Cathedral rediscovers its forgotten treasures

It may have been around for three different centuries now, but Kilkenny’s St Mary’s Cathedral is still producing a few surprises.

The cathedral building, which dates to 1857, is currently undergoing major renovations. Little discoveries - of lost details and forgotten treasures - are constantly surfacing as the project goes on.

The skilled restoration team, led by the O’ Brien Brothers of Durrow, is constantly striving for a harmony of style and function. As both diocesan clerk Joe Maher and Monsignor Kennedy explain, the idea is to find a balance between preserving the past and progressing with the present.

“Liturgy is a living thing, it’s not a museum, and we are not curators,” says Monsignor Kennedy.

“This is a refurbishment, a restoration, and a rediscovery of the treasures of the cathedral and chapter house that had remained hidden.”

Inside the cathedral building, the sanctuary has been cleared of the platform and pillars that once covered it. Now, the original beautifully-coloured moscaic tiled sanctuary floor can be seen,China professional plasticmoulds, revealing a crest and coat of arms that had lain hidden for decades.

The altar was once in the sanctuary’s centre, but was moved back in the 1900s. On the back of it are the scrawled names of some of the workers who have been involved with various renovation projects in the building over the years.

‘W Shanahan - painter, 1935’; ‘John Brennan - carpenter, 11/6/77’, and ‘F Byrne - painter, 1967’ are among some of the items scratched into the stone.This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus;

“They didn’t destroy it when they did the work in the late 1970s, during the renewal,” says Monsignor Kennedy.

“It has survived underneath over the years.”

The Monsignor says he will present a special bottle of wine to the person who can guess whose coat of arms is depicted in the mosaic, and where the motto, which reads ‘Scio Cui Credidi’, comes from.

There are still many months of work ahead, but the details of the renovations project are constantly being considered and reviewed.

The works to the chapter house epitomise the balance between the constraints of conservation and tradition, and the need to operate as a modern, functioning church at the heart of the parish.Silicone moldmaking Rubber,

The Monsignor hopes that it will boost the building’s appeal to tourists and visitors, as well as improve the experience of the cathedral for mass-goers.

“There were 60 Hungarian tourists in here this morning, and where do they go?” he asks.

“This will give more to visitors. It will tie in with Kilkenny as a place to visit.”

Outside the building will be a ‘piazza-like’ area with seating. The building will now have a ramped entrance, and a lift provides access to all three floors, opening the building up to those in wheelchairs or people with limited mobility.

This is part of the plan to make the building more accessible to people.

“Years ago, they would have had parish meetings here, but it would not have really been open to people,” says Monsignor Kennedy.

This is beginning to change now, however. Iniside, the chapter house has been well maintained down through the decades, but perhaps without the same aesthetic foresight and the preservation-oriented approach that is currently espoused.

Many remarkable features of the original 19th Century building had been lost over the years, covered up or simply painted over. Work has been ongoing since last year now, with the O’ Brien Brothers team from Durrow taking point.

“We didn’t exactly know what was there when we started,” says Vincent O’ Brien.If you have a kidneystone,

Perhaps most striking are the intricate stencilling designs that adorn the walls, which had been covered by layers upon layers of paint, and long forgotten about. The original markings have all been uncovered, and redone by hand along following the historic patterns.

Mr O’ Brien says that decades of smoke-damage – from tobacco as well as the burning of mutton-fat candles, had turned the ceiling black. It has now been restored to a stunning red-brown brightness, beautifully varnished. It took the team over four weeks to complete.

The panelling around the room is getting a similar treatment, and service pipes along the room’s walls are currently being ‘camouflaged’ with a wood-coloured paint. The classic stone pillars and corbels, which had also been painted over, have now been restored to their former bare glory.

The balustrade and handrail on the stairs leading up to the Chapter Room is currently being sanded down by hand, with the utmost care. It too will be treated with a special varnish, which darkens with time.

At ground floor level, a bookshop is to be put in place where once the service sacistry existed. A new opening in the wall allows for easier access.

The main sacistry is also receiving attention. A number of discreet cupboards are to be put into the room to store vestments – given that the clergy will lose much of the space once afforded to them. Several paintings, which will hang in locations along the ground floor, are also currently being restored.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services.

Increased Coal Train Traffic Could Mean Bad News For Public Health

Box car after box car full of black rock,China professional plasticmoulds, settled into the shape of bread loaves in uncovered containers, rumbles along the Bellingham waterfront. This is one of hundreds of communities that have grown up along the railways in the Northwest.

If more coal is exported, that could mean more trains like these coming through towns on their way to export terminals. And that has some concerned about people’s health.

Dr. Frank James is a physician and researcher at the University of Washington. He’s also a member of the Whatcom Docs – a large group of doctors in Whatcom County that are calling for an assessment of the human health impacts of increased coal train traffic.

“I’d never seen 160 doctors agree on anything — really, honest, ever — and 160 people signed up over a matter of a week,” James recalls. “So I think people understand that this is a threat, first to their patients, but secondly to them and their families.”

James says the Whatcom Docs’ biggest concerns are about track safety, noise,What are some types of moulds? diesel pollution and coal dust.

“Coal dust is not really very good for you. There’s arsenic, mercury and lead and a lot of bad things in coal and when that gets into a water supply, it’s not a very good thing as well,” James says.

