On a sultry late May evening in the heart of Seville, Spain, local officials, bullfighters, and journalists will celebrate the grand re-opening of the Hotel Alfonso XIII. The landmark property with Arabic-inspired arches, soaring towers, and Renaissance-style windows was originally constructed for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and named for the king. Over the past year, The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, which is a part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, has invested $25 million in rejuvenating Seville’s only grande dame hotel. The opening marks the first completion of four major renovations of historic European Luxury Collection properties that include Hotel Maria Cristina in San Sebastian, Spain, which opens in July, Paris’ Prince de Galles and Venice’s Gritti Palace, which are both scheduled to open in early 2013.
Originally designed by Sevillian architect Jose Espiau y Mu?oz, the hotel was closed for 10 months while it underwent an extensive redesign and restoration under the direction of local architect Demopolis and the English firm HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates. The property’s 151 rooms and suites have been updated with a contemporary vibe in Moorish, Castillian, and Andalusian styles featuring custom furnishings and distinctive tile work in the baths. The common spaces, however, reclaim their former glory with restored original hand-painted Triana and Mensaque ceramic tiles, authentic wood carved furnishings, and marble floors. The Salon Real Ballroom, which hosts up to 500 people, underwent an extensive preservation that called upon artisans to painstakingly clean and restore the deteriorated coffered plaster ceiling and hand-painted wall panels.
Bruce Springstein recently stayed in the renovated Royal Suite during his May tour through Spain. The 2,150-square-foot, one-bedroom suite with a towering canopy bed is appointed with hand-selected antiques including a Spanish Renaissance cabinet inlayed with mother-of-pearl that was gifted to the hotel by it previous owner, The Aga Khan. Also inspired by the city’s vibrant artistic history, the Reales Alcozares suite overlooks picturesque gardens and fountains, while the sprawling Torreon Suite features a private terrace that extends to the hotel’s corner tower presenting panoramic views of the city.
Among those celebrating the hotel’s reopening is Pepe Torezano, who worked at the hotel for more than 50 years before retiring in 2007. As head concierge for 35 years, Torezano has met his share of rock stars, movie stars, and even heads of state. “The most important people who come to Sevilla stay here—both now and before,” he says, listing VIPs that included Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, and Orson Welles, who had befriended a famous bullfighter in Seville. The hotel even had a role in the 1962 epic film Lawrence of Arabia, which was filmed on site and at local landmarks. The cast—which included Peter O’Toole, Sir Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, and Omar Shariff—stayed at the Alfonso for three months.
Hotel Alfonso XIII has retained the spirit of that glamorous era while adapting to serve more modern, relaxed lifestyles. “I believe we are seeing a new golden age of travel,” says Paul James, global brand leader for St. Regis and The Luxury Collection. “People are dressing up again, and they’re looking for elegance and sophistication, which needs a grand setting such as this.”
2012年5月30日星期三
Selecting the Proper Resources for Your Kitchen Design
Deciding upon the most suitable supplies for a certain software is a main phase of any design and style process, and is critical to the results of the final solution, in this scenario a kitchen style for your residential home. This place is obviously a demanding a person and sorts a demanding natural environment for even the most sturdy design and decorating supplies. Standard hard elements such as superior heats, boiling liquids, splashing h2o, effective fragrances and intensely pigmented meals make it mandatory to prefer the most resilient elements for your cooking area design and style.
Counter tops generally make up a considerable proportion of the surface area neighborhood in kitchen area designs, and are also the most usually chosen surface area. The appropriate counter top is unaffected by heat and standing drinking water, is impervious to stains and is thoroughly non-porous to refrain from the unhygienic absorption of foods based mostly germs. Counter top notch supplies can vary tremendously in price range and it is well worth doing some exploration to get which solution is the most charge effectual for your kitchen area pattern.
More cost-effective substance possibilities for counter tops, like as formica and laminate, can commonly do the job just as very well as the quite a bit alot more steeply-priced possibilities of natural stone. The downside to these resources, but nevertheless is that far more caution is essential to stop irreparable hurt this kind of as staining or surface rippling, and the counter number one, and hence your total area, will inevitably have a a whole lot shorter operational lifetime.
The much more steeply-priced materials, nevertheless, can often demand a remarkably excessive level of maintenance and care. The most well known luxury product for use in a kitchen style and design is most certainly normal stone, especially granite, marble, soapstone and slate. Natural stone is to choose from in a large array of varied colors and styles, with every single reduce of stone owning a totally exceptional physical appearance, earning it an evident pick for all those concerned with keeping a large level of splendor all the way through their homes.
As very well as counter tops, consideration necessities to be given to the flooring in your kitchen. Undoubtedly thick pile carpet is foolish strategy, but what other materials will want to you use? Aesthetic issues are absolutely imperative in the flooring you decide for your cooking area style and design, as are cleanliness, cleanliness and comfort. Loaded wood floorboards give any room a cosy and homely feel, but will need to be sealed carefully to avoid water damage. Tile is a preferred and functional solution for the kitchen area style, but tricky porcelain or ceramic can be highly challenging on exhausted feet when cooking supper immediately after a extended day.
Counter tops generally make up a considerable proportion of the surface area neighborhood in kitchen area designs, and are also the most usually chosen surface area. The appropriate counter top is unaffected by heat and standing drinking water, is impervious to stains and is thoroughly non-porous to refrain from the unhygienic absorption of foods based mostly germs. Counter top notch supplies can vary tremendously in price range and it is well worth doing some exploration to get which solution is the most charge effectual for your kitchen area pattern.
More cost-effective substance possibilities for counter tops, like as formica and laminate, can commonly do the job just as very well as the quite a bit alot more steeply-priced possibilities of natural stone. The downside to these resources, but nevertheless is that far more caution is essential to stop irreparable hurt this kind of as staining or surface rippling, and the counter number one, and hence your total area, will inevitably have a a whole lot shorter operational lifetime.
The much more steeply-priced materials, nevertheless, can often demand a remarkably excessive level of maintenance and care. The most well known luxury product for use in a kitchen style and design is most certainly normal stone, especially granite, marble, soapstone and slate. Natural stone is to choose from in a large array of varied colors and styles, with every single reduce of stone owning a totally exceptional physical appearance, earning it an evident pick for all those concerned with keeping a large level of splendor all the way through their homes.
As very well as counter tops, consideration necessities to be given to the flooring in your kitchen. Undoubtedly thick pile carpet is foolish strategy, but what other materials will want to you use? Aesthetic issues are absolutely imperative in the flooring you decide for your cooking area style and design, as are cleanliness, cleanliness and comfort. Loaded wood floorboards give any room a cosy and homely feel, but will need to be sealed carefully to avoid water damage. Tile is a preferred and functional solution for the kitchen area style, but tricky porcelain or ceramic can be highly challenging on exhausted feet when cooking supper immediately after a extended day.
2012年5月29日星期二
Saving Hahamongna, Last Ditch Efforts
The plans the City of Pasadena has in store for Hahamongna canoodle under an umbrella called the Multi-Benefit-Multi-Use Project.
It's a project name that’s semi-manipulative-semi-clever.
It hints that Hahamongna, in its current configuration as a watershed, nature preserve, and wildlife habitat, is of singular and quite possibly exclusionary interest. Something for the connoisseur; a private club that squats on unexploited resources. How much better it would be, the project name implies, to transform Hahamongna Natural Watershed Park into something for everyone.
If the members of the Pasadena City Council, advisory committees and their paid consultants really believe in transparency – and believe it’s in the best interests of current and future generations to rip out acres of the watershed park and replace them with athletic fields, cars, and porta-potties -- then they should call this battle between the city and the citizens of Pasadena, Altadena, and La Canada by its true name: Soccer Fields-Parking lots versus Open Space.
But no, they’re all cagey and coy. Hence, “Multi-Benefit – Multi-Use.” Like they’re selling us something; a shampoo that both “cleans and conditions,” or a deoderant that’s “strong enough for a man and gentle enough for a woman.”
For years, the City of Pasadena has tried to make Hahamongna something other than what it is today. And in the face of public protests, the City has backed down, or appeared to, until it could sneak something in, one acre at a time. Then before you could say multi-benefit-multi-use (and yes, that can take awhile), the City and its advisors produced a completed and approved multi-hundred page master plan to destroy the integrity of the watershed park.
I understand their motivation. At least I think I do. Something to do with grant money and deadlines, which would explain why, in the publicly-held meetings between the City and those opposing development in Hahamongna, there was little time or space for dialogue, free exchange, give-and-take.
Now I suppose Pasadena feels some pressure to wrap things up. Possibly there’s some sort of project deadline looming, where a shovel has to crack the earth for the first soccer field in order to qualify for the grant as a shovel-ready project.
The benefits and uses of Hahamongna as they exist today are many. Hahamongna is a natural watershed, a habitat for birds and other wildlife, a small, peaceful area where humans and other animals can enjoy native and old growth plants, and share in responsible use – biking, riding, walking. An area where youth groups explore and learn about a delicate ecosystem.
Nothing can be semi-preserved. You either save something, or you don’t.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --/I took the one less traveled by..." That's Robert Frost, you know the rest.
When it comes to Hahamongna, those in the majority who represent the City of Pasadena have chosen their road -- not the one less travelled but the one that's paved.
It's a project name that’s semi-manipulative-semi-clever.
It hints that Hahamongna, in its current configuration as a watershed, nature preserve, and wildlife habitat, is of singular and quite possibly exclusionary interest. Something for the connoisseur; a private club that squats on unexploited resources. How much better it would be, the project name implies, to transform Hahamongna Natural Watershed Park into something for everyone.
If the members of the Pasadena City Council, advisory committees and their paid consultants really believe in transparency – and believe it’s in the best interests of current and future generations to rip out acres of the watershed park and replace them with athletic fields, cars, and porta-potties -- then they should call this battle between the city and the citizens of Pasadena, Altadena, and La Canada by its true name: Soccer Fields-Parking lots versus Open Space.
But no, they’re all cagey and coy. Hence, “Multi-Benefit – Multi-Use.” Like they’re selling us something; a shampoo that both “cleans and conditions,” or a deoderant that’s “strong enough for a man and gentle enough for a woman.”
For years, the City of Pasadena has tried to make Hahamongna something other than what it is today. And in the face of public protests, the City has backed down, or appeared to, until it could sneak something in, one acre at a time. Then before you could say multi-benefit-multi-use (and yes, that can take awhile), the City and its advisors produced a completed and approved multi-hundred page master plan to destroy the integrity of the watershed park.
I understand their motivation. At least I think I do. Something to do with grant money and deadlines, which would explain why, in the publicly-held meetings between the City and those opposing development in Hahamongna, there was little time or space for dialogue, free exchange, give-and-take.
Now I suppose Pasadena feels some pressure to wrap things up. Possibly there’s some sort of project deadline looming, where a shovel has to crack the earth for the first soccer field in order to qualify for the grant as a shovel-ready project.
The benefits and uses of Hahamongna as they exist today are many. Hahamongna is a natural watershed, a habitat for birds and other wildlife, a small, peaceful area where humans and other animals can enjoy native and old growth plants, and share in responsible use – biking, riding, walking. An area where youth groups explore and learn about a delicate ecosystem.
Nothing can be semi-preserved. You either save something, or you don’t.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --/I took the one less traveled by..." That's Robert Frost, you know the rest.
When it comes to Hahamongna, those in the majority who represent the City of Pasadena have chosen their road -- not the one less travelled but the one that's paved.
2012年5月28日星期一
Norwalk Health Department shows off new look
The Norwalk Health Department building, built in the 1960s, just recently finished its first renovation, which cost just over $1 million.
Improvements to the office are mostly aesthetic, such as new floor tiles, a new interior paint job and new steps leading to the East Avenue entrance. However, a few of the renovations provide the department with tangible benefits. A new sliding door will help those with trouble walking freely to enter. New energy efficient windows will cut heating and cooling costs for the building.
The total cost for the renovations is $1,095,000. This includes the building needs assessment, elevator refurbishment, HVAC replacement, roof replacement, interior renovations, exterior renovations, and architectural services. The total work took five years to complete.
"It's brightened the building, it's more inviting and accessible," said Theresa Argondezzi, a health educator at the department. "This update is really helpful."
Part of the cost of the renovation was covered by grants procured from the energy efficient windows. The rest of the costs were provided by the city capital budget.
When most people think of the Norwalk Health Department, they think of restaurant inspections and free vaccinations. However, the department offers a variety of other services, including STI testing, lab checks for deer ticks, educational programs and more. Department officials hope that the renovation will give these services more public exposure.
"Now that we're more visible we hope more people will take advantage of the services we offer here," Deanna D'Amore, project coordinator at Norwalk Health, said.
Improvements to the office are mostly aesthetic, such as new floor tiles, a new interior paint job and new steps leading to the East Avenue entrance. However, a few of the renovations provide the department with tangible benefits. A new sliding door will help those with trouble walking freely to enter. New energy efficient windows will cut heating and cooling costs for the building.
The total cost for the renovations is $1,095,000. This includes the building needs assessment, elevator refurbishment, HVAC replacement, roof replacement, interior renovations, exterior renovations, and architectural services. The total work took five years to complete.
"It's brightened the building, it's more inviting and accessible," said Theresa Argondezzi, a health educator at the department. "This update is really helpful."
Part of the cost of the renovation was covered by grants procured from the energy efficient windows. The rest of the costs were provided by the city capital budget.
When most people think of the Norwalk Health Department, they think of restaurant inspections and free vaccinations. However, the department offers a variety of other services, including STI testing, lab checks for deer ticks, educational programs and more. Department officials hope that the renovation will give these services more public exposure.
"Now that we're more visible we hope more people will take advantage of the services we offer here," Deanna D'Amore, project coordinator at Norwalk Health, said.
2012年5月27日星期日
Moscow police detain 40 as gays push for parade
Gay activists tried to stage two demonstrations in Moscow on Sunday to demand the right to hold a gay pride parade in the Russian capital, but they were blocked first by Orthodox Christian opponents and then by police, who detained a total of about 40 people from both sides.
The gay activists first gathered outside the city council building, where a few scuffles occurred as their opponents tried to disrupt the demonstration, decrying homosexuality as a sin. After police broke up that protest, another group tried to stage a second protest at city hall, but once again police moved in and detained participants, including prominent gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev.
The majority of those detained were gay activists, but some of the Christian demonstrators also were pushed into police buses. Police said about 40 people were detained in all.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong.
Activists have long petitioned the Moscow government for permission to stage such a parade, but have always been denied. Former Mayor Yuri Luzhkov described gay parades as "satanic," while current Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said he disapproves of gay gatherings because they could offend the religious beliefs of many Russians.
Gay activist Galina Kaptur criticized city authorities for treating homosexuality as a contagious disease that would be spread through society if gays were allowed to hold a parade.
"It's as if they thought that if all left-handed people held a parade, then afterward everyone would become left-handed," Kaptur said. "This is wrong."
Among the opponents of gay rights was Dmitry Tsarionov, who spoke to the crowd in front of a sign that said "Moscow is not Sodom."
"I will not allow perverts to bring the wrath of God onto our city," he said. "I want our children to live in a country where a sin that so awfully distorts human nature is not preached in schools."
