More pain on the cards as plastic borrowing slumps

Britain's retailers are bracing themselves for a fresh wave of pain as figures showed shoppers have shunned their credit cards, with borrowing on plastic growing at its lowest level for more than a year.

Bank of England data revealed credit card borrowing grew at just 34m in May, its lowest since a 22m increase in April 2010.

The update is further evidence consumers are reining in spending having seen their household budgets squeezed by increased taxes,Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, the cost of petrol and wage freezes.

Later today troubled music chain HMV will add its voice to the warnings dire trading conditions are the worst experienced for decades.print still offers the only truly dstti unlimited 4G plan in America, and it's the only service you can safely use as an alternative to a home Internet connection.

Fierce competition from online rivals and supermarket chains has caused the DVD and CD seller to issue a slew of profits warnings.

There should not be any surprises in the annual update with the firm guiding earnings around the 30m mark on sales of 1.Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner disc.85bn. However all eyes will be on current trading. It finally disposed of its Waterstone's business yesterday.

Analysts say department store chain Debenhams is in better shape having hiked prices by 8pc to cover the increased cost of cotton.

It is expected to have seen strong growth in April and May, which should help underlying sales for the third quarter to rise 1pc.

Debenhams is likely to be one of the few retailers posting good news following the collapse of womenswear chain Jane Norman and Habitat UK over the past seven days.

A raft of figures released yesterday also raised further questions about the health of the British economy.

The dominant services sector – including hotels and restaurants, transport companies and City firms – suffered its biggest slump for more than a year.

Official figures showed output fell 1.2pc in April as the Royal Wedding and the extra bank holiday took its toll. It was the worst performance since January 2010 when snow caused heavy disruption.

Bank lending to businesses was also on the slide and mortgage approvals ticked up by less than 500 to 45,940 as the housing market remained in the doldrums.

And in another blow,Choose from one of the major categories of Bedding,Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource! research group GfK NOP said consumer confidence fell this month after a strong recovery in May.

Nick Moon, managing director of GfK NOP, said: 'What will disappoint the Government is the drop is so large.

'Confidence is lower than it was this time last year. As we move into the summer, the outlook remains a gloomy one.'

Food packaging chemical may harm unborn babies

A US study has raised concerns about the use of the chemical BPA in food packaging for pregnant mothers.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a plasticiser commonly used in tinned foods and other food packaging such as glass jars, baby bottles and water bottles.

It is an endocrine disruptor and although the science on the health effects of BPA in foods is not conclusive, some studies have linked it to a range of illnesses, including cancer, diabetes and infertility.

Concerns have also long been held about exposing babies to BPA through baby food jars and baby bottles, but US researchers say exposure in utero, via the mother's diet, may be even worse.

The study suggests BPA exposure to unborn babies may affect testosterone production.Polycore zentai are manufactured as a single sheet,

The study's author, Associate Professor Cheryl Rosenfeld at the University of Missouri, says it is further evidence BPA should be phased out in all food products, not just baby foods.

The researchers fed pregnant mice small amounts of BPA and tested the navigational abilities of male offspring when they became sexually mature.

Associate Professor Rosenfeld says a maze was used to test the mice and the difference between the performance of mice exposed to BPA versus those who were not was significant.

"The males that were exposed to BPA performed at a worse rate than those that were not exposed to BPA and they had a severe delayed ability to find the exit holes that led to their home cage," she said.

"Even by the end of the seven-day trial period, the BPA-exposed males tended not to pick up on what the most efficient search strategy [was]."

Associate Professor Rosenfeld says the mice exposed to BPA would wander aimlessly around the maze.

She says the BPA-exposed mice were also more anxious.

"We looked at exploratory behaviour too in these males because it's been shown that these males,The same Air purifier, cover removed. and also in boys versus girls, males tend to have higher exploratory behaviour,This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game." she said.

"Those that were exposed to BPA exhibited decreased exploratory behaviour or what we would term,Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives. 'anxiety-like behaviours'."

The researchers hypothesise that these results could be due to interference in testosterone production but Associate Professor Rosenfeld says it could be much more than that.

"The other potential way that BPA might be induced in these effects is by acting on the region of the brain that controls this behaviour and that's the hippocampus," she said.

"And in animals and humans there's a lot of structural conservation in this area of the brain."

BPA-exposed male mice were also less sexually attractive to female mice.