Studies have been done on miners who are directly exposed to coal dust every day. Their risks of getting bronchitis, emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis are higher than the rest of the population. But so are their exposures, so it’s difficult to directly compare miners to people living near train tracks.

Right now, there’s more scientific evidence for concern about the air pollution that will come from the diesel engines that power the trains.

At his lab in Seattle Dr. Joel Kaufman studies how tiny particles of diesel pollution in the air affect people. He’s a professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Washington. Out behind the building he points up at a large metal box.

“Our diesel engine lives out here in back and it’s running on diesel fuel from the tank over here,” he says.

The exhaust from this engine is pumped into a room where participants sit and have their vitals monitored –- such as heart rate and blood pressure.GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts. On some days, diesel exhaust is piped into the room. On other days, clean air. And the differences, Kaufman says, are significant.

“What we’ve observed is that during the days when people come in and get the diesel exhaust, we see a higher blood pressure and a constriction of the arteries that we believe is related to the diesel exhaust,External hemorrhoids are those that occur below the dentate line.” he says.

The exposure rates in Kaufman’s lab are higher than the average exposure for someone who lives by train tracks but Kaufman says experimenting in this controlled setting is key to understanding what’s going in communities that may be suffering from lower-level long-term exposures.

“Trying to understand the health effects of diesel exhaust exposure gives us a window into the kind of health effects that could be occurring as a result of this coal transit as well,” Kaufman says.

Health effects like asthma and heart disease have been associated with exposure to diesel exhaust –- especially in communities closest to train tracks and freeways.Spro Tech has been a plastic module & moldmaker,

A Cure for Anxiety

As someone who has received health care on both sides of the Atlantic, I feel compelled to weigh in on this all-important subject.

There's something wonderful about being able to go to a doctor or hospital in the UK, knowing you don't have to fill in multiple forms and convince a scary person from a medical insurance company that an operation is absolutely necessary.

It's not exactly free.Spro Tech has been a plastic module & moldmaker, Employed Brits pay national insurance on top of income tax that covers pensions, health and social security. It's not perfect,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; but it works.

The relief of receiving medical treatment if and when you need it, and no questions asked, is enormous and, frankly, priceless.Welcome to the Lilla beddinges google satellite map! I'm not saying the British National Health Service is the best example of universal healthcare, but surely someone in Washington could check out how they do it in France, Canada and Cuba (to name just three) and implement the best bits?

I confess my husband Colin and I don't have health insurance in the United States. A while back, it was because we couldn't afford it. Now we can, but we've decided to pay as we go with the emphasis on prevention. We don't smoke, only drink alcohol in moderation, exercise regularly and eat a healthy, balanced diet. Yes, it's harder to keep the pounds off as you reach middle age; it's a case of eat even less and exercise even more. But we are taking responsibility for our own health and well-being.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore.

We almost came to regret this decision a couple of years back, when Colin needed to go to the emergency room. He was not, as we first thought, having a baby, but a kidney stone.GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts.

As I comforted my husband (who was in terrible pain) I couldn't help but worry that the cost of his treatment would probably bankrupt us. We've all heard those heartbreaking stories of bankruptcy brought on by medical expenses. At the very least we'd be paying for it for the rest of our lives, I thought.

Colin was seen by a doctor and given intravenous pain killers. When I asked the doctor if the CAT scan he recommended to confirm his diagnosis was necessary since we didn't have health insurance, he said, "Not really." We took the chance, passed on the scan and Colin passed the stone.

I was already planning how I would argue over the hospital costs, which I feared would be in the thousands of dollars. We were both perspiring as we approached the accounts department. You have to go past it to get out.

The smiling accountant handed me a bill. I have never felt more nervous as I unfolded the piece of paper or more relieved as I saw the figure: $450. American Express? It would cost us $450 a month each to be insured under some payment plans I've been quoted, plus the evil deductible.

A visit to my GP in Los Angeles costs $60 without insurance. I've been twice in six years, with bronchitis. Add another $60 for the antibiotics. There's a lot to be said for paying as you go.

Incidentally, kidney stones can be averted by drinking plenty of water and eating lots of green vegetables. Prevention is key but, of course, accidents happen and even fit people can get cancer. So let's at least give "Obamacare" a chance.

Students invested in school’s solar energy

Ryan Markham, a middle school student intent on saving the environment, is impressed by solar power. On his way from lunch to class, he scans a flat display monitor, seeking real-time updates about the energy produced by panels on the school roof.

"I like saving the environment. I like that we are conserving energy," said Ryan, 13, an established recycler who is now mastering a new environmental arena.

At Norwell Middle School, renewable resources are a hot topic. Students are developing personal interest in energy technologies, a curiosity triggered by their growing awareness of a flank of solar panels installed on the left wing of the school last summer. The project,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, which was funded by a $150,000 grant from the Department of Energy Resources, is part of a statewide clean-energy initiative.

Now a series of demonstrations, experiments, and opportunities to interact with the solar project have created excitement at the school. In classrooms, students will soon be using solar cells to power fans and lightbulbs, and an after-school science group plans to power a toy solar car.

Students will also be building miniature wind turbines and solar houses, a hands-on means of learning about alternative energy sources and climate change. All of this is creating buzz at the school, where curious young people have been gathering in front of a central hallway monitor for updates on the solar project.