This month, Alexeyev became the first person convicted under a new law in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, which makes it a crime to spread "gay propaganda" among minors. Alexeyev was charged after he picketed St. Petersburg's city hall with a placard that said "homosexuality is not a perversion." He was fined 5,000 rubles (about $170).
The Russian parliament is considering extending the measure nationwide, which gay activists say would make it even easier to ban their public demonstrations.
The gay activists first gathered outside the city council building, where a few scuffles occurred as their opponents tried to disrupt the demonstration, decrying homosexuality as a sin. After police broke up that protest, another group tried to stage a second protest at city hall, but once again police moved in and detained participants, including prominent gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev.
The majority of those detained were gay activists, but some of the Christian demonstrators also were pushed into police buses. Police said about 40 people were detained in all.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong.
Activists have long petitioned the Moscow government for permission to stage such a parade, but have always been denied. Former Mayor Yuri Luzhkov described gay parades as "satanic," while current Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said he disapproves of gay gatherings because they could offend the religious beliefs of many Russians.
Gay activist Galina Kaptur criticized city authorities for treating homosexuality as a contagious disease that would be spread through society if gays were allowed to hold a parade.
"It's as if they thought that if all left-handed people held a parade, then afterward everyone would become left-handed," Kaptur said. "This is wrong."
Among the opponents of gay rights was Dmitry Tsarionov, who spoke to the crowd in front of a sign that said "Moscow is not Sodom."
"I will not allow perverts to bring the wrath of God onto our city," he said. "I want our children to live in a country where a sin that so awfully distorts human nature is not preached in schools."
This month, Alexeyev became the first person convicted under a new law in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, which makes it a crime to spread "gay propaganda" among minors. Alexeyev was charged after he picketed St. Petersburg's city hall with a placard that said "homosexuality is not a perversion." He was fined 5,000 rubles (about $170).
The Russian parliament is considering extending the measure nationwide, which gay activists say would make it even easier to ban their public demonstrations.
2012年5月24日星期四
Quad-City students help build house with 'wow' factors
A partnership involving Quad-City Realtors, home builders, skilled trades contractors and high school students has produced the 13th student-built home in northwest Davenport, replete with hardwood and ceramic flooring, granite countertops and a 10 1/2-foot-long kitchen pantry.
The 2,800-square-foot home at 6214 Fillmore St. was built over the past year by 13 students from the three Davenport public high schools and North Scott High School under the direction of Kirk Hakanson, an employee of Scott Community College.
Two classes of students worked on the house for a total of about six hours a day. Students were involved in every aspect of construction, and did the framing, roofing, siding, trim work and laying of the wood floor essentially by themselves, said Jon Yocum, the Quad-City Area Realtor Association representative.
The students worked alongside skilled tradespeople for the plumbing, electrical, insulation, ceramic, carpet-laying, drywall, masonry, painting and concrete work. That is either because the work must be performed by someone with a license or because it is extremely tricky for beginners to get right working entirely on their own, Yocum said.
For North Scott students Alex Grunder and Garth Larson, framing was the most memorable part of the build.
“You could see the whole house just stand up within just a couple of weeks,” Larson said.
He took the class because, beginning with his freshman year, he heard what an incredible experience it would be and how the knowledge he gained would help him in the future. So far, that has proven to be true, he said.
He hopes to build his own house someday and will begin classes in June at Scott/Western Illinois University in pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering.
“Everybody should sign up,” he said of the class. “It’s a blast.”
Grunder will put his knowledge into practice immediately by working this summer for a home builder. He took the class because he wanted to “learn more about how the business works and how contractors get everything organized,” he said.
For him, the most challenging aspects were the trim and finish details — and not getting upset when things didn’t go right.
One striking feature of the home is the vaulted ceiling in the first-floor living room that connects to the ceiling of the second-floor family room, which has a balcony overlooking the first floor.
“That was a little bit of a higher difficulty factor,” Hakanson said of the vaulting. “It’s an attractive feature, (but) there is a lot more working at height. You have to be careful to do it safely all the time.”
Another “wow” factor is the open kitchen, with its dark, espresso-finish cabinets, tumbled marble backsplash, 10 1/2-foot-long granite-topped island and large-size ceramic tile floor. On one side of the kitchen is a hearth room with a fireplace, plus a dining room on the other side.
The Realtors and the Quad-Cities Homebuilders Association provide financing for the lot, materials and skilled trades contractors. The money comes from a revolving fund that is replenished when the homes are sold each year. This year, the Homebuilders also provided a $2,000 scholarship for students to continue their education.
The 2,800-square-foot home at 6214 Fillmore St. was built over the past year by 13 students from the three Davenport public high schools and North Scott High School under the direction of Kirk Hakanson, an employee of Scott Community College.
Two classes of students worked on the house for a total of about six hours a day. Students were involved in every aspect of construction, and did the framing, roofing, siding, trim work and laying of the wood floor essentially by themselves, said Jon Yocum, the Quad-City Area Realtor Association representative.
The students worked alongside skilled tradespeople for the plumbing, electrical, insulation, ceramic, carpet-laying, drywall, masonry, painting and concrete work. That is either because the work must be performed by someone with a license or because it is extremely tricky for beginners to get right working entirely on their own, Yocum said.
For North Scott students Alex Grunder and Garth Larson, framing was the most memorable part of the build.
“You could see the whole house just stand up within just a couple of weeks,” Larson said.
He took the class because, beginning with his freshman year, he heard what an incredible experience it would be and how the knowledge he gained would help him in the future. So far, that has proven to be true, he said.
He hopes to build his own house someday and will begin classes in June at Scott/Western Illinois University in pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering.
“Everybody should sign up,” he said of the class. “It’s a blast.”
Grunder will put his knowledge into practice immediately by working this summer for a home builder. He took the class because he wanted to “learn more about how the business works and how contractors get everything organized,” he said.
For him, the most challenging aspects were the trim and finish details — and not getting upset when things didn’t go right.
One striking feature of the home is the vaulted ceiling in the first-floor living room that connects to the ceiling of the second-floor family room, which has a balcony overlooking the first floor.
“That was a little bit of a higher difficulty factor,” Hakanson said of the vaulting. “It’s an attractive feature, (but) there is a lot more working at height. You have to be careful to do it safely all the time.”
Another “wow” factor is the open kitchen, with its dark, espresso-finish cabinets, tumbled marble backsplash, 10 1/2-foot-long granite-topped island and large-size ceramic tile floor. On one side of the kitchen is a hearth room with a fireplace, plus a dining room on the other side.
The Realtors and the Quad-Cities Homebuilders Association provide financing for the lot, materials and skilled trades contractors. The money comes from a revolving fund that is replenished when the homes are sold each year. This year, the Homebuilders also provided a $2,000 scholarship for students to continue their education.
2012年5月23日星期三
Citaro Euro VI
A diesel powered service bus from Mercedes Benz holds the record of
being the first such bus to be Euro VI compliant. The Citaro Euro VI is
the cleanest running diesel powered bus being offered with Euro VI
engines thus meeting stringent exhaust emission standards. What sets
this bus apart from the rest is the fact that besides meeting high level
of emission standards its fuel consumption too is reduced by 5% while
oil and AdBlue consumption is also at a new reduced level. The Mercedes
Benz Citaro is eco friendly, economical and safe to be used for regular
bus services. This bus comes at a time when demand is high for
procurement of service vehicles which meet the new Euro VI standards.
The bus with Euro VI compliance offers a smoother ride, a better acoustic experience for both driver and passengers besides lower engine sound. The company has also developed two completely new engines based on the company motto of BlueEfficiency Power.
The first such engine comprises of an in line six cylinder OM 936 with 7.7 liter displacement and the second is an OM 470 with 10.7 liter displacement. These two engines are the ultimate where acceleration and power are concerned. They offer smooth running and efficient maintenance. High level of fuel efficiency apart, these engines also consume oil which is at 50% less than their predecessors. The new engines have technical designs that include crossflow cylinder with four valves per cylinder which offers ultra fast gas exchange process. The cylinder head and crank case are joined together with 6 screws per cylinder offering better stability and rigidity.
Another great leap forward for the global bestseller among regular-service buses: the Mercedes-Benz Citaro has just extended its lead over the competition with a completely new engine generation. This makes the Citaro the first regular-service bus to be fitted and supplied with Euro VI engines as standard,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design and the world's cleanest-running diesel regular-service bus. A raft of further innovations have reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions,Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating. successfully offsetting the extra weight involved in meeting the Euro VI exhaust emissions standard. Mercedes-Benz has also continued to further enhance the Citaro in many other ways,We are professional canada goose jackets for women online sale shop. to create the world's most future-proof, eco-friendly, economical and safe regular-service bus.
Special importance is given to the environmental footprint of regular-service buses, because these vehicles are very often used in areas that are particularly sensitive to environmental damage. For city centres, suburbs and the fast-growing urban areas in Europe and far beyond, environmental protection is a top priority alongside economic considerations when it comes to the purchase and operation of regular-service buses.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro opens up a whole new chapter in this area by successfully meeting both environmental and economic objectives, as the first regular-service bus delivered to customers with a Euro VI-compliant engine. This has been achieved with an entirely new engine generation from Mercedes-Benz.Buy high quality bedding and bed linen from Yorkshire Linen.
This was the ideal time for Mercedes-Benz again to take the lead in the engine development stakes, with several calls for tenders for procurement contracts stipulating Euro VI as mandatory. Incentive schemes are also now in place for meeting the new exhaust emissions standard.
The powerful performance of these engines has also allowed the developers in almost all cases to provide longer axle ratios than in previous engines. To take just two examples, the standard axle ratio in the rigid regular-service bus is now i=6.21 rather than i=7.37, and in the rigid intercity coach i=5.77 instead of i=6.21. This significantly lowers engine speed and noise levels, as well as reducing the number of comfort-impairing gear changes.The concept of indoorpositioningsystem (RTLS) is fast catching up in industries.
As well as being able to feel the new performance features of these engines, the driver can also see them, with the green area of the revolution counter marking the high-economy engine speed range, starting as low as 900 rpm in the Citaro.
So along with even higher fuel economy, the new Euro VI Citaro also offers smoother running and provides a more agreeable acoustic experience for driver and passengers alike, thanks to the lower engine speeds, plus optimised noise insulation and the fuel injection process.
The bus with Euro VI compliance offers a smoother ride, a better acoustic experience for both driver and passengers besides lower engine sound. The company has also developed two completely new engines based on the company motto of BlueEfficiency Power.
The first such engine comprises of an in line six cylinder OM 936 with 7.7 liter displacement and the second is an OM 470 with 10.7 liter displacement. These two engines are the ultimate where acceleration and power are concerned. They offer smooth running and efficient maintenance. High level of fuel efficiency apart, these engines also consume oil which is at 50% less than their predecessors. The new engines have technical designs that include crossflow cylinder with four valves per cylinder which offers ultra fast gas exchange process. The cylinder head and crank case are joined together with 6 screws per cylinder offering better stability and rigidity.
Another great leap forward for the global bestseller among regular-service buses: the Mercedes-Benz Citaro has just extended its lead over the competition with a completely new engine generation. This makes the Citaro the first regular-service bus to be fitted and supplied with Euro VI engines as standard,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design and the world's cleanest-running diesel regular-service bus. A raft of further innovations have reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions,Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating. successfully offsetting the extra weight involved in meeting the Euro VI exhaust emissions standard. Mercedes-Benz has also continued to further enhance the Citaro in many other ways,We are professional canada goose jackets for women online sale shop. to create the world's most future-proof, eco-friendly, economical and safe regular-service bus.
Special importance is given to the environmental footprint of regular-service buses, because these vehicles are very often used in areas that are particularly sensitive to environmental damage. For city centres, suburbs and the fast-growing urban areas in Europe and far beyond, environmental protection is a top priority alongside economic considerations when it comes to the purchase and operation of regular-service buses.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro opens up a whole new chapter in this area by successfully meeting both environmental and economic objectives, as the first regular-service bus delivered to customers with a Euro VI-compliant engine. This has been achieved with an entirely new engine generation from Mercedes-Benz.Buy high quality bedding and bed linen from Yorkshire Linen.
This was the ideal time for Mercedes-Benz again to take the lead in the engine development stakes, with several calls for tenders for procurement contracts stipulating Euro VI as mandatory. Incentive schemes are also now in place for meeting the new exhaust emissions standard.
The powerful performance of these engines has also allowed the developers in almost all cases to provide longer axle ratios than in previous engines. To take just two examples, the standard axle ratio in the rigid regular-service bus is now i=6.21 rather than i=7.37, and in the rigid intercity coach i=5.77 instead of i=6.21. This significantly lowers engine speed and noise levels, as well as reducing the number of comfort-impairing gear changes.The concept of indoorpositioningsystem (RTLS) is fast catching up in industries.
As well as being able to feel the new performance features of these engines, the driver can also see them, with the green area of the revolution counter marking the high-economy engine speed range, starting as low as 900 rpm in the Citaro.
So along with even higher fuel economy, the new Euro VI Citaro also offers smoother running and provides a more agreeable acoustic experience for driver and passengers alike, thanks to the lower engine speeds, plus optimised noise insulation and the fuel injection process.
Dream of carousel in Tri-Cities inches closer to reality
Tri-Citians may be able to ride on a 100-year-old carousel horse as
soon as next summer if a group of business and community leaders
transform a decade-old dream into reality.
Eric Van Winkle,Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. chairman of the 16-member Three Rivers Carousel Foundation, told the Kennewick City Council on Tuesday that the nonprofit could have the Carousel of Dreams up and running in 13 months without using any more taxpayer dollars.
The cost for a new building reminiscent of a circus tent to house the carousel and to construct a mechanical platform so the 44 horses can bob up and down once again would be about $1.9 million, Van Winkle told the council.
That includes $1.6 million for the building, located between the Southridge Sports and Events Complex and the baseball fields. A gazebo would have to be moved so there is room for the 12,000-square-foot building, Van Winkle said.
An estimated $250,000 would get the 1910 Charles Carmel carousel back to mechanical running condition, he said.
"It's 100-year-old world-class art that you can touch and feel,About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores." Van Winkle said.
The council was considering selling off the carousel horses to recoup some of the $830,000 the city invested in the project. The horses, bought in 2003, were restored and have been sitting in city storage.
But the city gave the nonprofit and its new board members another chance to finish the project in January.
Kennewick Mayor Steve Young said the foundation has given the council exactly what was needed.
"I am impressed with how far you have come," he said.The core of an indoor positioning system.
The foundation plans to operate the carousel for public rides, as well as renting out the building for events, such as weddings and corporate gatherings, Van Winkle said. Two banquet rooms and a gift shop are part of the design.
Van Winkle expects the carousel to operate at a loss for the first two years, but said the foundation plans to for the carousel to become self-sustaining.
Councilman Don Britain said he still is convinced the carousel won't generate enough money to sustain itself and will become the city's responsibility.
He said he wanted time to review the group's proposed three-year operating budget.
The foundation's projections show an operating loss of $88,350 in the first year, $60,500 the second year and $32,UK chickencoop Specialist.750 the third year.
