommend doing it in the game instead. The deck builder online only shows you the name and how many of the card you have as you add them, and you have to go to another screen to see what they are if you’re not already familiar with them. In the game itself, all that information is right there and available to you. You will not be able to edit your decks if you are not online. All that information is stored online as well as on your computer,View our range of over 200 different types of solar powered products including our solar street lamps. so you will be able to play with your custom built decks when you don’t have net access, but you won’t be able to edit or build new ones. The Standard Deck is built around 150 points, but you can go higher or lower, depending on how you want to build it, you just might not be able to use that deck based on how the match is set.