"I really like to check the monitor to find out how much energy is being created and what objects can be run with it. I look at it every day," said Ryan, pointing as the screen flashed the number of hypothetical hairdryers and laptop computers powered by the day’s solar energy intake.

The school is using a solar photovoltaic module, or PV system, that converts solar radiation into electricity, an output reliant on the position and strength of the shining sun.Silicone moldmaking Rubber,

They track energy production, weather conditions, and the position of the sun in the sky via a popular display system, one of several learning tools supplied by Broadway Renewable Strategies, the electrical company that installed the 53.76kW photovoltaic system.

"The students like to come out and look at the monitor to see where the sun is in the sky. It gives them that perspective about where it is rising and setting," said Chris Bailey, Green Team coordinator and a science teacher at the school.

The school is learning to tap the depth of possibilities offered by this solar project, according to Bailey. She said the project offers engaging material on alternate energy cultivation, but also astronomy and global climate.

"This project is a fabulous teaching tool for so many science topics. It is also creating enthusiasm and helping students to think about alternate energy sources,VulcanMold is a plastic molds and injectionmold manufacturer in china." said Bailey.

She said the solar project is accessible for students; they really do love the flat panel monitor with its easy-to-read graphs and weather information.Find rubberhose companies from India.

Principal Derek Sulc recently stood in front of the monitor, noting its growing popularity. "This thing right here is creating a lot of interest," he said.

"If this project encourages students to be more interested in science or do something to help the environment, it had a benefit," Sulc added.

Jessica Foster, 13, said she enjoys tracking the solar project as part of the Green Team. "We are all working together to improve the environment," she said.

The entire school was involved in a January ceremony to celebrate the solar project, which culminated with students from all grades peppering invited experts with questions about solar energy.There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle,

"The kids actually wanted to stay and ask more questions. They were invested," said Lawrence M. Hurwitz, chief executive officer of Broadway Renewable Strategies.

The project, which will reduce the school’s energy costs by about 15 percent annually, offers a "great teachable moment" about how solar power works, according to Mark Sylvia, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.

'Greatest human rights violation is poverty'

SA Human Rights Commission deputy chairperson Pregs Govender said apartheid police were blinded by fear and hatred when they opened fire on protesters in Sharpeville.

She said in modern South Africa poverty was the greatest human rights violation.

"Sixteen million people, mostly woman, in rural areas have no access to sanitation," said Govender.

She highlighted the unenclosed toilets in the Western Cape and the Free State as examples of post-apartheid human rights violations.

During a Human Rights Day celebration in Kliptown, Soweto, on Wednesday, President Jacob Zuma said South Africans must not take freedom and human rights for granted.

"Let us celebrate the right to life, equality before the law, human dignity, freedom and security of the person, freedom from slavery servitude or forced labour," Zuma said at a Human Rights Day celebration in Kliptown, Soweto.

"The right to privacy, freedom of movement, religion,Learn all about solarpanel, belief and opinion, as well as the rights of workers, women and children.

"On this day,At Blow mouldengineering we specialize in conceptual prototype design. let us join hands to celebrate our Constitution and in particular, the Bill of Rights."

He said the anti-apartheid protests in Sharpeville and Langa in the 1960s were used to assert people's right to work and live in urban areas.

"They were also reflecting the poverty and under-development in rural areas and then Bantustans.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services.

"Our infrastructure plan is intended to tackle the legacy of decades of underdevelopment and to respond to the basic needs of all our people," said Zuma

The infrastructure plan recognised that black people were no longer temporary visitors.

"They are city dwellers, they have rights," said Zuma.

He said cities should not be the only places with lights and tap water.

"Infrastructure for development is also about connecting rural communities to economic opportunities through building dams and irrigation systems."

Zuma said it would connect farms and villages to the energy grid and build schools and clinics in rural areas.

Human Rights Day was previously known as Sharpeville Day to commemorate the shooting of 69 unarmed black protesters by the police in 1960.

The crowd at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown burst out in cheers when Zuma walked around the square.

Security was tight around him with orange-jacketed marshals forming a human chain around him and his bodyguards pushing photographers away.What are some types of moulds?

Zuma was accompanied by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, Deputy Basic Education Minister Enver Surty and Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane.

A lone protester greeted the morning crowd with a poster at the entrance to the square asking the ANC about its conscience.

"ANC where is your conscience? Sharpeville 21 March 1960," the placard read.

This was in relation to protests in the Vaal, where residents were complaining that the Human Rights Day was being hijacked from them.

They wanted the event to be celebrated in Sharpeville.

Human Rights Day was celebrated in Kliptown, Soweto where the Freedom Charter was developed and adopted in 1955.

The Freedom Charter became a guiding document in the fight for liberation,Find the cheapest chickencoop online through and buy the best hen houses and chook pens in Australia. it also calls for democracy and human rights, land reform, labour rights, and nationalisation.

Cope leader Mosioua Lekota said Human Rights Day was for all South Africans and not for a particular area.

"When Indians were forcibly removed it was a human rights violation," he said.

He also lamented the absence of political parties at the event,

"This is a national event. On this day we must forget about our differences."

Only the ruling ANC, Azanian Liberation Organisation (Azopo) and Cope were present at the event.

Lekota said political parties must educate South Africans on the fact that human rights were not about the Sharpeville and Langa massacres.