The budget starts at about $216,000 for the first year, including one full-time manager and several part-time employees. The initial plan is to keep the carousel open 200 days a year for about eight hours a day.
The foundation estimates ridership will start at 50,000 the first year and increase to 75,000 the third year. Cost would be $2 per ride.
The city would continue to own the land and carousel, and would own the building the foundation will pay for, Van Winkle said. The foundation would lease the property and building from the city and hire an executive director to handle operations.
Councilman Bob Parks said he would support moving forward on the project.
But he said he wants to make sure the city will not end up supporting the carousel financially any more than it has.
The city already has made a large investment in it, he said. Parks previously said he wanted the city to get back the $830,000 already spent on the carousel.
Parks said he thinks the right group of people are behind the project. He hopes they will be successful in finishing the carousel in the 13 months the group has proposed.
"If it is going to go, it needs to go," he said.
Van Winkle said they expect to receive about a third of the money from in-kind donations. Already, $300,000 has been donated without active fundraising, he said. And they still have $40,000 in the bank.
Dwight Marquart, the foundation's vice chairman, told the Herald he and many of the new board members want to see a merry-go-round that will add to the region's quality of life.
"All kinds of people have said they want to be a part of this. There's a lot of passion out there,Bathroom floortiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles." said Marquart, who became involved in the carousel project about a year ago.
The foundation has moved the mechanical platform to a Port of Kennewick-owned building on Columbia Drive so the parts could be inventoried and assembled. That building was leased at no cost, except for the $500 insurance.
More of the pieces are useable than the foundation's board expected, including some of the costly parts like the large gears, Van Winkle said.
He said they are making molds of the parts so pieces can be more easily repaired later.
Eric Van Winkle,Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. chairman of the 16-member Three Rivers Carousel Foundation, told the Kennewick City Council on Tuesday that the nonprofit could have the Carousel of Dreams up and running in 13 months without using any more taxpayer dollars.
The cost for a new building reminiscent of a circus tent to house the carousel and to construct a mechanical platform so the 44 horses can bob up and down once again would be about $1.9 million, Van Winkle told the council.
That includes $1.6 million for the building, located between the Southridge Sports and Events Complex and the baseball fields. A gazebo would have to be moved so there is room for the 12,000-square-foot building, Van Winkle said.
An estimated $250,000 would get the 1910 Charles Carmel carousel back to mechanical running condition, he said.
"It's 100-year-old world-class art that you can touch and feel,About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores." Van Winkle said.
The council was considering selling off the carousel horses to recoup some of the $830,000 the city invested in the project. The horses, bought in 2003, were restored and have been sitting in city storage.
But the city gave the nonprofit and its new board members another chance to finish the project in January.
Kennewick Mayor Steve Young said the foundation has given the council exactly what was needed.
"I am impressed with how far you have come," he said.The core of an indoor positioning system.
The foundation plans to operate the carousel for public rides, as well as renting out the building for events, such as weddings and corporate gatherings, Van Winkle said. Two banquet rooms and a gift shop are part of the design.
Van Winkle expects the carousel to operate at a loss for the first two years, but said the foundation plans to for the carousel to become self-sustaining.
Councilman Don Britain said he still is convinced the carousel won't generate enough money to sustain itself and will become the city's responsibility.
He said he wanted time to review the group's proposed three-year operating budget.
The foundation's projections show an operating loss of $88,350 in the first year, $60,500 the second year and $32,UK chickencoop Specialist.750 the third year.
The budget starts at about $216,000 for the first year, including one full-time manager and several part-time employees. The initial plan is to keep the carousel open 200 days a year for about eight hours a day.
The foundation estimates ridership will start at 50,000 the first year and increase to 75,000 the third year. Cost would be $2 per ride.
The city would continue to own the land and carousel, and would own the building the foundation will pay for, Van Winkle said. The foundation would lease the property and building from the city and hire an executive director to handle operations.
Councilman Bob Parks said he would support moving forward on the project.
But he said he wants to make sure the city will not end up supporting the carousel financially any more than it has.
The city already has made a large investment in it, he said. Parks previously said he wanted the city to get back the $830,000 already spent on the carousel.
Parks said he thinks the right group of people are behind the project. He hopes they will be successful in finishing the carousel in the 13 months the group has proposed.
"If it is going to go, it needs to go," he said.
Van Winkle said they expect to receive about a third of the money from in-kind donations. Already, $300,000 has been donated without active fundraising, he said. And they still have $40,000 in the bank.
Dwight Marquart, the foundation's vice chairman, told the Herald he and many of the new board members want to see a merry-go-round that will add to the region's quality of life.
"All kinds of people have said they want to be a part of this. There's a lot of passion out there,Bathroom floortiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles." said Marquart, who became involved in the carousel project about a year ago.
The foundation has moved the mechanical platform to a Port of Kennewick-owned building on Columbia Drive so the parts could be inventoried and assembled. That building was leased at no cost, except for the $500 insurance.
More of the pieces are useable than the foundation's board expected, including some of the costly parts like the large gears, Van Winkle said.
He said they are making molds of the parts so pieces can be more easily repaired later.
Researchers develop probe for ultracold quantum matter
In a paper published in Nature Physics, a research group from the
Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University reports
the development and demonstration of a novel probe for atomic quantum
matter.Welcome to polishedtiles.
The paper, "Probing an Ultracold-Atom Crystal with Matter Waves,"
describes a proof-of-principle experiment on the diffraction of atomic
de Broglie waves from a strongly correlated gas of atoms held in an
optical lattice.
"Our work extends matter-wave diffraction, a technique that has already proven useful in various scientific disciplines, to the realm of ultracold quantum matter. What we demonstrated is similar to the diffraction of neutrons for the characterization of solid-state systems, but at energies that are a billion times lower," said Dominik Schneble, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook,Rubiks cubepuzzle.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, who led PhD students Bryce Gadway, Daniel Pertot, and Jeremy Reeves in conducting the research.
In the experiment, an artificial atomic crystal is prepared by loading bosonic atoms, cooled down to a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, into a miniature eggcrate-like potential landscape that is generated by several interfering laser beams. The behavior of atoms in this optical lattice closely mimics that of electrons in a conventional solid, but at a lattice period that is three orders of a magnitude larger, providing the experimenters with exquisite control over all relevant parameters in a defect-free system. By increasing the depth of the optical potential, it is possible to reduce quantum-mechanical tunneling and eventually drive the interacting atoms into a localized crystalline state, a Mott insulator.
Studies of such and other strongly correlated phases, which are now conducted at a number of laboratories around the world, have recently propelled ultracold atomic physics into the focus of modern condensed-matter research, and the development of methods to characterize such phases is a central concern. The Stony Brook researchers recognized that Bragg diffraction of atoms may provide a simple yet powerful diagnostic tool that also allows for non-destructive probing.
Starting with a Bose-Einstein condensate, the researchers prepared a coherent atomic matter wave (akin to a coherent laser pulse), which they then directed at the atomic crystal. The wave-particle nature of atoms allowed them to control the wavelength of the incident atoms through their relative velocity. "Because the de-Broglie wavelength can easily be tuned, our technique precludes limitations on spatial resolution," said Bryce Gadway, first author of the paper, who is slated to join JILA (Boulder) as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow this summer.
By scanning the atom's wavelength, the researchers observed distinct Bragg resonances in the scattered signal, which revealed the crystalline lattice structure. From the signal, they were also able to characterize the localization of atoms on individual lattice sites,UK chickencoop Specialist. which is dominated by zero-point motion. Furthermore, upon reducing the atom's localization ("melting" of the crystal), the Stony Brook team observed inelastic scattering in the band structure.
As a first application, the researchers prepared and detected an atomic spin-mixture with forced-antiferromagnetic order. "In the future, our technique may be extended to the characterization of various novel states of ultracold matter, such as charge- and spin-density waves, and magnetically ordered ground states of quantum gas mixtures," said co-author Daniel Pertot,Features useful information about glassmosaic tiles, now a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge, U.K.
Independent of any such potential applications, adds Schneble, "Our experiment provides a nice example of wave-particle duality, where ultracold atoms serve both as localized particles and as coherent waves diffracting from them."
"Our work extends matter-wave diffraction, a technique that has already proven useful in various scientific disciplines, to the realm of ultracold quantum matter. What we demonstrated is similar to the diffraction of neutrons for the characterization of solid-state systems, but at energies that are a billion times lower," said Dominik Schneble, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook,Rubiks cubepuzzle.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, who led PhD students Bryce Gadway, Daniel Pertot, and Jeremy Reeves in conducting the research.
In the experiment, an artificial atomic crystal is prepared by loading bosonic atoms, cooled down to a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, into a miniature eggcrate-like potential landscape that is generated by several interfering laser beams. The behavior of atoms in this optical lattice closely mimics that of electrons in a conventional solid, but at a lattice period that is three orders of a magnitude larger, providing the experimenters with exquisite control over all relevant parameters in a defect-free system. By increasing the depth of the optical potential, it is possible to reduce quantum-mechanical tunneling and eventually drive the interacting atoms into a localized crystalline state, a Mott insulator.
Studies of such and other strongly correlated phases, which are now conducted at a number of laboratories around the world, have recently propelled ultracold atomic physics into the focus of modern condensed-matter research, and the development of methods to characterize such phases is a central concern. The Stony Brook researchers recognized that Bragg diffraction of atoms may provide a simple yet powerful diagnostic tool that also allows for non-destructive probing.
Starting with a Bose-Einstein condensate, the researchers prepared a coherent atomic matter wave (akin to a coherent laser pulse), which they then directed at the atomic crystal. The wave-particle nature of atoms allowed them to control the wavelength of the incident atoms through their relative velocity. "Because the de-Broglie wavelength can easily be tuned, our technique precludes limitations on spatial resolution," said Bryce Gadway, first author of the paper, who is slated to join JILA (Boulder) as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow this summer.
By scanning the atom's wavelength, the researchers observed distinct Bragg resonances in the scattered signal, which revealed the crystalline lattice structure. From the signal, they were also able to characterize the localization of atoms on individual lattice sites,UK chickencoop Specialist. which is dominated by zero-point motion. Furthermore, upon reducing the atom's localization ("melting" of the crystal), the Stony Brook team observed inelastic scattering in the band structure.
As a first application, the researchers prepared and detected an atomic spin-mixture with forced-antiferromagnetic order. "In the future, our technique may be extended to the characterization of various novel states of ultracold matter, such as charge- and spin-density waves, and magnetically ordered ground states of quantum gas mixtures," said co-author Daniel Pertot,Features useful information about glassmosaic tiles, now a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge, U.K.
Independent of any such potential applications, adds Schneble, "Our experiment provides a nice example of wave-particle duality, where ultracold atoms serve both as localized particles and as coherent waves diffracting from them."
Vista councilman to seek seat on Tri-City health board
Vista Councilman Steve Gronke won’t be running for re-election in November, but instead will seek a seat on the Tri-City Healthcare District board of directors, he announced at a council meeting Tuesday.
He said the board, whose meetings have a reputation for frequent disorder, reflects badly on the public health care district.
“It has become very apparent to me that the CEO and staff over there is excellent … and is being poorly represented,” Gronke said. “If you go to Tri-City you get excellent care.”
Tri-City Chief Executive Larry Anderson has been credited with drastically improving the finances of the Tri-City Medical Center and the district as a whole. The board, however, is known for its turmoil. The district has even sued one of its own board directors, Kathleen Sterling, over what it views as disruptive behavior. She also has been forced to attend meetings via video conference because she is not allowed in the board room.
She says the district has targeted her for being outspoken.
The board also had banned another director, Randy Horton, from attending closed-session meetings because it believed he had leaked confidential information. The ban has since been lifted.
The state Board of Registered Nursing placed board member Charlene Anderson on three years’ probation last November for failing to account for prescription painkillers while she worked as a registered nurse at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas in 2006. She said it was a matter of failing to properly document removal of the drugs, which were for patients.
And board member George Coulter has used the title Ph.D. with his name, but the academic credential comes from a dubious source.
“I think I can be helpful to improving their image,” Gronke said.
The terms of the board positions held by RoseMarie Reno, Anderson, Coulter and Sterling expire this year.
Gronke serves on the board for the Tri-City Hospital Foundation.
The 12-year council veteran and educator said that of his accomplishments at the city, he is most proud of the facilities built with the Proposition L bond measure, approved by voters in 2006.
His tenure has not been without blemish. Gronke was arrested Dec. 30 in Brengle Terrace Park after an apparently physical argument with his wife. The district attorney declined to prosecute.
“It will be brought up, but I don’t think it’s going to be a factor in the election,” Gronke said. “Me and my wife are working through some things … and I think most people understand that sort of thing happens.”
In 2010 Gronke ran unsuccessfully for county supervisor.
Former Carlsbad Councilwomen Ramona Finnila and Julie Nygaard have said they intend to run for the Tri-City board, as well. Both also serve on the Tri-City Foundation.
He said the board, whose meetings have a reputation for frequent disorder, reflects badly on the public health care district.
“It has become very apparent to me that the CEO and staff over there is excellent … and is being poorly represented,” Gronke said. “If you go to Tri-City you get excellent care.”
Tri-City Chief Executive Larry Anderson has been credited with drastically improving the finances of the Tri-City Medical Center and the district as a whole. The board, however, is known for its turmoil. The district has even sued one of its own board directors, Kathleen Sterling, over what it views as disruptive behavior. She also has been forced to attend meetings via video conference because she is not allowed in the board room.
She says the district has targeted her for being outspoken.
The board also had banned another director, Randy Horton, from attending closed-session meetings because it believed he had leaked confidential information. The ban has since been lifted.
The state Board of Registered Nursing placed board member Charlene Anderson on three years’ probation last November for failing to account for prescription painkillers while she worked as a registered nurse at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas in 2006. She said it was a matter of failing to properly document removal of the drugs, which were for patients.
And board member George Coulter has used the title Ph.D. with his name, but the academic credential comes from a dubious source.
“I think I can be helpful to improving their image,” Gronke said.
The terms of the board positions held by RoseMarie Reno, Anderson, Coulter and Sterling expire this year.
Gronke serves on the board for the Tri-City Hospital Foundation.
The 12-year council veteran and educator said that of his accomplishments at the city, he is most proud of the facilities built with the Proposition L bond measure, approved by voters in 2006.
His tenure has not been without blemish. Gronke was arrested Dec. 30 in Brengle Terrace Park after an apparently physical argument with his wife. The district attorney declined to prosecute.
“It will be brought up, but I don’t think it’s going to be a factor in the election,” Gronke said. “Me and my wife are working through some things … and I think most people understand that sort of thing happens.”
In 2010 Gronke ran unsuccessfully for county supervisor.
Former Carlsbad Councilwomen Ramona Finnila and Julie Nygaard have said they intend to run for the Tri-City board, as well. Both also serve on the Tri-City Foundation.
2012年5月22日星期二
Electing a Superior Court Judge
Choosing a good melon requires due diligence. You have to inspect the candidates; thump, sniff and weigh them, examine the rinds. Check for bruises and leaks to ensure the fruit hasn't been compromised or corrupted in any way.
But what would happen if you couldn't get up close and personal with the melons?