Some countries have already banned the use of BPA in baby bottles and some companies have taken the initiative to phase BPA out of their all their products.

But Associate Professor Rosenfeld says her study shows more research needs to be done into the effect of BPA before birth rather than just after birth.

She says there needs to be regulation to make it mandatory for companies to display whether or not their products contain BPA.

The consumer grouch Choice did its own tests on canned foods in Australia last year and found that 33 out of 41 products tested contained BPA.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn says the latest study only adds weight to Choice's call for the precautionary principle to be applied and BPA taken out of food packaging in Australia.

"This just adds more weight on that side of the ledger that we have to look at this particular product very carefully," he said.

"There are other substitutes which are used in terms of the lining food cans. In other countries it's been changed willingly, in many places indeed."

Additional sale highlights included a pair of rare polychrome lacquered

Bonhams & Butterfields' Fine Asian Works of Art auction on June 21, 2011 in San Francisco brought more than $11.5-million, with a rare pair of huanghuali continuous yoke back armchairs, 17th/18th century, leading the sale by bringing $1.49 million USD. One of many attractions among the Chinese furniture to be offered, the chairs were from a private Manhattan Collector and featured an elegant s-curved back splat of plain,uy sculpture direct from us at low pricesA glass bottle is a bottle created from glass. finely matched grain and lustrous tone.

Highlights from the estate of Gussie Gaskill, former curator of the Wason Collection of books and manuscripts about China, housed at Cornell University, included a huanghuali kang table, 17th/18th century (sold for $42,700 USD), a pair of huanghuali and mixed wood rose chairs (meiguiyi) (sold for $30,500 USD). A small four panel zitan and mixed wood dragon screen, Late Qing/Republic Period (sold for $32,160 USD), and a Huanghuali and mixed wood side table (qiaotou'an) (sold for $51,240 USD) also provided excitement for buyers.The newest Ipod nano 5th is incontrovertibly a step up from last year's model,

Dessa Goddard, Vice President and Director, Asian Works of Art, Bonhams & Butterfields, said of the sale: "Fresh-to-market property is a magnet for bringing international Chinese buyers to Bonhams. The June sale, with its standing room only saleroom, provided a fantastic slice of auction drama and we are extremely pleased with the results."

During its Fine Asian Works of Art last winter, Bonhams & Butterfields sold a set of 18 ivory luohan, Late Qing dynasty, for a record-breaking $506,000 USD. Two additional superb sets of luohan, found in different private collections, were offered during this sale, each bringing $658,000 USD and $458,000 USD, respectively, the first of which breaking the record set by Bonhams in December 2010.

Also highlighting the Chinese section of the auction was a fine group of Ming dynasty bronzes, including a massive bronze Buddha (sold for $266,000 USD) and a rhinoceros horn libation cup carved with a Chinese sage, accompanied by two youthful attendants highlighted the sale (sold for $302,000 USD).

Bonhams & Butterfields was pleased to offer additional snuff bottles from the collection of Linda Riddell Hoffman, whose one-owner white glove sale in March at Bonhams New York was met with great acclaim. This group of jade, semiprecious stone and ivory bottles was complemented by a yellow jade snuff bottle carved in the shape of a sow (sold for $30,500 USD); a black and white jade snuff bottle in the shape of a swimming carp (sold for $85,400 USD) and a rare ¡®twin' jade snuff bottle in the form of a flattened spade shape (sold for $48,800 USD).

Following on the success of the Hoffman Collection, the June sale also featured part one of snuff bottles from the Estate of Norman Stiller. Stiller, a San Francisco immigration lawyer, was known for his connoisseurship and passion for this collecting field.Largest Collection of billabong boardshorts, Highlights included a yellow jade snuff bottle (sold for $24,400 USD); a Japanese-embellished white jade snuff bottle (sold for $48,800 USD) and a russet and white jade snuff bottle (sold for $42,700 USD) as well as snuff bottles and glass from the collection of Dr. Alan Feen, whose star lots also sold brilliantly at Bonhams Hong Kong last November.

Goddard continues: "Bonhams has become the auction house of choice for sales of Chinese snuff bottles. The firm has hosted three white glove, 100% sold auctions of snuff bottles from the Mary and George Bloch collection in our Hong Kong rooms, followed by the Linda Riddell Hoffman collection in New York in March. We are deeply committed to this important international market and look forward to Bloch IV in Hong Kong this November.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!"