"It is about human rights," he said.

Lekota who defected from the ANC in 2008 to form Congress of the People, the name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People at which the resistance movement developed and adopted the Freedom Charter, said the charter served to consolidate an alliance of the anti-apartheid forces of the 1950 and protect human rights.

Twin Creeks Aims To Cut Solar Panel Cost In Half

Twin Creeks, a start-up company headquartered in San Jose, CA, aims to revolutionize the solar industry by combining old Soviet technology and newfangled American innovation to enable the production of flexible,VulcanMold is a plastic molds and injectionmold manufacturer in china. ultra-thin solar cells at half the cost of the current industry standard.

Twin Creeks is doing this by selling copies of its first, and to date, only, product: Hyperion, a room-sized particle accelerator that slices off wafers of silicon, the most common ingredient in solar cells, at the molecular level.

To that end, Twin Creeks aims to offer manufacturers a way to bring down the cost of solar cells — those are the constituent parts that make up a solar panel — from about 80 cents per watt to 40 cents per watt.

The process is called “proton-induced exfoliation,” and Twin Creeks compares it to a “proton knife,” albeit an extremely fine and precise one, capable of slicing sheets of materials ranging from silicon to diamond into 20 micron-thick segments, about half the thickness of a human hair.

“Proton exfoliation was a phenomena first discovered by the Soviet Union in the 1980s,” Twin Creeks spokesman Michael Kanellos, in an interview with TPM. “They found that in their nuclear reactors, the steel walls around the reactor cores were deteriorating because hydrogen ions from the reactors were getting under steel.”

The technology eventually made its way into scientific literature and was used to create semiconductors that are found in most modern electronics.

Flash forward to 2008, when Siva Sivaram, a former executive manager at SanDisk and Intel, now Twin Creeks’ CEO,To interact with beddinges, began reading papers on the subject. He and his friend,Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services from merchantaccountes. physicist and venture capitalist Alain Harrus, began to think about the various novel ways that the technology could be used.

“Nobody had ever thought of it to make really thin solar panels,” Kanellos told TPM. “But they did.”

The duo quickly recruited an army of experts on the technology, many of whom had retired decades earlier.

“There’s more people in the company with PhDs than not,” said Kanellos, of the 75-person strong staff. “The joke within the company is the age spread goes from 23 to 82.”

On Wednesday, after four years of secertive internal testing on two different and armed with 20 patents or patent applications, Twin Creeks announced it was offering the first copies of Hyperion for for sale on the commercial market beginning immediately, for a price somewhere between $1 million and $10 million (the company declined to specify). The company is demonstrating the process to interested parties at its plant in Senatobia, Mississippi.

To be clear, Twin Creeks’ prospective customers aren’t individuals, but other existing solar manufacturers, who have been hit hard lately by a sudden drop in the price of polysilicon, a type of silicon that’s used in the majority of the solar panels around the world.

Twin Creeks’ Hyperion proton accomplishes this by drastically improving the efficiency when it comes to converting polysilicon or other types of materials from thick, crytalline ingots,China professional plasticmoulds, which is how they are first synthesized, into the thin wafers necessary to make solar cells.

Currently, the industry goes about the process in a blunt force sort-of way, physically sawing wafers off of the ingots with blades, which produces lots of wasted materials.

But Hyperion “saws” wafers off ingots on the molecular level, shooting hydrogen ions (aka protons) deep into whatever material the solar manufacturer is using to make their cells, forming microscopic bubbles. Heating the material then causes the bubbles to expand to a precise amount, lifting an ultra-thin, ultra-flexible layer right off the original ingot. In this way, the original ingot can actually be re-used over and over again to produce solar wafers at the precise thickness of 20 microns, up to 10 times, according to the company’s tests.

The process also allows companies to use far less material to begin with, thanks to the precision of the proton gun’s “cutting” abilities.

And with Hyperion able to accomodate a number of different types of materials, from polysilicon to gallium arsenide, its not hard to see why the company is already been talking about providing the technology to “a large number of the top 10 solar manufacturers in the world,” along with dozens of up-and-coming companies, according to Kanellos.

“We expect that there will be 6 to 10 of these in the field a year from now,” Kanellos told TPM. By 2014, the company expects to have over 100 in the field.

But that’s just the beginning of what Twin Creeks wants to do with Hyperion. Eventually, the company wants to use the same technology to make cheaper LEDs and image sensors in the cameras increasingly found in mobile digital devices.

And as for the question of just how green a high-powered particle accelerator can really be,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle, Kanellos said that Twin Creeks spent many of its early years dialing down the power consumption to its current level: 1.2 megavolts, close to the level of a power transformer.

“The gun takes a lot of juice,” Kanellos confirmed to TPM, “But you’re also using one-tenth the amount of silicon to make the wafers as conventional processes.”

Kanellos said that the savings in materials more than made up for the power consumption. It normally takes 2 years worth of operation for a solar cell to work off its carbon footprint, but Twin Creek’s process takes only 25 days.

Warm weather brings earlier allergies

It's still less than a week before the official start of spring, but the warm weather is already in full bloom - as are the allergies.

While the 60-degree weather last week and the 70-degree weather this week are giving more people a reason to get outdoors, it’s also the reason why many others are seeking treatment from allergists a month before allergies usually kick in.