Well, then you'd have to make your choice based on circumstantial evidence. You could start by checking the labels, which of course were designed and written by those trying to sell you a particular melon in the first place. You could, I suppose, ask the opinion of some self-described melon experts or others with a background in the melon industry. But could they be trusted -- particularly if they showed some deep and vital interest in your melon selection? Might they not have a hidden melon agenda?
It would be helpful if the melon could say a word or two on its own behalf, unfortunately, that's counter to what we all believe is a very basic law.
So, where would that leave you? Playing the melon lottery.
A little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, but no knowledge at all is even worse. Without some rudimentary facts, figures, information, how can you choose anything -- dog, car, melon, superior court judge.
Who is Kim Smith, really? Shannon Knight? Craig Gold?
If you don’t know, join the club. When voters hit the booth on June 5, only a small percentage will cast a vote in the LA County Superior judicial elections, and an even smaller percentage will have any idea why they bothered.
Due to the theoretical separation of the three branches of government, everyone has to pretend that judges exist in a bubble, a bubble free of pre-conceived notions and prejudice of any kind. Which is why the candidates can’t campaign, state a party affiliation, or let us know how they stand on issues such as immigration, gun control, human rights, law enforcement, frivolous lawsuits – you name it.
It's an odd sort of race, in that we never actually see the contestants run.
The candidates are allowed a vague written statement regarding their philosophy of law in general. And often these statements are not only elegant but superbly enigmatic.
Election results can be surprising, but only to insiders who know or care who the candidates really are. In 2006, Lynn Olson, who ran a Hermosa Beach bagel shop and had not practiced law for more than 15 years, unseated a veteran judge. Now Olson is the incumbent in next month's election.
It seems, if you're going to vote for a judicial candidate, you have no choice but to base your decision on the endorsement of a third party such as the LA County Bar Association, or a news agency, tea leaves, a blog, or a dartboard.
Oh, I don't know, maybe I'm just irritated because I did a lot of research and ended up none the wiser. Maybe justice should remain an entity or philosophy cloaked in clouds of mystery and tradition -- something pure, august, beyond our reach and comprehension.
But what would happen if you couldn't get up close and personal with the melons?
Well, then you'd have to make your choice based on circumstantial evidence. You could start by checking the labels, which of course were designed and written by those trying to sell you a particular melon in the first place. You could, I suppose, ask the opinion of some self-described melon experts or others with a background in the melon industry. But could they be trusted -- particularly if they showed some deep and vital interest in your melon selection? Might they not have a hidden melon agenda?
It would be helpful if the melon could say a word or two on its own behalf, unfortunately, that's counter to what we all believe is a very basic law.
So, where would that leave you? Playing the melon lottery.
A little knowledge may be a dangerous thing, but no knowledge at all is even worse. Without some rudimentary facts, figures, information, how can you choose anything -- dog, car, melon, superior court judge.
Who is Kim Smith, really? Shannon Knight? Craig Gold?
If you don’t know, join the club. When voters hit the booth on June 5, only a small percentage will cast a vote in the LA County Superior judicial elections, and an even smaller percentage will have any idea why they bothered.
Due to the theoretical separation of the three branches of government, everyone has to pretend that judges exist in a bubble, a bubble free of pre-conceived notions and prejudice of any kind. Which is why the candidates can’t campaign, state a party affiliation, or let us know how they stand on issues such as immigration, gun control, human rights, law enforcement, frivolous lawsuits – you name it.
It's an odd sort of race, in that we never actually see the contestants run.
The candidates are allowed a vague written statement regarding their philosophy of law in general. And often these statements are not only elegant but superbly enigmatic.
Election results can be surprising, but only to insiders who know or care who the candidates really are. In 2006, Lynn Olson, who ran a Hermosa Beach bagel shop and had not practiced law for more than 15 years, unseated a veteran judge. Now Olson is the incumbent in next month's election.
It seems, if you're going to vote for a judicial candidate, you have no choice but to base your decision on the endorsement of a third party such as the LA County Bar Association, or a news agency, tea leaves, a blog, or a dartboard.
Oh, I don't know, maybe I'm just irritated because I did a lot of research and ended up none the wiser. Maybe justice should remain an entity or philosophy cloaked in clouds of mystery and tradition -- something pure, august, beyond our reach and comprehension.
2012年5月21日星期一
BWI airport becomes art gallery to celebrate human rights
Some of the bravest people in the world can be found at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. The Dalai Lama.
These and many other figures are featured in a photo exhibit organized to honor human-rights defenders around the world.
Part of the airport's upper concourse, just off the main atrium of the international terminal, has been transformed into a photo gallery to display the traveling exhibit "Speak Truth to Power," which runs through May 31.
The exhibit was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that was formed in 1968 in memory of the former U.S. senator and attorney general, who was assassinated that year at age 42.
It is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the RFK Center. All of the black-and-white images were taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams.
Kerry Kennedy's book has been adapted for the stage by playwright Ariel Dorfman. Titled "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," the play was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2000, broadcast on PBS and subsequently produced around the world.
Since it was first displayed at Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2000, the photo exhibit has traveled to more than 20 cities on four continents. The BWI stop marks one of the first times it has been on view in the Mid-Atlantic since the inaugural showing.
"My father once said that 'those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world," said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former lieutenant governor of Maryland and an RFK Center board member. "Through this exhibition, we ensure that these courageous human-rights defenders will find companions in Baltimore and beyond."
The free exhibit gives viewers an opportunity to learn about 53 men and women who faced imprisonment, torture and, in some cases, death, for confronting issues ranging from poverty and domestic violence to police brutality and sex slavery. A brief biography accompanies each portrait. In some cases, such as Tutu's fight against South Africa's apartheid system, the figures have received worldwide attention. Others are less well known.
The exhibit's goal, organizers say, is to show that that people around the globe are working to create a "just and peaceful" world.
Adams traveled extensively to create the portraits. In some, his subjects stare directly at the camera, and only the face or part of a face is shown. In others, they are shown standing or seated. Clothes and backdrops help depict the diversity of the subjects.
On a recent day, the large, striking photographs caught the attention of people waiting to meet someone arriving on a plane or walking from the international terminal to catch a domestic flight. Some stopped just for a minute or two; others lingered and read the biographies and quotes from Robert Kennedy.
Many American airports display artwork, but not many do so to the degree that BWI does.
For many years, the directors of BWI have used both permanent and temporary art exhibits to help create "a strong, valuable sense of place," said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean.
Examples range from color photos of Baltimore and Washington to a large glass crab that has moved around the airport.
One of the largest permanent exhibits is local artist David Hess' "Momentum Study" sculpture, located in the rental car facility. The "daily garage" features ceramic tile murals that mark each level of the garage.
The RFK Center's exhibit is the latest in a series of temporary exhibits at the airport. Others have included paintings from the U.S. Air Force depicting military and space program aircraft and historic aviation events, work from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and five exhibits by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.
With millions of passengers passing through each year, BWI is a fitting location for exhibits such as "Speak Truth to Power," representatives say.
Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. The Dalai Lama.
These and many other figures are featured in a photo exhibit organized to honor human-rights defenders around the world.
Part of the airport's upper concourse, just off the main atrium of the international terminal, has been transformed into a photo gallery to display the traveling exhibit "Speak Truth to Power," which runs through May 31.
The exhibit was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that was formed in 1968 in memory of the former U.S. senator and attorney general, who was assassinated that year at age 42.
It is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the RFK Center. All of the black-and-white images were taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams.
Kerry Kennedy's book has been adapted for the stage by playwright Ariel Dorfman. Titled "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," the play was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2000, broadcast on PBS and subsequently produced around the world.
Since it was first displayed at Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2000, the photo exhibit has traveled to more than 20 cities on four continents. The BWI stop marks one of the first times it has been on view in the Mid-Atlantic since the inaugural showing.
"My father once said that 'those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world," said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former lieutenant governor of Maryland and an RFK Center board member. "Through this exhibition, we ensure that these courageous human-rights defenders will find companions in Baltimore and beyond."
The free exhibit gives viewers an opportunity to learn about 53 men and women who faced imprisonment, torture and, in some cases, death, for confronting issues ranging from poverty and domestic violence to police brutality and sex slavery. A brief biography accompanies each portrait. In some cases, such as Tutu's fight against South Africa's apartheid system, the figures have received worldwide attention. Others are less well known.
The exhibit's goal, organizers say, is to show that that people around the globe are working to create a "just and peaceful" world.
Adams traveled extensively to create the portraits. In some, his subjects stare directly at the camera, and only the face or part of a face is shown. In others, they are shown standing or seated. Clothes and backdrops help depict the diversity of the subjects.
On a recent day, the large, striking photographs caught the attention of people waiting to meet someone arriving on a plane or walking from the international terminal to catch a domestic flight. Some stopped just for a minute or two; others lingered and read the biographies and quotes from Robert Kennedy.
Many American airports display artwork, but not many do so to the degree that BWI does.
For many years, the directors of BWI have used both permanent and temporary art exhibits to help create "a strong, valuable sense of place," said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean.
Examples range from color photos of Baltimore and Washington to a large glass crab that has moved around the airport.
One of the largest permanent exhibits is local artist David Hess' "Momentum Study" sculpture, located in the rental car facility. The "daily garage" features ceramic tile murals that mark each level of the garage.
The RFK Center's exhibit is the latest in a series of temporary exhibits at the airport. Others have included paintings from the U.S. Air Force depicting military and space program aircraft and historic aviation events, work from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and five exhibits by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.
With millions of passengers passing through each year, BWI is a fitting location for exhibits such as "Speak Truth to Power," representatives say.
2012年5月20日星期日
Rehabbed house gains suite space
This four-bedroom, single-family Colonial in Cambridgeport has undergone an architect-designed total rehab, opening up the living spaces and bedrooms and adding a basement-level au pair/in-law suite.
The 2,875-square-foot home at 32 Decatur St. features Brazilian cherrywood floors throughout, formal living and dining rooms with an open gas fireplace between them, a black granite and maple kitchen and redone master bedroom suite. It’s on the market for $1.399 million.
The exterior of the house has new olive-painted clapboard siding, white trim and all-new windows and roof. It’s surrounded by fencing and has landscaped areas, a brick driveway and granite-paver patio.
You enter the home into a cherrywood foyer with a closet that holds the home’s new forced-air gas heating and central air-conditioning system.
To the right through a French door are formal living and dining rooms with cherrywood floors, recessed lighting and lots of windows. The two rooms are semi-divided by a wall with a two-sided gas fireplace. The dining room features a built-in storage cabinet/bar.
To the left of the foyer, through a second French door is a kitchen rehabbed and expanded with a den/dining area in 2008. This recessed-lit space also has lots of windows, including a three-bay window bumpout. There are 21 maple cabinets (many large pantry sized), Absolut black granite counters and island and Jenn-Air stainless-steel appliances, including a double-door refrigerator, dishwasher and four-burner gas stove with a fluted hood. The den/dining area has a antique-style cast-iron gas fireplace and glass doors out to a mahogany-decked back porch.
The porch leads down to a fenced-in granite paver patio with a trellis gate leading to a small landscaped back yard.
Back inside, there’s also a ceramic-tiled half bath near a staircase that leads up to three bedrooms on the second floor. The master bedroom suite has cherrywood floors, recessed lighting, a vaulted ceiling and a cast-iron antique fireplace. There’s a walk-in closet space and the master bathroom has black ceramic tile floors and white tile walls for a walk-in shower with a just-added glass door.
The second bedroom has vaulted ceilings and recessed lighting. But the third bedroom is smaller. In between is a full ceramic-tiled bath.
The current owners dug down into the basement to create a 900-square-foot au pair/in-law suite, with black ceramic tile floors. There’s a living room, with a bath off to one side, a kitchen with functional cabinets and average appliances, and a bedroom with a full bathroom that has its own stacked washer and dryer. The suite has a ground-level private entrance.
There’s also a separate laundry room in the basement for the main house.
The 2,875-square-foot home at 32 Decatur St. features Brazilian cherrywood floors throughout, formal living and dining rooms with an open gas fireplace between them, a black granite and maple kitchen and redone master bedroom suite. It’s on the market for $1.399 million.
The exterior of the house has new olive-painted clapboard siding, white trim and all-new windows and roof. It’s surrounded by fencing and has landscaped areas, a brick driveway and granite-paver patio.
You enter the home into a cherrywood foyer with a closet that holds the home’s new forced-air gas heating and central air-conditioning system.
To the right through a French door are formal living and dining rooms with cherrywood floors, recessed lighting and lots of windows. The two rooms are semi-divided by a wall with a two-sided gas fireplace. The dining room features a built-in storage cabinet/bar.
To the left of the foyer, through a second French door is a kitchen rehabbed and expanded with a den/dining area in 2008. This recessed-lit space also has lots of windows, including a three-bay window bumpout. There are 21 maple cabinets (many large pantry sized), Absolut black granite counters and island and Jenn-Air stainless-steel appliances, including a double-door refrigerator, dishwasher and four-burner gas stove with a fluted hood. The den/dining area has a antique-style cast-iron gas fireplace and glass doors out to a mahogany-decked back porch.
The porch leads down to a fenced-in granite paver patio with a trellis gate leading to a small landscaped back yard.
Back inside, there’s also a ceramic-tiled half bath near a staircase that leads up to three bedrooms on the second floor. The master bedroom suite has cherrywood floors, recessed lighting, a vaulted ceiling and a cast-iron antique fireplace. There’s a walk-in closet space and the master bathroom has black ceramic tile floors and white tile walls for a walk-in shower with a just-added glass door.
The second bedroom has vaulted ceilings and recessed lighting. But the third bedroom is smaller. In between is a full ceramic-tiled bath.
The current owners dug down into the basement to create a 900-square-foot au pair/in-law suite, with black ceramic tile floors. There’s a living room, with a bath off to one side, a kitchen with functional cabinets and average appliances, and a bedroom with a full bathroom that has its own stacked washer and dryer. The suite has a ground-level private entrance.
There’s also a separate laundry room in the basement for the main house.
2012年5月17日星期四
BWI airport becomes art gallery to celebrate human rights
Part of the airport's upper concourse, just off the main atrium of the international terminal, has been transformed into a photo gallery to display the traveling exhibit "Speak Truth to Power," which runs through May 31.
The exhibit was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that was formed in 1968 in memory of the former U.S. senator and attorney general, who was assassinated that year at age 42.
It is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the RFK Center. All of the black-and-white images were taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams.
Kerry Kennedy's book has been adapted for the stage by playwright Ariel Dorfman. Titled "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," the play was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2000, broadcast on PBS and subsequently produced around the world.
Since it was first displayed at Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2000, the photo exhibit has traveled to more than 20 cities on four continents. The BWI stop marks one of the first times it has been on view in the Mid-Atlantic since the inaugural showing.
"My father once said that 'those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world," said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former lieutenant governor of Maryland and an RFK Center board member. "Through this exhibition, we ensure that these courageous human-rights defenders will find companions in Baltimore and beyond."
The free exhibit gives viewers an opportunity to learn about 53 men and women who faced imprisonment, torture and, in some cases, death, for confronting issues ranging from poverty and domestic violence to police brutality and sex slavery. A brief biography accompanies each portrait. In some cases, such as Tutu's fight against South Africa's apartheid system, the figures have received worldwide attention. Others are less well known.