Kangxi blue and white wares from a New York private collection highlighted a large selection of Qing dynasty porcelains on offered, along with a copper red glazed porcelain vase (yuhuchunping), Yongzheng mark and period (sold for $290,000 USD); a large porcelain footed box and cover Xianfeng Mark and Period (sold for $46,360 USD) and a blue and white porcelain yenyen vase, Kangxi Period (sold for $39,040 USD).

Bonhams & Butterfields was also pleased to offer an outstanding painting by the Korean artist, Park Soo-Keun, from a West Coast Collector in this session, as part of a choice group of Korean art. Entitled Roadside Vendors (sold for $242,000 USD), is the fourth Park Soo-Keun painting to be sold by the firm's Asian Art Department in the last six years.

Additional sale highlights included a pair of rare polychrome lacquered and incised wood boxes with dragon decoration, Qing Dynasty (sold for $218,000 USD); a mixed wood wall plaque with jade, hardstone and ivory overlay decoration, late Qing/Republic Period (sold for $218,000 USD); a pair of framed blue and white porcelain plaques of fan shape with figural designs (sold for $194,000 USD) and a pair of blue and white porcelain dragon bowls, Jiajing Mark and Period (sold for $67,100 USD).

Church member Earline Thornton

No one can accuse the members of Forest Lake Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa of letting grass grow under their feet.

Within hours of the April 27 tornado, more than 100 survivors living nearby came to the church for help. A few church members did the best they could to minister amid the destruction. That's when the Alabama congregation sprang into action.

Only two days after the storm, Forest Lake Baptist had set up an extensive ministry center in its basement fellowship hall. For weeks, the church has been providing canned food, water, hot meals, baby supplies, clothing, bedding, cleaning supplies,What are the top Hemroids treatments? books and some furniture and appliances. It has even provided pet food for animal shelters.

What makes Forest Lake's quick response so amazing is that its facilities, located in the heart of one of the tornado's path, suffered more than $1.5 million in damages.

But "the Lord has graciously provided," church member Terri Hibbard said.

Fellow member and ministry center volunteer Jan Anders agreed. "There is nothing we have needed that hasn't walked through the doors when we needed it."

In fact, God has provided in such an overwhelming way that Forest Lake has given goods to other churches and organizations.

A team of volunteers from Mississippi showed up the first week and provided 1,500 hot dog meals out of a trailer. Volunteers from Florida distributed barbecue sandwiches in the church's parking lot.

World Vision, Samaritan's Purse and The Salvation Army all have donated items to the ministry center.

"We're getting supplies from people all over the country,Welcome to the official Facebook Page about Ripcurl." pastor Donnie Payne said. "A tractor-trailer rig loaded with relief items just rolled onto the church's parking lot a few days ago. The driver came inside and said we could have everything on his truck."

The church has received so much, in fact, that many relief items have been stored in overflow rooms.Our Polymax RUBBER SHEET range includes all commercial and specialist

"We're trying to stock up for the long haul," Payne said. "We know there will be needs for months to come."

He said the church initially ministered to storm survivors, rescue workers, police and National Guard troops but now is reaching out to construction workers.

God also has provided volunteers. More than 200 church members have participated in Forest Lake's disaster relief ministry.

"Our church has really come together during this time," member Susan Kincaid said.

In addition to offering relief items, members have listened to and prayed with those needing help. A table in the center of the fellowship hall stacked with Bibles bears a sign that reads, "Take one."

Payne is quick to credit the response of University of Alabama students.

"University students have risen to the occasion," he said. "Hundreds have come by the church offering their help."

Church member Earline Thornton, who is in her 70s, has been an inspiration for all volunteers. Even though Thornton lost her home to the tornado,Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, she shows up every day to help in the ministry center.

Billy Gray, interim director of missions for the Tuscaloosa Baptist Association, said, "When you walk into Forest Lake's ministry center, you think you are in a store. One half looks like a department store, and the other half looks like a grocery story. They are so organized."

The first Sundays after the storm, Forest Lake held worship in the Baptist Campus Ministries chapel on the University of Alabama campus. For the past several Sundays, worship has been held in the church's damaged sanctuary.

"We will rebuild," Payne said.We processes for both low-risk and high risk merchant account. "But for now, our main focus is on people who need us."s