Dr. Donald Harper is an allergist at Medical Arts Allergy’s Harrisburg office, and he started seeing patients back in February for spring allergy symptoms.

"A number of patients are getting symptoms now rather than in mid-April," Harper said. "It’s definitely sooner than in previous years. Usually we’ll see people into April or sometimes at the end of March. That’ll depend on meteorological conditions. Last year, there were storms that really put pollination on hold. The pollen spreads in dry weather, and can’t in very, very wet conditions. That’s why people are in trouble in the morning. Once the morning dew burns off the trees, it opens up the trees to release pollen. I think we’re in for a long spring."

Though the warmer temperatures have led to a lot of blooming flowers, Harper said it’s actually the trees that will do the most damage for those who suffer from spring allergies.

"It depends on what you’re allergic to," he said. "Local trees pollinate at slightly different times. That pollen is lighter and can travel for miles and miles and miles. We’ll get tree pollen from the area as well as pollen from trees in West Virginia or potentially as far away as Virginia. The southern states are already starting to get into the full pollen season, and we’re downwind of that."

Trees won’t be the only problem spring allergy sufferers will face this season. Just as any other spring, there are indoor and outdoor allergens that could pose some problems.

"There will also be problems with house dust mites – an indoor allergen – and with mold," Harper said. "As humidity comes up,Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. there will be more house dust mites. The more humid the environment, the more allergens are produced. In the winter, we’ve actually had some problem with molds as well. It never really got that cold, so mold has been a problem all winter. It can become trouble in the spring. Most of the mold comes from the soil.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. The dirt ground at farms have mold spores, and when farmers dig that up, it releases the spores. Mold spores tend to travel for quite a bit. The air around the farms always has some mold."

If the allergies start to become too much, there are a number of ways people can try to handle the downside of warm weather. Harper noted that over-the-counter medications, such as Allegra, work and are safe for most people to use, while prescription medications, such as Flonase and Nasonex,Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, could help decrease the swelling in the nose if used regularly over time.

Allergists also offer allergy shots. While the medications work immediately because they attack the symptoms, allergy shots are a more long-term solution given that they address the cause – the immune system. A person is given a series of build-up shots and a series of maintenance shots over the span of a few years.

"Most patients see a vast difference and much fewer symptoms, both in the nasal and ocular areas," Harper said. "That can last for years."

Other than medications, Harper noted that just avoiding peak times could make a difference in avoiding the worst allergies.

"There are ways you can try to limit exposure to pollen," he said. "You can try staying inside during peak hours early in the morning. Try to limit being outside from 8 to 9 a.m.Pfister werkzeugbau AG aus Mönchaltorf ist Ihr Partner bei der Herstellung von Werkzeugen und Spritzformen. to 1 p.m. Pollen amounts start to decline as the day goes on, and it’ll come back the next day. You can be in car or go shopping.Dimensional Mailing magiccubes for Promotional Advertising, People can use the air conditioner as opposed to opening up the windows and allowing allergens to come inside. In terms of hygiene, you can take a shower before you go to bed to wash out all of the allergens in your hair. You can also wash your face to get the remaining pollen off the eyelids and eyelashes."

American aid missions fall victim to Mexico's turmoil

For two decades, a community hospital in Colorado sent a medical aid mission each year to a remote city in northeast Mexico, treating tens of thousands of low-income residents for free.

Dozens of U.S. doctors and dentists, backed up by even more nurses and technicians, would repair cleft palates,Buy high quality bedding and bed linen from Yorkshire Linen. take out gall bladders, treat cataracts, fix abscessed teeth and fit people for custom hearing aids.

"We basically would take over the hospital and run it 24/7 for a week," said Rich Lopez, a former deputy mayor of Boulder.

But then the gangsters arrived. Mante, a city in a sugar cane-growing region of Tamaulipas state, fell victim to the violence roiling Mexico. Last year, for the first time since the early 1990s, the U.S. medical team stayed home.What are some types of moulds? They stayed home this February, too.

As Mexico battles narcotics and crime groups, U.S. medical and religious missions that for generations had come to build houses, tend the sick and conduct goodwill activities have been forced to retreat. The suspension of such missions has cast a terrible,A top plastic lnjectionmoulds manufacturer and exporter in China. unseen blow on hidden corners of Mexico. It's also been painful for Americans with a desire to help.

"The numbers have really dropped off in terms of people going to Mexico," said David Armstrong, director of operations for Mission Data International, a group in Arkansas that tracks foreign religious missions.

For U.S. citizens in the Southwest, taking part in a goodwill mission to Mexico used to be as easy as hopping on a chartered bus with like-minded people and tooling along highways for a few hours. Suspending the trips has, in some cases, brought anguish.

"You don't know how it hurts," said Tino Hernandez, director of the Austin Diocese Medical Mission in Texas, an outreach of the Roman Catholic Church. "It's going to have a huge impact, and the people who are suffering are the poor."

Hernandez used to organize teams of doctors, dentists, pharmacists and nurses to travel to areas of need in Jalisco and Coahuila, among other states.

"We were doing as many as three or four (missions) a year. We're right next door to Mexico, so we can drive," Hernandez said.

Now that the bishop has suspended missions to Mexico, Hernandez said, "the topic came up of possibly looking into the Philippines."