The exhibit's goal, organizers say, is to show that that people around the globe are working to create a "just and peaceful" world.
Adams traveled extensively to create the portraits. In some, his subjects stare directly at the camera, and only the face or part of a face is shown. In others, they are shown standing or seated. Clothes and backdrops help depict the diversity of the subjects.
On a recent day, the large, striking photographs caught the attention of people waiting to meet someone arriving on a plane or walking from the international terminal to catch a domestic flight. Some stopped just for a minute or two; others lingered and read the biographies and quotes from Robert Kennedy.
Many American airports display artwork, but not many do so to the degree that BWI does.
For many years, the directors of BWI have used both permanent and temporary art exhibits to help create "a strong, valuable sense of place," said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean.
Examples range from color photos of Baltimore and Washington to a large glass crab that has moved around the airport.
One of the largest permanent exhibits is local artist David Hess' "Momentum Study" sculpture, located in the rental car facility. The "daily garage" features ceramic tile murals that mark each level of the garage.
The RFK Center's exhibit is the latest in a series of temporary exhibits at the airport. Others have included paintings from the U.S. Air Force depicting military and space program aircraft and historic aviation events, work from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and five exhibits by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.
With millions of passengers passing through each year, BWI is a fitting location for exhibits such as "Speak Truth to Power," representatives say.
The exhibit was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that was formed in 1968 in memory of the former U.S. senator and attorney general, who was assassinated that year at age 42.
It is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the RFK Center. All of the black-and-white images were taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams.
Kerry Kennedy's book has been adapted for the stage by playwright Ariel Dorfman. Titled "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark," the play was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2000, broadcast on PBS and subsequently produced around the world.
Since it was first displayed at Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2000, the photo exhibit has traveled to more than 20 cities on four continents. The BWI stop marks one of the first times it has been on view in the Mid-Atlantic since the inaugural showing.
"My father once said that 'those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world," said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former lieutenant governor of Maryland and an RFK Center board member. "Through this exhibition, we ensure that these courageous human-rights defenders will find companions in Baltimore and beyond."
The free exhibit gives viewers an opportunity to learn about 53 men and women who faced imprisonment, torture and, in some cases, death, for confronting issues ranging from poverty and domestic violence to police brutality and sex slavery. A brief biography accompanies each portrait. In some cases, such as Tutu's fight against South Africa's apartheid system, the figures have received worldwide attention. Others are less well known.
The exhibit's goal, organizers say, is to show that that people around the globe are working to create a "just and peaceful" world.
Adams traveled extensively to create the portraits. In some, his subjects stare directly at the camera, and only the face or part of a face is shown. In others, they are shown standing or seated. Clothes and backdrops help depict the diversity of the subjects.
On a recent day, the large, striking photographs caught the attention of people waiting to meet someone arriving on a plane or walking from the international terminal to catch a domestic flight. Some stopped just for a minute or two; others lingered and read the biographies and quotes from Robert Kennedy.
Many American airports display artwork, but not many do so to the degree that BWI does.
For many years, the directors of BWI have used both permanent and temporary art exhibits to help create "a strong, valuable sense of place," said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean.
Examples range from color photos of Baltimore and Washington to a large glass crab that has moved around the airport.
One of the largest permanent exhibits is local artist David Hess' "Momentum Study" sculpture, located in the rental car facility. The "daily garage" features ceramic tile murals that mark each level of the garage.
The RFK Center's exhibit is the latest in a series of temporary exhibits at the airport. Others have included paintings from the U.S. Air Force depicting military and space program aircraft and historic aviation events, work from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and five exhibits by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.
With millions of passengers passing through each year, BWI is a fitting location for exhibits such as "Speak Truth to Power," representatives say.
2012年5月16日星期三
House Hunting in ... Cyprus
This two-story white stone villa in the picturesque town of Pano Lefkara in south-central Cyprus was built around 1900. A pair of adjoining small houses with a total of four bedrooms, the villa largely retains its original structure, though it has been updated by the well-known Cypriot architect Yiannis Armeftis with a swimming pool and features like a spa room and a courtyard.
The property has two entrances from the street, one for each unit. It currently functions as a holiday guesthouse called the RedBlueDoor House — with one set of front doors painted red and the other blue. The business makes a profit of about 3,000 euros (about $3,900) a month, said Marina Armefti, the owner.
With a total 2,500 square feet of space, it could be used as two homes or one; the furnishings, many of them traditional, are included in the asking price. Both units are air-conditioned and have wooden-beam ceilings, as well as wood and stone floors and finishes, much of them in Cypriot pine. The two living rooms each have wood-burning stoves, and the two custom kitchens have stained wooden cupboards, and countertops and backsplashes of multicolored Italian ceramic tile. Most windows have traditional plank shutters. The terrace has views of the mountains and the Mediterranean.
The red front doors open to a living room with the kitchen to the left. Beyond is a landscaped courtyard, with a 12-by-15-foot swimming pool between the units. Two ground-floor bedrooms, each with an en-suite bath, can be reached from the courtyard. An external staircase leads to a terraced second floor, which has a contemporary-style pergola leading to a windowed room housing a spa, a steambath and an adjoining bathroom.
The blue front doors also open to a living room, then to a sitting area with a wall of folding glass doors facing a patio. The kitchen and a bathroom are adjacent to the sitting area. The patio has a sliding wooden partition separating it from the swimming pool, and an external stairway leading to a terrace with a pergola. Doors there lead to two bedrooms and a shared bath.
The property has no private parking, but a public parking lot is about 20 yards away. Pano Lefkara, a scenic hill town legally protected from development, has about 1,100 residents. Its artisans are renowned for their lace and silverwork. There are small markets for grocery shopping, and a supermarket is about five minutes away by car, Ms. Armefti said. The village also has several restaurants and coffee shops. The closest beach is Governor’s Beach, which is about 15 minutes away. The villa is a 40-minute drive from the international airport in Larnaca, the third-largest city on the southern coast.
In some cities, Paphos and Limassol among them, foreigners constitute as much as 75 percent of the market, so the global downturn dealt the country a severe blow.
In Paphos in particular, prices fell as much as 50 percent, while values in Nicosia, the capital, where 90 percent of buyers are Cypriots, fell very little, said Mike Braunholtz, sales director with the agency Prestige Property Group.
“The market is beginning to re-emerge now,” he said, adding that prices have regained about half of what they lost, depending on the area.
An upscale beachfront home would typically cost 4,000 to 5,000 euros per square meter, while a luxury home in Larnaca, the large city closest to Pano Lefkara, would run about 2,000 euros per square meter, said Sophia Morphis, an agent with Africanos Real Estate, which has the listing for this villa.
The villa, which has been on the market for less than a month, is priced at 1,956 euros per square meter, which is a bit higher than most in the area because it’s a holiday home, Ms. Morphis said.
On the southern coast in Limassol, which has drawn a large influx of Russian buyers in recent years, a high-end home on the beach might cost more than 10,000 euros per square meter, said Panayiotis Makedonas, director of the agency Country Rose Ltd., an affiliate of Sotheby’s International Real Estate.
The property has two entrances from the street, one for each unit. It currently functions as a holiday guesthouse called the RedBlueDoor House — with one set of front doors painted red and the other blue. The business makes a profit of about 3,000 euros (about $3,900) a month, said Marina Armefti, the owner.
With a total 2,500 square feet of space, it could be used as two homes or one; the furnishings, many of them traditional, are included in the asking price. Both units are air-conditioned and have wooden-beam ceilings, as well as wood and stone floors and finishes, much of them in Cypriot pine. The two living rooms each have wood-burning stoves, and the two custom kitchens have stained wooden cupboards, and countertops and backsplashes of multicolored Italian ceramic tile. Most windows have traditional plank shutters. The terrace has views of the mountains and the Mediterranean.
The red front doors open to a living room with the kitchen to the left. Beyond is a landscaped courtyard, with a 12-by-15-foot swimming pool between the units. Two ground-floor bedrooms, each with an en-suite bath, can be reached from the courtyard. An external staircase leads to a terraced second floor, which has a contemporary-style pergola leading to a windowed room housing a spa, a steambath and an adjoining bathroom.
The blue front doors also open to a living room, then to a sitting area with a wall of folding glass doors facing a patio. The kitchen and a bathroom are adjacent to the sitting area. The patio has a sliding wooden partition separating it from the swimming pool, and an external stairway leading to a terrace with a pergola. Doors there lead to two bedrooms and a shared bath.
The property has no private parking, but a public parking lot is about 20 yards away. Pano Lefkara, a scenic hill town legally protected from development, has about 1,100 residents. Its artisans are renowned for their lace and silverwork. There are small markets for grocery shopping, and a supermarket is about five minutes away by car, Ms. Armefti said. The village also has several restaurants and coffee shops. The closest beach is Governor’s Beach, which is about 15 minutes away. The villa is a 40-minute drive from the international airport in Larnaca, the third-largest city on the southern coast.
In some cities, Paphos and Limassol among them, foreigners constitute as much as 75 percent of the market, so the global downturn dealt the country a severe blow.
In Paphos in particular, prices fell as much as 50 percent, while values in Nicosia, the capital, where 90 percent of buyers are Cypriots, fell very little, said Mike Braunholtz, sales director with the agency Prestige Property Group.
“The market is beginning to re-emerge now,” he said, adding that prices have regained about half of what they lost, depending on the area.
An upscale beachfront home would typically cost 4,000 to 5,000 euros per square meter, while a luxury home in Larnaca, the large city closest to Pano Lefkara, would run about 2,000 euros per square meter, said Sophia Morphis, an agent with Africanos Real Estate, which has the listing for this villa.
The villa, which has been on the market for less than a month, is priced at 1,956 euros per square meter, which is a bit higher than most in the area because it’s a holiday home, Ms. Morphis said.
On the southern coast in Limassol, which has drawn a large influx of Russian buyers in recent years, a high-end home on the beach might cost more than 10,000 euros per square meter, said Panayiotis Makedonas, director of the agency Country Rose Ltd., an affiliate of Sotheby’s International Real Estate.
2012年5月15日星期二
Romney in Iowa tags Obama for debt 'prairie fire'
Republican Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama's reckless spending has fanned a "prairie fire of debt" while portraying himself in a speech in battleground Iowa as the defender of fiscal responsibility.
The likely GOP presidential nominee is trying to frame his campaign against the Democratic president as a contest of fairness versus irresponsibility.
In a speech Tuesday afternoon in Iowa, Romney will say that, in his words, "a prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation and every day we fail to act we feed that fire with our own lack of resolve."
The debt-and-spending argument runs counter to Obama's focus on fairness, in which he says wealthier Americans should pay their fair share.
Romney was making his first visit to Iowa since the caucuses in January.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of the national debt in Iowa, a Midwestern battleground he hasn't visited since the state's leadoff nominating caucuses.
Romney's speech Tuesday afternoon in Des Moines is expected to promote spending discipline, a turn from the social issues that marked the campaign last week. Obama announced on Wednesday that he supports gay marriage, then Romney reiterated his opposition to same-sex unions.
Romney and Obama returned to the campaign's top issues, jobs and the economy, on Monday. Romney has argued that the nation's debt is choking the economic recovery and has criticized Obama for spending programs including the 2009 economic stimulus and the 2010 health care overhaul.
"We have a real philosophical difference here in this presidential election coming up," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a Romney supporter. "This is right where I want the debate to be."
Obama sought Monday to blunt one of Romney's chief campaign arguments, that the former private equity firm executive is better suited to guide the economy to more rapid growth. Obama's campaign aired a new television ad accusing Romney of costing jobs at a Kansas City, Mo., steel mill that his company failed to restructure.
Romney countered that while at Bain Capital and as governor of Massachusetts he helped create tens of thousands of public and private sector jobs. His campaign released its own Web video promoting his time at Bain.
Although Romney's private-sector experience has been used against him before, Obama's campaign is introducing the argument in battleground states ahead of the general election. One of his rivals for the Republican nomination, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, characterized Romney as a corporate raider before the New Hampshire primary in January.
Obama is airing the ad in Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, all states Obama won in 2008 and viewed as competitive this year.
Romney's visit also returns the political spotlight to Iowa, where both campaigns see opportunity in their battle for the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency.
Romney finished in a near-tie for first place in the state's Jan. 3 caucuses. Obama won Iowa's Democratic caucuses four years ago and carried the state in the general election.
Obama was more aggressive in visiting Iowa this spring as Romney continued to campaign for the GOP nomination.
Obama's new ad marks his fifth this year. The campaign has spent more than $2.5 million on advertising for Iowa, which will yield only six electoral votes. Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their wives have visited the state this year.
The likely GOP presidential nominee is trying to frame his campaign against the Democratic president as a contest of fairness versus irresponsibility.
In a speech Tuesday afternoon in Iowa, Romney will say that, in his words, "a prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation and every day we fail to act we feed that fire with our own lack of resolve."
The debt-and-spending argument runs counter to Obama's focus on fairness, in which he says wealthier Americans should pay their fair share.
Romney was making his first visit to Iowa since the caucuses in January.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of the national debt in Iowa, a Midwestern battleground he hasn't visited since the state's leadoff nominating caucuses.
Romney's speech Tuesday afternoon in Des Moines is expected to promote spending discipline, a turn from the social issues that marked the campaign last week. Obama announced on Wednesday that he supports gay marriage, then Romney reiterated his opposition to same-sex unions.
Romney and Obama returned to the campaign's top issues, jobs and the economy, on Monday. Romney has argued that the nation's debt is choking the economic recovery and has criticized Obama for spending programs including the 2009 economic stimulus and the 2010 health care overhaul.
"We have a real philosophical difference here in this presidential election coming up," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a Romney supporter. "This is right where I want the debate to be."
Obama sought Monday to blunt one of Romney's chief campaign arguments, that the former private equity firm executive is better suited to guide the economy to more rapid growth. Obama's campaign aired a new television ad accusing Romney of costing jobs at a Kansas City, Mo., steel mill that his company failed to restructure.
Romney countered that while at Bain Capital and as governor of Massachusetts he helped create tens of thousands of public and private sector jobs. His campaign released its own Web video promoting his time at Bain.
Although Romney's private-sector experience has been used against him before, Obama's campaign is introducing the argument in battleground states ahead of the general election. One of his rivals for the Republican nomination, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, characterized Romney as a corporate raider before the New Hampshire primary in January.
Obama is airing the ad in Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, all states Obama won in 2008 and viewed as competitive this year.
Romney's visit also returns the political spotlight to Iowa, where both campaigns see opportunity in their battle for the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency.
Romney finished in a near-tie for first place in the state's Jan. 3 caucuses. Obama won Iowa's Democratic caucuses four years ago and carried the state in the general election.
Obama was more aggressive in visiting Iowa this spring as Romney continued to campaign for the GOP nomination.
Obama's new ad marks his fifth this year. The campaign has spent more than $2.5 million on advertising for Iowa, which will yield only six electoral votes. Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their wives have visited the state this year.
2012年5月14日星期一
Reincarnating old wood into something chic
The next time you turn up your nose at the sight of a black lacquer dresser from 1984 gleaming in the sun on your neighbor’s lawn, don’t be such a hater. There’s art in them thar drawers. And don’t you dare sneer at that collapsed barn on that overgrown, abandoned plot along your commute. Any day now it may be a focal point of a celebrity’s posh-as-hell kitchen.
Ron Sauer, owner of Excelsior Wood Products on Sawkill Road in Kingston, has been getting splinters for over 10 years from salvaging timbers from buildings, barns, swamps, piers, textile mills and river bottoms to rework, refinish and refine into functional and decorative wood products. Working antique woods means Sauer lays hands on not-oft-seen timbers, such as antique heart pine or redwood oak. It also means that he gets to work on not-oft-experienced projects, like Chef David Bouley’s restaurant, or Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s house.
A multitude of middlemen drop off timbers to Excelsior from demolition sites — one such site being the former Sheffield Dairy at Columbia University which used to distribute milk in glass jars to much of the New York City area in horse-drawn carts. Excelsior puts the timbers through a cleaning, drying and refinishing process in the saw mill that repurposes the aged lumber into everything from wood paneling to counter tops to floor tiles.
Reclaimed timbers have made such a swift impact that Excelsior has been doing work in famous homes of notables like Whoopi Goldberg and Richard Gere. Sauer’s timbers can even be spotted on the pages of a recent Architectural Digest spread on Brooke Shields’ home as floors, moldings, shutters, stair treads and even a front door, as well as last year’s “Extreme Home Makeover” TV show.
“People are looking for more green products, and are inspired to reuse things,” said Sauer’s sister, Christina Sauer, an administrator at the 21,000-square-foot facility. “[Customers are choosing reclaimed barn timbers and woods because] the look is in, and it’s beautiful. People want to see something historical with a story and something that no one else has.” Christina said customers love the unique and distinct stories behind the timbers, which most typically include rare or no-longer-extant oaks.
The showroom houses tiled samples of every stain configuration from pickled light grey to dark ebony, and samples cut into subway tiles, bricks, checkering and more; some with obvious wood grains and others completely smoothed out. “The woods develop a natural patina that you cannot recreate,” said Christina.
Once the wood has been brushed, kiln-dried and disinfected, cut, planed and sent into the finishing process, Excelsior carries through their business model of “green” by sending out their sawdust to be compressed into “Bio-Bricks” for home-heating.
Mushroom wood is wood taken from the boards used in mushroom factories to grow the fungi. The crude, dark-stained timber is now entering the architectural aesthetics world as paneling that offers an unrefined and textured character to walls of homes or restaurants. “It’s about as rustic a look as you get,” said Christina, who added that her brother was one of the pioneers of removing the rough, untreated Hemlock boards from mushroom factories and reworking them into paneling, flooring and cabinet components.
Ron Sauer, owner of Excelsior Wood Products on Sawkill Road in Kingston, has been getting splinters for over 10 years from salvaging timbers from buildings, barns, swamps, piers, textile mills and river bottoms to rework, refinish and refine into functional and decorative wood products. Working antique woods means Sauer lays hands on not-oft-seen timbers, such as antique heart pine or redwood oak. It also means that he gets to work on not-oft-experienced projects, like Chef David Bouley’s restaurant, or Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s house.
A multitude of middlemen drop off timbers to Excelsior from demolition sites — one such site being the former Sheffield Dairy at Columbia University which used to distribute milk in glass jars to much of the New York City area in horse-drawn carts. Excelsior puts the timbers through a cleaning, drying and refinishing process in the saw mill that repurposes the aged lumber into everything from wood paneling to counter tops to floor tiles.
Reclaimed timbers have made such a swift impact that Excelsior has been doing work in famous homes of notables like Whoopi Goldberg and Richard Gere. Sauer’s timbers can even be spotted on the pages of a recent Architectural Digest spread on Brooke Shields’ home as floors, moldings, shutters, stair treads and even a front door, as well as last year’s “Extreme Home Makeover” TV show.
“People are looking for more green products, and are inspired to reuse things,” said Sauer’s sister, Christina Sauer, an administrator at the 21,000-square-foot facility. “[Customers are choosing reclaimed barn timbers and woods because] the look is in, and it’s beautiful. People want to see something historical with a story and something that no one else has.” Christina said customers love the unique and distinct stories behind the timbers, which most typically include rare or no-longer-extant oaks.
The showroom houses tiled samples of every stain configuration from pickled light grey to dark ebony, and samples cut into subway tiles, bricks, checkering and more; some with obvious wood grains and others completely smoothed out. “The woods develop a natural patina that you cannot recreate,” said Christina.
Once the wood has been brushed, kiln-dried and disinfected, cut, planed and sent into the finishing process, Excelsior carries through their business model of “green” by sending out their sawdust to be compressed into “Bio-Bricks” for home-heating.
Mushroom wood is wood taken from the boards used in mushroom factories to grow the fungi. The crude, dark-stained timber is now entering the architectural aesthetics world as paneling that offers an unrefined and textured character to walls of homes or restaurants. “It’s about as rustic a look as you get,” said Christina, who added that her brother was one of the pioneers of removing the rough, untreated Hemlock boards from mushroom factories and reworking them into paneling, flooring and cabinet components.
2012年5月13日星期日
Grizzlies beat Clippers 90-88 to force seventh game
Marc Gasol scored 23 points, Zach Randolph had 18 points and 16 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzles rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 90-88 Friday night, forcing a decisive seventh game in the series.
Rudy Gay and Mike Conley added 13 points each to help the Grizzlies win for the first time in the Western Conference series at Staples Center.
Blake Griffin scored 17 points despite a sprained left knee that limited his jumping ability, and Eric Bledoe added 14 off the bench to lead the Clippers, who blew an eight-point lead in the fourth along with a second consecutive chance to close out what would have been a landmark playoff victory for the beleaguered franchise.
Chris Paul scored 11 points playing with a strained right hip flexor and a jammed right middle finger.
The Clippers are seeking just the third playoff series win in franchise history. Game 7 will be Sunday in Memphis.
Only eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a seven-game series. Top-seeded San Antonio awaits the winner in the conference semifinals.
Tied 66-all starting the fourth, the Clippers scored 10 straight to take their first lead since the game's opening minutes. Bledsoe scored six points.
But the Grizzlies weren't done.
They went on a 17-4 run, including 10 straight points, to take an 85-80 lead. Gay scored five in a row as the Clippers missed and Randolph came up with a big block. Conley hit a 3-pointer and Randolph tipped in the ball to close out the spurt.
Griffin made two free throws before Randolph scored for an 87-82 lead. Conley fouled Paul, and he missed the first and made the second to leave Los Angeles trailing 87-83 with 56 seconds left.
The Clippers were forced to keep fouling, and the Grizzlies made 3 of 8 to stay alive. The Clippers' Caron Butler missed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go as red-clad fans headed for the exits before Randy Foye hit a 3 with 3 seconds left.
Memphis opened the second half on a 12-8 run to extend its lead to 54-46, with Randolph having six points and Gasol four. Los Angeles answered right back, with Paul bookending a 14-6 spurt that tied the game at 60. Griffin and DeAndre Jordan got in two huge dunks before Paul's jumper from the right corner brought the Clippers all the way back from an eight-point deficit earlier in the quarter.
Butler's 3-pointer gave the Clippers their first lead, 63-62, since the game's opening minutes. Griffin took the ball away from Gasol and fed Bledsoe for a layup that tied the game at 66 going into the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies led by nine points in the first half, when they outrebounded the Clippers. Paul twice drew the Clippers within one in the second quarter before Gasol's three-point play extended Memphis' lead to 42-38 at the break. Paul and Griffin combined for 12 points and six rebounds in the half, with Paul playing 18 minutes and Griffin 15. The Grizzlies had 13 turnovers in the half, when neither team shot well.
Rudy Gay and Mike Conley added 13 points each to help the Grizzlies win for the first time in the Western Conference series at Staples Center.
Blake Griffin scored 17 points despite a sprained left knee that limited his jumping ability, and Eric Bledoe added 14 off the bench to lead the Clippers, who blew an eight-point lead in the fourth along with a second consecutive chance to close out what would have been a landmark playoff victory for the beleaguered franchise.
Chris Paul scored 11 points playing with a strained right hip flexor and a jammed right middle finger.
The Clippers are seeking just the third playoff series win in franchise history. Game 7 will be Sunday in Memphis.
Only eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a seven-game series. Top-seeded San Antonio awaits the winner in the conference semifinals.
Tied 66-all starting the fourth, the Clippers scored 10 straight to take their first lead since the game's opening minutes. Bledsoe scored six points.
But the Grizzlies weren't done.
They went on a 17-4 run, including 10 straight points, to take an 85-80 lead. Gay scored five in a row as the Clippers missed and Randolph came up with a big block. Conley hit a 3-pointer and Randolph tipped in the ball to close out the spurt.
Griffin made two free throws before Randolph scored for an 87-82 lead. Conley fouled Paul, and he missed the first and made the second to leave Los Angeles trailing 87-83 with 56 seconds left.
The Clippers were forced to keep fouling, and the Grizzlies made 3 of 8 to stay alive. The Clippers' Caron Butler missed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go as red-clad fans headed for the exits before Randy Foye hit a 3 with 3 seconds left.
Memphis opened the second half on a 12-8 run to extend its lead to 54-46, with Randolph having six points and Gasol four. Los Angeles answered right back, with Paul bookending a 14-6 spurt that tied the game at 60. Griffin and DeAndre Jordan got in two huge dunks before Paul's jumper from the right corner brought the Clippers all the way back from an eight-point deficit earlier in the quarter.
Butler's 3-pointer gave the Clippers their first lead, 63-62, since the game's opening minutes. Griffin took the ball away from Gasol and fed Bledsoe for a layup that tied the game at 66 going into the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies led by nine points in the first half, when they outrebounded the Clippers. Paul twice drew the Clippers within one in the second quarter before Gasol's three-point play extended Memphis' lead to 42-38 at the break. Paul and Griffin combined for 12 points and six rebounds in the half, with Paul playing 18 minutes and Griffin 15. The Grizzlies had 13 turnovers in the half, when neither team shot well.
2012年5月10日星期四
UMass graduation speaker Ted Koppel addresses future of journalism
News icon Ted Koppel says social media like Twitter and Facebook may have played a role in the Arab Spring that brought down despotic governments in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and elsewhere.
But he worries they are also bringing down the quality of journalism.
"If we ignore all the serious issues or try to reduce them all to 140 characters or fewer exchanges, we are going to have ... genuine problems, not just in the economy, but in foreign policy, education, health," he said. "They all require more than the quick exchanges in our social media. They really require some good journalism and good in-depth journalism."
Koppel, a 41-time Emmy winner, will deliver the commencement address Friday to 5,000 undergraduates at McGuirk Stadium at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in ceremonies that begin at 4 p.m.
Koppel worked at ABC News for 42 years. He said his commencement speech will address his concerns about a media culture that now places increasing emphasis on quick-hit news.
"We're so thrilled with the notion that we can reach each other at all times, within a millisecond, no matter where the other person is, that we are paying less and less attention to the content," Koppel said. "Media is far less important than what the media carries."
In a 30-minute telephone interview with the Gazette from the Boston hotel where he was staying last week, Koppel covered a range of issues that he said are plaguing journalism. He said he is discouraged about the future of the profession.
Where lengthy investigations were once prized, speed is now emphasized, he said. Accuracy and concern for facts have been replaced by bias, carefully packaged to build an audience.
The declining fortunes of the country's major media organizations can largely be attributed to a business model that hasn't kept up with technological advancements, Koppel said, noting that newspapers, radio and television have all suffered in the Internet age.
"When was the last time you have seen a one-hour special on television?" the longtime host of ABC's "Nightline" asked. "I can tell you the last one I saw. It was on Charlie Sheen. When they do specials now it is on something trivial and almost obscene. To devote an hour to the struggles of a Hollywood actor when there are so many issues that really scream for attention really is obscene."
He focused the majority of his comments on television.
"It was easy for ABC, NBC and CBS to commit themselves to good news coverage back in the day when there were only three networks and when the networks made so much money on their entertainment programs," Koppel said. "They could afford to be generous about underwriting their news divisions."
Cable television and the Internet have not greatly expanded the pool of news consumers, he said. Instead, they have left media organizations competing for thinner and thinner pieces of the pie. And that has produced an incentive to cater to peoples' biases and give them what they want rather than what they need, he said.
"We have Fox on the right, MSNBC on the left. They are giving people the news that resonates with their existing biases and that's not really what the news business ought to be," Koppel said.
The impact of a polarized media is evident in the country's politics, he said.
"I think the partisan nature of some media, and the vapidness of most of the rest of the media, puts politicians in the position where it's very, very difficult to do what politicians need to do in a republic," Koppel said. "And that is to find common ground, compromise, move toward the other side a little bit. That is harder to do in this climate."
Koppel expressed a sliver of hope that in-depth journalism will regain a place in the media world. For 25 years, viewers of "Nightline" proved that there is demand for serious journalism, he said.
He described National Public Radio, The New York Times and the television programs "60 Minutes" and "Frontline" as standard bearers in their respective fields. But they are increasingly isolated, he said.
Koppel said he objects to the trend of media organizations doing news "lightly" all the time because of the 24-hour demand for it. He blames news outlets for not giving reporters enough time to cover issues comprehensively, to the detriment of journalism.
"It takes time to gather news," Koppel said. "It takes time to get into a culture, a society, to find where the bodies are buried and find out what makes a society tick."
Koppel, who made his name reporting on the Vietnam War, said this problem is especially evident in foreign affairs reporting. He said that ABC had 30 foreign correspondents in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, broadcast networks generally have four or five foreign correspondents worldwide, he said.
"It is a very complex place out there," Koppel said. "The way you cover the world is not by parachuting anchors in when war breaks out. The way you cover the world is having people on the ground who tell you six months before the war breaks out that things are getting very dangerous.
"Foreign correspondents," he added, "should be out there as an early warning system, not the people who come in and scoop up after the ambulance."
Koppel said the three years he spent covering the Vietnam War were the most formative of his career.
"That was really where I learned my trade," he said. "If you follow the crowd you're always going to be late. Go out and find your own story. There are plenty."
But he worries they are also bringing down the quality of journalism.
"If we ignore all the serious issues or try to reduce them all to 140 characters or fewer exchanges, we are going to have ... genuine problems, not just in the economy, but in foreign policy, education, health," he said. "They all require more than the quick exchanges in our social media. They really require some good journalism and good in-depth journalism."
Koppel, a 41-time Emmy winner, will deliver the commencement address Friday to 5,000 undergraduates at McGuirk Stadium at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in ceremonies that begin at 4 p.m.
Koppel worked at ABC News for 42 years. He said his commencement speech will address his concerns about a media culture that now places increasing emphasis on quick-hit news.
"We're so thrilled with the notion that we can reach each other at all times, within a millisecond, no matter where the other person is, that we are paying less and less attention to the content," Koppel said. "Media is far less important than what the media carries."
In a 30-minute telephone interview with the Gazette from the Boston hotel where he was staying last week, Koppel covered a range of issues that he said are plaguing journalism. He said he is discouraged about the future of the profession.