Few medical missions grew to the size or importance of the yearly Mante Medical Mission sponsored by the Boulder Community Hospital, that city's Rotary Club and its First Presbyterian Church.

"I can spin story after story of the miracles that these surgeries would accomplish," said Jean M. Bedell, a nurse who went on 20 annual missions to Mante.

Girls in Mante used to ridicule one teenager for her huge abdomen, Bedell said, until a Boulder gynecologist found that she had a non-malignant tumor and removed it.

As the years went by, the mission grew to more than 100 medical personnel, attending swelling numbers of patients. In recent years, the group filled a 40-foot trailer with operating room tables, anesthesia machines and disposable medical supplies to take with them and then leave in Mante. Organizers also arranged the donation of a used fire engine and ambulance.

"You can imagine what an enormous benefit that brought to our community. We estimate that more than 80,000 patients were treated over the course of those 20 years," said Dr. David Rodriguez Alvarado, a Mante physician whose father and aunt made the initial appeal at a Boulder church that set in motion the first mission in 1990.

Listening to that appeal in the congregation that day was David Gehant, chief executive of the 200-bed Boulder Community Hospital. He offered to speak with his doctors, leading to the medical missions.

Boulder medical personnel paid their own expenses to take part in the annual missions, working doggedly and returning a week later — exhausted.

"They would do more surgeries in a day than we ever do here in the United States," Lopez said, yet the hard work drew ample personal payoff.To interact with beddinges,

"The doctors say, 'I get more thank you's in one week in Mexico than I do in a year here in Colorado,'" Lopez said. "So in terms of reward, we do a lot for them, but they do just as much for us."

Those who still lead volunteer missions to Mexico say they regularly draw sharp words of concern from relatives.

"Parents called us all kinds of names," said Howard Culbertson, a professor of world evangelism at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma who took 120 people recently to Coahuila state to help local churches in construction projects.

"Our numbers were about half of what they were before, and a lot of it is due to this hysteria," he added, referring to what he deemed alarmist media reports.

At least 50,000 people have died since late 2006, when center-right President Felipe Calderon came to office and launched an assault on drug traffickers.

The State Department this month expanded its warning to U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to all or parts of 14 of Mexico's 31 states. It advised against nonessential travel to the border states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas, and the central state of Durango, and urged caution on trips to Baja California, Nuevo Leon and Sonora,To interact with beddinges, also border states.

Organizers of missions have grown skittish as such warnings grow more dire.

"Every now and then, I'll talk to someone who says, 'I talked to the U.S. Embassy and they said that if you go, you better bring a body bag along,'" said Armstrong of Mission Data International. "In the media, it's just a blanket 'danger, danger, danger' everywhere."

But those who keep close tabs on the situation in Mante, for example, say the perils are real, even if the city seems "normal during daylight hours," as noted in a report from the Boulder-Mante Sister Cities Committee.

Education & Medical Facilities Show Benefits of Daylighting

Adding to their substantial base of satisfied residential customers, HomeTech Solatube is pleased to reveal a number of recent commercial projects that have seen the large scale installation of Solatube Daylighting Systems into both educational and medical facilities, with brilliant results.

The Solatube Daylighting System is a state of the art roof-to-ceiling rigid Tubular Daylighting Device (TDD) that provides an abundance of pure, natural light to interior spaces without using electricity.

Mike Cullen, National Trade Manger, said: “Recently, we have undertaken a number of projects for progressive organisations who required tailored daylighting solutions, relevant to their respective sites: an early childhood education centre and a medical facility.

“These projects are exciting in a number of ways. It is great to see our specifically designed commercial range of Solatube Daylighting Systems being installed with such success, and on a wider level, it is great to see more and more businesses embracing daylighting as a means to manage their energy consumption, while enhancing the look and feel of their workplaces.”

Hillside Medical Centre and Wattlecove Early Learning facility join a growing list of commercial organisations that have recently employed HomeTech Solatube to create tailored daylighting solutions for their premises including Cadbury, Lexus Auckland, Lion Nathan, National Bank Blockhouse Bay as well as a number of aged care facilities.

“Further to the major incentive of decreased energy consumption and cost, there is growing awareness of the many benefits attributed to daylight exposure. Studies indicate there are many benefits to daylighting in educational settings,Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts. including reducing absenteeism and enhancing learning. Other benefits include boosted staff productivity, well being, satisfaction and performance. The list goes on.”

At the Wattlecove Early Learning facility, four Solatube Daylighting Systems were installed to compliment the daylight pattern created by the windowed section of the room. Staff are thrilled with the results,We are professional plasticmould,metal parts mould manufacturers and factory saying that what was once a dull area is now bright and natural. They also praised the attractive design and the installation process, which was undertaken after the building was completed.

Solatube Daylighting Systems were also installed at the Hillside Medical Centre in Hillsborough. Their objective was to brighten a dark internal consulting room and the hallway, with the aim of improving their patient experience. Initially, the plan was to daylight just one consulting room, but on seeing the results, the brief was expanded to include all of the consulting rooms.This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus;I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production.

“It is very rewarding for us to see organisations adopting the principles of sustainability and taking notice of the many benefits of using natural lighting to illuminate a range of spaces, from medical facilities to educational facilities.

“We are really excited to see the application of this product expanding. There are relevant Solatube Daylighting Systems for all kinds of buildings, from residential to commercial. We have installed some 100,000 Solatube Daylighting Systems in New Zealand, so the message is spreading. We look forward to being involved with more commercial projects in future, where sustainable and energy efficient design is being put into practice through the use of high quality daylighting,” said Mike Cullen.

HomeTech Solatube has been providing healthy home solutions to New Zealanders since 1992 and has more than 50,000 customers across the country. From Kaitaia to Bluff,Spro Tech has been a plastic module & moldmaker, HomeTech Solatube’s nationwide network of credited installers provide New Zealanders with healthier homes by supplying and installing daylighting, condensation control, heating and attic stair solutions.

Part of the Future Proof Building network, HomeTech Solatube works closely with other building industry innovators to educate New Zealanders about home renovating and the benefits of creating a Future Proof home.

HomeTech Solatube first introduced the SolatubeDaylighting System to the New Zealand market in 1992. Since then, the Solatube Daylighting System has been innovated, researched and re-designed to widen its application and for enhanced performance.

The HomeTech family of products also includes Heat Pumps and Air Conditioning, Condensation Control with Heat Recovery and/or Heat Transfer options, the Mitsubishi Electric Lossnay Heat Recovery system and Attic Stairs. They also supply a range of ventilation systems for either commercial or residential settings.

It takes less to be a 1-percenter in Mich

A new analysis of Census Bureau data shows why: It's cheaper to be on top here.

In Metro Detroit, it took household income of $341,741 in 2010 to be a "one-percenter," according to Sentier Research LLC, a Virginia research firm. That's $45,000 less than the national average and $36,000 less than what it took before the national recession began more than four years ago and ended in June 2009.

While the Occupy Wall Street protesters and companion movements have turned the nation's wealthiest "one-percenters" into a political epithet, some Michigan one-percenters say their lives are not the stuff that cries out for political revolution.

"I saw that stuff on TV — all the marching and protesting. And I'm thinking: Is that true?" said Milus Allison, 72, who owns a Marysville tool-and-die firm, an industry ravaged by global competition and the shrunken domestic auto industry.

"I don't feel like I'm above anything," Allison said. "I go to work every day because the situation is still tough."

One-percenter William Beluzo,The liquid hardens or sets inside the molds, an estate planning attorney in Metro Detroit, says he is sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street crowd. But he's unsure how much of it applies to him or his affluent clients in Michigan.

"Corrupt things went on in Wall Street, there's no doubt about that. This isn't Wall Street.Omega Plastics are a leading rapid tooling and plasticinjectionmould company based in the UK, My clients, a lot of them had a dramatic change in lifestyles," said Beluzo, a partner in the law firm of Plunkett Cooney.

Internal Revenue Service data show people in the top one percent are mostly executives, managers or financial professionals, while smaller numbers are doctors or lawyers, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

"What comes to my mind are doctors who also have many investments, often taking tremendous risks," said David White, who runs his own financial advisory firm in Bloomfield Hills. White declined to say whether he is a one-percenter.

"Here, to me,We offer custom plasticinjectionmoulding with full in-house tool making and tool maintenance. are one-percenters: They work 10-12 hour days. They take investment risks with the understanding that if they are successful, 50 percent of it will have to go to some form of tax. If they are not successful, they lose 100 percent of their money."

Metro Detroit and Michigan families have become poorer since the recession.

The Great Lakes State sank into the bottom 10 states in inflation-adjusted median annual household income between 2007 and 2010, according to Sentier Research. Michiganians suffered a 9.5 percent cut, to $47,000, in household income in 2010, from $51,939 in 2007.

The result is that Michigan's poverty rate in 2010 was its highest in at least four decades, according to a Detroit News analysis of census data. Poverty in the state — earnings below $22,314 for a couple with two children — crept up to 16.8 percent of the state's population from 16.2 percent in 2009.

With the slide in income, the threshold for Michigan's top 1 percent of households dropped to $327,000 in 2010, according to Sentier, dropping the state from No. 26 highest in 2007 to No. 37 in 2010 — the most recent year for which data are available. Michigan was passed by states such as Ohio, South Dakota and North Dakota.

Metro Detroit fell to 131st among 297 metro areas in 2010 after ranking No. 98 in 2007 with a top one-percent income of $377,096, according to Sentier.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good and affordable alternative to buying a new sofa that is run down.

"I don't know anyone who has become homeless or can't feed themselves," Bloomfield Hills attorney Beluzo said. "But for many people who rely on stocks and other investments for their income, the past few years have not been very secure. They stopped spending as much as they could."

For many Michigan manufacturers like Allison, the past few years have hardly been comfortable.You can find best china automotiveplasticmoulds manufacturers from here! He co-founded Bending Tools and Manufacturing Corp. in 1966, when his competition was mainly other Michigan manufacturers. Tool-and-die operators, who create the specialized machine tools, fixtures and molds that enable the mass production of everything from automobiles to computer chips, were so valued that they were exempt from military drafts.

Economy thrives at Granville Intermediate School

Business was booming this week at Granville Intermediate School, where the production of goods could not keep pace with the demand.

The seventh annual Economics Sale, conducted for two hours on Feb. 8-9 by the fourth-grade classes of Susan Tallentire and Laura Pleasants, was a success, with all of the proceeds going to the Healing Arts Mission in Haiti.