Where lengthy investigations were once prized, speed is now emphasized, he said. Accuracy and concern for facts have been replaced by bias, carefully packaged to build an audience.
The declining fortunes of the country's major media organizations can largely be attributed to a business model that hasn't kept up with technological advancements, Koppel said, noting that newspapers, radio and television have all suffered in the Internet age.
"When was the last time you have seen a one-hour special on television?" the longtime host of ABC's "Nightline" asked. "I can tell you the last one I saw. It was on Charlie Sheen. When they do specials now it is on something trivial and almost obscene. To devote an hour to the struggles of a Hollywood actor when there are so many issues that really scream for attention really is obscene."
He focused the majority of his comments on television.
"It was easy for ABC, NBC and CBS to commit themselves to good news coverage back in the day when there were only three networks and when the networks made so much money on their entertainment programs," Koppel said. "They could afford to be generous about underwriting their news divisions."
Cable television and the Internet have not greatly expanded the pool of news consumers, he said. Instead, they have left media organizations competing for thinner and thinner pieces of the pie. And that has produced an incentive to cater to peoples' biases and give them what they want rather than what they need, he said.
"We have Fox on the right, MSNBC on the left. They are giving people the news that resonates with their existing biases and that's not really what the news business ought to be," Koppel said.
The impact of a polarized media is evident in the country's politics, he said.
"I think the partisan nature of some media, and the vapidness of most of the rest of the media, puts politicians in the position where it's very, very difficult to do what politicians need to do in a republic," Koppel said. "And that is to find common ground, compromise, move toward the other side a little bit. That is harder to do in this climate."
Koppel expressed a sliver of hope that in-depth journalism will regain a place in the media world. For 25 years, viewers of "Nightline" proved that there is demand for serious journalism, he said.
He described National Public Radio, The New York Times and the television programs "60 Minutes" and "Frontline" as standard bearers in their respective fields. But they are increasingly isolated, he said.
Koppel said he objects to the trend of media organizations doing news "lightly" all the time because of the 24-hour demand for it. He blames news outlets for not giving reporters enough time to cover issues comprehensively, to the detriment of journalism.
"It takes time to gather news," Koppel said. "It takes time to get into a culture, a society, to find where the bodies are buried and find out what makes a society tick."
Koppel, who made his name reporting on the Vietnam War, said this problem is especially evident in foreign affairs reporting. He said that ABC had 30 foreign correspondents in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, broadcast networks generally have four or five foreign correspondents worldwide, he said.
"It is a very complex place out there," Koppel said. "The way you cover the world is not by parachuting anchors in when war breaks out. The way you cover the world is having people on the ground who tell you six months before the war breaks out that things are getting very dangerous.
"Foreign correspondents," he added, "should be out there as an early warning system, not the people who come in and scoop up after the ambulance."
Koppel said the three years he spent covering the Vietnam War were the most formative of his career.
"That was really where I learned my trade," he said. "If you follow the crowd you're always going to be late. Go out and find your own story. There are plenty."
2012年5月9日星期三
Next Big Growth Area for Inkjet Printing? Could It Be Ceramic Tile?
Doc is always blown away by the plethora of niche markets in printing, and never stops being amazed at where opportunities are coming from. One good place to look is in the mergers and acquisition area, where established players often gobble up the up-and-coming firms in new areas.
But I was still surprised to see that EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, recently announced it had acquired privately-held Cretaprint S.L. based in Castellón, Spain, a leading developer of inkjet printers for ceramic tile printing. That’s right, ceramic tile printing.
“We are benefitting from strong traction in our industrial inkjet segment and are excited about expanding into the ceramic tile market, which represents a tremendous growth opportunity for EFI,” said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI. “We have been tracking the swift transformation from analog to digital technology in tile imaging for quite some time, and have been deeply impressed with the fast growth and global leadership position of Cretaprint.”
Apparently, industry analysts continue to project rapid growth in ceramic tile inkjet printing, as noted by Dr. Ray Work, Work Associates. “The tile industry is moving towards inkjet,” said Dr.Work. “The financial incentives are so great that the entire industry is converting rapidly to inkjet. The ceramic tile manufacturer can pay back their investment in an inkjet digital press for ceramic tiles in as little as six months.”
The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) conducts annual membership surveys. Their 2011 Industrial Printing Survey Report indicates that over 75 percent of its members utilize digital printing and also consider ceramic tile printing to be a strong market opportunity.
EFI will use its knowledge of inkjet technology to enhance Cretaprint’s quality of output, software control, color management and more. Cretaprint has over 1,700 global customers.
Doc would have never guessed that ceramic tile printing represented such a big opportunity. Just goes to show you that good technology eventually finds its way into just about every manufacturing process. Now if I could just get the ceramic tile to feed through my desktop printer, I might discover a new career.
But I was still surprised to see that EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, recently announced it had acquired privately-held Cretaprint S.L. based in Castellón, Spain, a leading developer of inkjet printers for ceramic tile printing. That’s right, ceramic tile printing.
“We are benefitting from strong traction in our industrial inkjet segment and are excited about expanding into the ceramic tile market, which represents a tremendous growth opportunity for EFI,” said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI. “We have been tracking the swift transformation from analog to digital technology in tile imaging for quite some time, and have been deeply impressed with the fast growth and global leadership position of Cretaprint.”
Apparently, industry analysts continue to project rapid growth in ceramic tile inkjet printing, as noted by Dr. Ray Work, Work Associates. “The tile industry is moving towards inkjet,” said Dr.Work. “The financial incentives are so great that the entire industry is converting rapidly to inkjet. The ceramic tile manufacturer can pay back their investment in an inkjet digital press for ceramic tiles in as little as six months.”
The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) conducts annual membership surveys. Their 2011 Industrial Printing Survey Report indicates that over 75 percent of its members utilize digital printing and also consider ceramic tile printing to be a strong market opportunity.
EFI will use its knowledge of inkjet technology to enhance Cretaprint’s quality of output, software control, color management and more. Cretaprint has over 1,700 global customers.
Doc would have never guessed that ceramic tile printing represented such a big opportunity. Just goes to show you that good technology eventually finds its way into just about every manufacturing process. Now if I could just get the ceramic tile to feed through my desktop printer, I might discover a new career.
2012年5月8日星期二
CIA thwarts bomb plot
The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said Monday.
The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said.
The FBI is examining the latest bomb to see whether it could have passed through airport security and brought down an airplane, officials said. They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday that she had been briefed about an "undetectable" device that was "going to be on a U.S.-bound airliner."
There were no immediate plans to change security procedures at U.S. airports.
The would-be suicide bomber, based in Yemen, had not yet picked a target or bought a plane ticket when the CIA stepped in and seized the bomb, officials said. It's not immediately clear what happened to the alleged bomber.
White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said President Barack Obama learned about the plot in April and was assured the device posed no threat to the public.
"The president thanks all intelligence and counterterrorism professionals involved for their outstanding work and for serving with the extraordinary skill and commitment that their enormous responsibilities demand," Hayden said.
The operation unfolded even as the White House and Department of Homeland Security assured the American public that they knew of no al-Qaida plots against the U.S. around the anniversary of bin Laden's death. The operation was carried out over the past few weeks, officials said.
"We have no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the anniversary of bin Laden's death," White House press secretary Jay Carney said on April 26.
On May 1, the Department of Homeland Security said, "We have no indication of any specific, credible threats or plots against the U.S. tied to the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death."
The White House did not explain those statements Monday.
The CIA mission was such a secret, even top lawmakers were not told about it as the operation unfolded, one U.S. official said Monday.
The AP learned about the thwarted plot last week but agreed to White House and CIA requests not to publish it immediately because the sensitive intelligence operation was still under way. Once officials said those concerns were allayed, the AP decided to disclose the plot Monday despite requests from the Obama administration to wait for an official announcement Tuesday.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security acknowledged the existence of the bomb late Monday, but there were no immediate plans to adjust security procedures at airports. Other officials, who were briefed on the operation, insisted on anonymity to discuss details of the plot, many of which the U.S. has not officially acknowledged.
The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said.
The FBI is examining the latest bomb to see whether it could have passed through airport security and brought down an airplane, officials said. They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday that she had been briefed about an "undetectable" device that was "going to be on a U.S.-bound airliner."
There were no immediate plans to change security procedures at U.S. airports.
The would-be suicide bomber, based in Yemen, had not yet picked a target or bought a plane ticket when the CIA stepped in and seized the bomb, officials said. It's not immediately clear what happened to the alleged bomber.
White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said President Barack Obama learned about the plot in April and was assured the device posed no threat to the public.
"The president thanks all intelligence and counterterrorism professionals involved for their outstanding work and for serving with the extraordinary skill and commitment that their enormous responsibilities demand," Hayden said.
The operation unfolded even as the White House and Department of Homeland Security assured the American public that they knew of no al-Qaida plots against the U.S. around the anniversary of bin Laden's death. The operation was carried out over the past few weeks, officials said.
"We have no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the anniversary of bin Laden's death," White House press secretary Jay Carney said on April 26.
On May 1, the Department of Homeland Security said, "We have no indication of any specific, credible threats or plots against the U.S. tied to the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death."
The White House did not explain those statements Monday.
The CIA mission was such a secret, even top lawmakers were not told about it as the operation unfolded, one U.S. official said Monday.
The AP learned about the thwarted plot last week but agreed to White House and CIA requests not to publish it immediately because the sensitive intelligence operation was still under way. Once officials said those concerns were allayed, the AP decided to disclose the plot Monday despite requests from the Obama administration to wait for an official announcement Tuesday.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security acknowledged the existence of the bomb late Monday, but there were no immediate plans to adjust security procedures at airports. Other officials, who were briefed on the operation, insisted on anonymity to discuss details of the plot, many of which the U.S. has not officially acknowledged.
2012年5月7日星期一
Kids get a glimpse of running a business
Just ask 9-year-old Bailey Varner, who spent several hours of her Friday night with four others squeezing the juice out of 400 lemons.
"It was hurtful," the Bowen Elementary second-grader said, mimicking the twisting motion.
But it paid off: She and her two friends, Tisha Betts, 9, and Amaia Jefferson, 10, raked in $336 in profits on Sunday as part of an event meant to teach children real-life business practices like budgeting, goal-setting, finding investors and the importance of a quality product.
"It shows that if you make something good, people will keep coming back," said Sefra Lopez, Amaia's mom, as a couple cars were in line at the makeshift drive-through set up at the edge of the Village Foods parking lot in Bryan.
Lemonade Day -- which is carried out in 39 cities across the U.S., including seven in Texas -- was started in 2007 by Houston resident Michael Holthouse. He founded a computer network services company that grew in six years to employ 1,600 people and drew revenues topping $100 million before selling it in 1997 to Sprint.
More than 1,100 local youngsters registered for the day, said Rose Selman, community director of Lemonade Day Bryan-College Station.
A crowd favorite was Amaia's watermelon lemonade, which won the local best-tasting lemonade award last year. Amaia, who has piqued the interest of an investor wanting to start a snow cone business, declined to divulge her recipe.
"It tastes like fresh watermelon," said Christina Mandujano, a Bryan resident, after sipping a $1.50 cup of the drink.
A portion of the stand's profits will go to Bowen's art program. The kids are encouraged to donate part of their profits, pay back their investors -- parents, in most cases -- spend a little on themselves, and save the rest.
The sense of social responsibility was apparent a mile or so away in the parking lot of Central Texas Orthotics & Prosthetics on Villa Maria Road.
There, 8-year-old twins Lexi and Lanie Davis sold pink lemonade, amid a pink stand and pink everything in honor of their grandmother and great grandmother, both of whom are battling breast cancer.
"We just wanted to help any way we could," said Lexi, a Bonham Elementary third-grader. Part of the $144 in profits raised will go to the American Cancer Society.
About the girls' effort, their great grandmother, Ann Popham, said "it's indescribable" as she choked back tears.
Kris Davis, the girls' mom, said the business skills are secondary to the day's real lesson.
"It's important that when you're making money and blessed you help out people down on their luck," she said.
"It was hurtful," the Bowen Elementary second-grader said, mimicking the twisting motion.
But it paid off: She and her two friends, Tisha Betts, 9, and Amaia Jefferson, 10, raked in $336 in profits on Sunday as part of an event meant to teach children real-life business practices like budgeting, goal-setting, finding investors and the importance of a quality product.
"It shows that if you make something good, people will keep coming back," said Sefra Lopez, Amaia's mom, as a couple cars were in line at the makeshift drive-through set up at the edge of the Village Foods parking lot in Bryan.
Lemonade Day -- which is carried out in 39 cities across the U.S., including seven in Texas -- was started in 2007 by Houston resident Michael Holthouse. He founded a computer network services company that grew in six years to employ 1,600 people and drew revenues topping $100 million before selling it in 1997 to Sprint.
More than 1,100 local youngsters registered for the day, said Rose Selman, community director of Lemonade Day Bryan-College Station.
A crowd favorite was Amaia's watermelon lemonade, which won the local best-tasting lemonade award last year. Amaia, who has piqued the interest of an investor wanting to start a snow cone business, declined to divulge her recipe.
"It tastes like fresh watermelon," said Christina Mandujano, a Bryan resident, after sipping a $1.50 cup of the drink.
A portion of the stand's profits will go to Bowen's art program. The kids are encouraged to donate part of their profits, pay back their investors -- parents, in most cases -- spend a little on themselves, and save the rest.
The sense of social responsibility was apparent a mile or so away in the parking lot of Central Texas Orthotics & Prosthetics on Villa Maria Road.
There, 8-year-old twins Lexi and Lanie Davis sold pink lemonade, amid a pink stand and pink everything in honor of their grandmother and great grandmother, both of whom are battling breast cancer.
"We just wanted to help any way we could," said Lexi, a Bonham Elementary third-grader. Part of the $144 in profits raised will go to the American Cancer Society.
About the girls' effort, their great grandmother, Ann Popham, said "it's indescribable" as she choked back tears.
Kris Davis, the girls' mom, said the business skills are secondary to the day's real lesson.
"It's important that when you're making money and blessed you help out people down on their luck," she said.
2012年5月6日星期日
2 bodies found at residence
Two unidentified bodies have been found at a Mississippi residence associated with a man suspected of abducting a Tennessee woman and her three young daughters, who are believed to be in "extreme danger," authorities said Saturday.
FBI spokesman Joel Siskovic said the bodies were found late Friday night or early Saturday morning in a residence associated with Adam Mayes, 35.
Mayes is charged in Tennessee with abducting Jo Ann Bain and her daughters. He has been described by authorities as "armed and extremely dangerous."
Siskovic said authorities on the scene were not able to positively identify the bodies. He would not say if the bodies were children.
The missing girls are 8-year-old Kyliyah Bain, 12-year-old Alexandria and 14-year-old Adrienne. They were last seen April 27 in Hardeman County, Tenn., which is about 70 miles east of Memphis. The woman's husband reported her missing and her vehicle was found abandoned.
Authorities were still trying to determine if Jo Ann Bain went with Mayes willingly. He was last seen Tuesday in Guntown, Miss., about 80 miles southeast of Hardeman County, Tenn.
The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service announced Saturday a reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes.
Siskovic said the bodies were found in a residence, but it wasn't clear if it was a house, mobile home or apartment. He also wasn't sure if the residence belonged to Mayes or an acquaintance. Siskovic said the bodies were found in Guntown, north of Tupelo. Lee County coroner Carolyn Green said the bodies were found outside Guntown in Union County.
Siskovic said authorities talked to Mayes early on in the investigation, but he fled when they tried to contact him again. The FBI says they were not immediately aware of Mayes having a criminal record.
Authorities had said that Mayes could be in Mississippi but that he has ties to Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.
"Information has been developed during the investigation that the children may be in extreme danger. Warrants for kidnapping are being issued for Adam Mayes, who is considered armed and extremely dangerous," Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said in a news release Saturday.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert on Saturday morning, and Tennessee authorities had also issued an alert.
Authorities described Adrienne as a white girl with brown hair and eyes. She's 5 feet 4 inches tall and 129 pounds. Alexandria has brown hair and hazel eyes and is 5 feet tall and 105 pounds. Kyliyah has blonde hair and brown eyes and is 4 feet tall and 57 pounds.
FBI spokesman Joel Siskovic said the bodies were found late Friday night or early Saturday morning in a residence associated with Adam Mayes, 35.
Mayes is charged in Tennessee with abducting Jo Ann Bain and her daughters. He has been described by authorities as "armed and extremely dangerous."
Siskovic said authorities on the scene were not able to positively identify the bodies. He would not say if the bodies were children.
The missing girls are 8-year-old Kyliyah Bain, 12-year-old Alexandria and 14-year-old Adrienne. They were last seen April 27 in Hardeman County, Tenn., which is about 70 miles east of Memphis. The woman's husband reported her missing and her vehicle was found abandoned.
Authorities were still trying to determine if Jo Ann Bain went with Mayes willingly. He was last seen Tuesday in Guntown, Miss., about 80 miles southeast of Hardeman County, Tenn.
The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service announced Saturday a reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes.
Siskovic said the bodies were found in a residence, but it wasn't clear if it was a house, mobile home or apartment. He also wasn't sure if the residence belonged to Mayes or an acquaintance. Siskovic said the bodies were found in Guntown, north of Tupelo. Lee County coroner Carolyn Green said the bodies were found outside Guntown in Union County.
Siskovic said authorities talked to Mayes early on in the investigation, but he fled when they tried to contact him again. The FBI says they were not immediately aware of Mayes having a criminal record.
Authorities had said that Mayes could be in Mississippi but that he has ties to Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.
"Information has been developed during the investigation that the children may be in extreme danger. Warrants for kidnapping are being issued for Adam Mayes, who is considered armed and extremely dangerous," Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said in a news release Saturday.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert on Saturday morning, and Tennessee authorities had also issued an alert.
Authorities described Adrienne as a white girl with brown hair and eyes. She's 5 feet 4 inches tall and 129 pounds. Alexandria has brown hair and hazel eyes and is 5 feet tall and 105 pounds. Kyliyah has blonde hair and brown eyes and is 4 feet tall and 57 pounds.
2012年5月3日星期四
Art for the underpass
One corner of the South Loop could be getting redecorated soon, if a plan from one community group takes off.
The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance is leading the charge to create a mural underneath the railroad overpass at Indiana Avenue and 16th Street, adding color to the dingy walls.
The mural would be made using a technique called bricolage, where pieces of broken tile, ceramic and mirror, found objects and clay sculptures are attached to the brick wall and then finished off with a layer of cement and grout.
The end result would be a shimmering, vibrant new cover for the wall, one that lasts much longer than a painted mural. The project would be executed by the Chicago Public Art Group, an organization that’s designed and helped execute bricolage murals all across the city, including prominent ones at underpasses beneath Lake Shore Drive at Bryn Mawr and Foster avenues.
Sheli Hadari, who’s heading up the project for the PDNA along with her friend Elizabeth Karnezis, said the idea came to her because she was walking underneath the viaduct almost every day with her 2-year-old daughter.
With Karnezis and her daughter, also 2, they’d walk from their homes in the 1800 block of South Prairie Avenue to Mark Twain Park at 15th Place at Indiana. But each time, they’d walk past the blank wall.
“It was shabby. Everything around it is very new, and it just looks very out of place,” Hadari said. “I used to drive by the murals on Foster and they’re really stunning, and I said, ‘Why can’t we bring something like that to our neighborhood?’”
So she recruited Karnezis and they went to the Chicago Public Art Group.
Jon Pounds, the group’s executive director, said planning for their projects is a community effort that involves the neighborhood from the ground up. No one person dictates the execution of the process. Instead, it’s a collaborative effort driven by focus groups and meetings where folks can have their say about what they want their community’s mural to look like.
“A good process is not simply just an artist working alone,” he said. “The most interesting part of the conversation is the conversation about what is really engaging to put on that wall.”
At this point, though, the PDNA doesn’t have any funding for the project. Chicago Public Art Group does pay its artists and employees, and the total cost of the project is somewhere around $64,000, Karnezis said. They can begin planning with about $6,000 though, she said.
Where that money would come from, they’re not sure. They’ve been told they won’t get the cash from the city at this point, so they’re turning to fundraising. They’re trying to raise the first round of cash soon so they can develop that plan to show off.
“In some instances, it helps to have a design to help start the project,” Karnezis said the Public Art Group told them. “That way, you have a plan for them to buy into.”
At that point, they hope they can get the rest of the money to finish the project from donors.
If process goes well, they’re hoping to take on the other railroad viaducts along 16th Street.
It’s a great neighborhood project, Hadari said, because almost anyone can take part in its execution.
“You don’t need and technical skills to participate, anyone can come and be a part of it,” she said. “It can be making tiles, or being part of the installation — it’s a very democratic process.”
“Once everything falls into place,” she said, “we’re looking forward to watching the community come together here to participate and watch it go up.”
The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance is leading the charge to create a mural underneath the railroad overpass at Indiana Avenue and 16th Street, adding color to the dingy walls.
The mural would be made using a technique called bricolage, where pieces of broken tile, ceramic and mirror, found objects and clay sculptures are attached to the brick wall and then finished off with a layer of cement and grout.
The end result would be a shimmering, vibrant new cover for the wall, one that lasts much longer than a painted mural. The project would be executed by the Chicago Public Art Group, an organization that’s designed and helped execute bricolage murals all across the city, including prominent ones at underpasses beneath Lake Shore Drive at Bryn Mawr and Foster avenues.
Sheli Hadari, who’s heading up the project for the PDNA along with her friend Elizabeth Karnezis, said the idea came to her because she was walking underneath the viaduct almost every day with her 2-year-old daughter.
With Karnezis and her daughter, also 2, they’d walk from their homes in the 1800 block of South Prairie Avenue to Mark Twain Park at 15th Place at Indiana. But each time, they’d walk past the blank wall.
“It was shabby. Everything around it is very new, and it just looks very out of place,” Hadari said. “I used to drive by the murals on Foster and they’re really stunning, and I said, ‘Why can’t we bring something like that to our neighborhood?’”
So she recruited Karnezis and they went to the Chicago Public Art Group.
Jon Pounds, the group’s executive director, said planning for their projects is a community effort that involves the neighborhood from the ground up. No one person dictates the execution of the process. Instead, it’s a collaborative effort driven by focus groups and meetings where folks can have their say about what they want their community’s mural to look like.
“A good process is not simply just an artist working alone,” he said. “The most interesting part of the conversation is the conversation about what is really engaging to put on that wall.”
At this point, though, the PDNA doesn’t have any funding for the project. Chicago Public Art Group does pay its artists and employees, and the total cost of the project is somewhere around $64,000, Karnezis said. They can begin planning with about $6,000 though, she said.
Where that money would come from, they’re not sure. They’ve been told they won’t get the cash from the city at this point, so they’re turning to fundraising. They’re trying to raise the first round of cash soon so they can develop that plan to show off.
“In some instances, it helps to have a design to help start the project,” Karnezis said the Public Art Group told them. “That way, you have a plan for them to buy into.”
At that point, they hope they can get the rest of the money to finish the project from donors.
If process goes well, they’re hoping to take on the other railroad viaducts along 16th Street.
It’s a great neighborhood project, Hadari said, because almost anyone can take part in its execution.
“You don’t need and technical skills to participate, anyone can come and be a part of it,” she said. “It can be making tiles, or being part of the installation — it’s a very democratic process.”
“Once everything falls into place,” she said, “we’re looking forward to watching the community come together here to participate and watch it go up.”
2012年5月2日星期三
The M at Englewood Experiences Brisk Sales Pace After Grand Opening
Wide Variety of Buyers Seek Out New Elegant Condominium Complex
The level of interest from a diverse collection of prospective homebuyers is running extremely high at The M at Englewood South, a new community of stylish condominiums in the heart of desirable Bergen County. The Pinnacle Companies, a respected developer of luxury homes throughout the New York Metro Area, announced today that in just four weeks since the enclave’s grand opening, the sales team at The M has been working non-stop with customers and has several homes under contract.
“People of all age groups, including quite a number of singles, couples and empty nesters, are coming in ready to buy,” said Mary Boorman, senior vice president of The Pinnacle Companies. “It’s possible they were waiting out the storm during the tougher economic times and realize now is the ideal time to purchase the right product at the right price. The M at Englewood South fits that bill for many buyers — one reason why the sales pace has already been so successful in such a short period of time. We have also introduced some innovative ‘lease to own’ programs which have allowed us to open up the buying option to prospective buyers who are income qualified but currently do not have sufficient down payments.”
Pinnacle offers two innovative lease-to-purchase options that allow renters to place a portion of their monthly payment into as escrow account to eventually be applied toward the sales price.
The “License to Occupy” option requires pre-approved, potential homeowners to sign a contract for a year as well as an occupancy agreement for the same time period. Pinnacle saves approximately 50 percent of their rent in an escrow account toward the down payment. A small down payment ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 is required to start the program. The potential homeowner must close within a year of signing.
With the “Lease Now, Buy Later” option, pre-approved, potential homebuyers sign a condominium lease and, at the end of a one-year term, are offered the home at a price guaranteed at the time the lease is signed. Pinnacle then gives them approximately 25 percent of their lease payments back toward the down payment.
“Prospective homebuyers have expressed active interest in both of these lease-to-purchase options,” said Boorman. “They appreciate the flexibility provided by the two plans. We believe it was important to have a variety of options available that encourage the value of home ownership.”
Presenting sophisticated urban living on Route 4 — close to the George Washington Bridge and within 12 miles of Midtown Manhattan — The M offers 125 one-, two- and two-bedroom-plus-den residences priced from $274,990.
The M’s architectural style is sleek and urban, featuring modern kitchens with maple cabinetry, under-counter lighting, granite countertops, GE Profile stainless steel appliances, and many of the two-bedroom models have center islands. Laundry areas are spacious and include GE side-by-side washers and dryers. The spacious layouts feature nine-foot ceilings (10 feet on the first floor) and entire walls of windows, and many of the homes have either views of the golf course or the central courtyards.
Additional features include elegant en-suite master bathrooms with granite countertops and double sink vanities, oak hardwood flooring in the living area, ceramic tile flooring in the entry hall and kitchen, and plush carpeting in the bedrooms. A powder room is included in almost all of the homes. One garage space is included in the price and shuttle service to New Jersey Transit bus stop is also provided.
Amenities at The M at Englewood South include an outdoor pool and a residents’ lounge perfect for large parties and entertaining. Buyers will also receive a year’s membership at The Gym Englewood, 20 Nordhoff Place, the area’s most upscale fitness center. Maintenance also includes satellite TV and Internet service, and the community will be offering attractive audio/video packages as upgrades.
The pedestrian-friendly main streets of Englewood and nearby Ridgewood and Teaneck are perfect for leisurely strolls and window shopping as they offer both high-end designer and eclectic shopping venues as well as fine dining and café-style eateries. The Bergen Performing Arts Center in downtown Englewood provides shows year-round featuring top-name talent.
The level of interest from a diverse collection of prospective homebuyers is running extremely high at The M at Englewood South, a new community of stylish condominiums in the heart of desirable Bergen County. The Pinnacle Companies, a respected developer of luxury homes throughout the New York Metro Area, announced today that in just four weeks since the enclave’s grand opening, the sales team at The M has been working non-stop with customers and has several homes under contract.
“People of all age groups, including quite a number of singles, couples and empty nesters, are coming in ready to buy,” said Mary Boorman, senior vice president of The Pinnacle Companies. “It’s possible they were waiting out the storm during the tougher economic times and realize now is the ideal time to purchase the right product at the right price. The M at Englewood South fits that bill for many buyers — one reason why the sales pace has already been so successful in such a short period of time. We have also introduced some innovative ‘lease to own’ programs which have allowed us to open up the buying option to prospective buyers who are income qualified but currently do not have sufficient down payments.”
Pinnacle offers two innovative lease-to-purchase options that allow renters to place a portion of their monthly payment into as escrow account to eventually be applied toward the sales price.
The “License to Occupy” option requires pre-approved, potential homeowners to sign a contract for a year as well as an occupancy agreement for the same time period. Pinnacle saves approximately 50 percent of their rent in an escrow account toward the down payment. A small down payment ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 is required to start the program. The potential homeowner must close within a year of signing.
With the “Lease Now, Buy Later” option, pre-approved, potential homebuyers sign a condominium lease and, at the end of a one-year term, are offered the home at a price guaranteed at the time the lease is signed. Pinnacle then gives them approximately 25 percent of their lease payments back toward the down payment.
“Prospective homebuyers have expressed active interest in both of these lease-to-purchase options,” said Boorman. “They appreciate the flexibility provided by the two plans. We believe it was important to have a variety of options available that encourage the value of home ownership.”
Presenting sophisticated urban living on Route 4 — close to the George Washington Bridge and within 12 miles of Midtown Manhattan — The M offers 125 one-, two- and two-bedroom-plus-den residences priced from $274,990.
The M’s architectural style is sleek and urban, featuring modern kitchens with maple cabinetry, under-counter lighting, granite countertops, GE Profile stainless steel appliances, and many of the two-bedroom models have center islands. Laundry areas are spacious and include GE side-by-side washers and dryers. The spacious layouts feature nine-foot ceilings (10 feet on the first floor) and entire walls of windows, and many of the homes have either views of the golf course or the central courtyards.
Additional features include elegant en-suite master bathrooms with granite countertops and double sink vanities, oak hardwood flooring in the living area, ceramic tile flooring in the entry hall and kitchen, and plush carpeting in the bedrooms. A powder room is included in almost all of the homes. One garage space is included in the price and shuttle service to New Jersey Transit bus stop is also provided.
Amenities at The M at Englewood South include an outdoor pool and a residents’ lounge perfect for large parties and entertaining. Buyers will also receive a year’s membership at The Gym Englewood, 20 Nordhoff Place, the area’s most upscale fitness center. Maintenance also includes satellite TV and Internet service, and the community will be offering attractive audio/video packages as upgrades.
The pedestrian-friendly main streets of Englewood and nearby Ridgewood and Teaneck are perfect for leisurely strolls and window shopping as they offer both high-end designer and eclectic shopping venues as well as fine dining and café-style eateries. The Bergen Performing Arts Center in downtown Englewood provides shows year-round featuring top-name talent.
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