"It's all based on an economics unit," Tallentire said. "In the weeks leading up to the sale, the students learn about land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. They each come up with a business idea and create a product at home with their families. Last year, they earned $3,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation,Represent injectionmouldingmanufacturer of plastic processing machinery, and we sent a GIS student with cancer to the Bahamas."

"It's awesome,Carrying the widest selection of projectorlamp," said Intermediate School Principal Gayle Burris. "Every year, the sale gets bigger and better. The fourth-graders vote on the cause they want to sponsor; it has real meaning for them.There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle,"

Among the big sellers this year, Fuzzy Wacky Glasses were sported by sellers and buyers alike. The neon-colored, 25-cent pipe-cleaner spectacles fashioned by Gavin Ross and his father sold out both days. As with any successful venture, this one required fine-tuning.

"We were just walking through Walmart, and my dad said, 'Let's see what we can do with pipe cleaners.' The glasses have evolved a whole bunch since then. They went from a cheap thing to something better when we added more pipe cleaners."

Other blockbusters included felted Amazing Monster Casing for iPods,Taktung der Unikatfertigung am Beispiel des werkzeugbaus. Locker Buddies magnets, Anna's Creative Crayons made from melted crayons and personalized with faces, Guitar Pick Pendants,Kremer is known for his work and innovations using largescalemolds as a means to construct sculptural vessel forms. Bookworm Buddies, Kailee's Rockin' Bottle Caps emblazoned with sayings like "Charm" and "Um, Duh" and Aces Flying Straws.

For the hungry, the options ranged from popcorn to cupcake push pops. The longest line was at the Sno Cones booth, where Becky Miller was making fast change while Kate Brautigan and her mother handed out cups of ice filled with syrup. They made $140 the first day and had sold $150 worth with an hour left on the second day.

Niamh Jacobsen said she got the idea for her Pet Fruits stand from her favorite YouTube show "The Annoying Orange."

"I asked Mom to make some faces on fruit and I gave them cool names: Abby Apple, Olive and Olivia Orange, Page Pear and Banana Bob," she said. "He (Bob) sold out first. I think people like the name."

Like a true entrepreneur, Jacobsen had a marketing strategy.

"If I had just put these fruits in a box, nobody would buy them, but I gave them names," she said.

A store's sign also can make a difference. Sarah Law's sign, Painted Rox, had a unique origin: "I ran out of space to write Rocks, but I think it looks cool this way."

Among the more inspired offerings were Keely Spens' Feathered Friends Cupcakes, intended not for fourth-graders but for birds. Decorated with seeds and raisins, the goodies looked tasty, and Spens said she had seen some chickadees in the backyard doing test sampling.

Kate Hyman at Pirate Pete's was selling homemade dog biscuits and cat toys made of spools and feathers.

And budding journalist Mary Kate Hill had elected to write, edit and publish her own newspaper, "The GIS Journal."

Some of the sellers, with an hour to go, were dumping inventory with reduced pricing.

"People didn't have enough money, so I reduced the cost," said Chloe Garcia of her $3 Cool Candles.

While fourth-graders from other classes were the biggest buyers, the crowd included teachers, family and community members and bigwigs.

"Even the superintendent and the director of curricular instruction stopped by," Tallentire said.

Louise Stewart had come all the way from Virginia Beach to see her grand-niece Lilly Stewart's Big and Small Suckers, made from chocolate and poured into flower-shaped molds.

"This is a great way to raise money," elementary school teacher Louise Stewart said. "Kids learn this way. It's hands-on and creative, and they learn the value of money."

What's Behind the Urban Chicken Backlash

At this point in the locavore narrative, urban chicken-keeping has vocal advocates and an adamant opposition. Some cities welcome backyard poultry with open arms, while others are more skeptical. As the practice grows,Most kidneystones pass out of the body without help from a doctor. the two sides seem prepared for a long, drawn out war on the value and propriety of chicken-keeping within city limits.

Urban farmers generally view a backyard coop as a natural extension of their garden and a convenient, eco-friendly source of protein – though no academic study has examined the environmental impact of the practice. Some even see their charges as pets with benefits.

On this side, we have Martha Stewart, that doyenne of domestic perfection, and Susan Orlean, the sensitive, bestselling New Yorker writer played by Meryl Streep in Adaptation.

Their neighbors take a more jaundiced view. Protest groups in cities across the country have helped devise bills to ban or restrict the practice. These opponents argue that chickens are smelly and noisy and a potential health risk; that the coops are eyesores that potentially bring down property values; and that they attract rodents and predators, like coyotes, endangering chickens as well as children.

And then, of course, there is the potential slaughterhouse next door.What are hemorrhoids? "Botched slaughter is all too common," writes Ian Elwood, of Neighbors Opposed to Backyard Slaughter, an anti-urban animal outfit in Oakland. "But even slaughter that is performed 'correctly' is still no treat to witness or hear."

Due in part to such concerns, Boston, Detroit, D.C.Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts., and Toronto prohibit the keeping of livestock within city limits.We offer the best ventilationsystem, Chicago, like New York City, views chickens as pets and has no limits on ownership, though slaughter is forbidden. But suburban Naperville and Northbrook are considering bans, while Evanston has set a limit of six hens per household.

Many cities in the West are going in the other direction. In 2010, Seattle raised its hen limit from three to eight per household. Some animal-friendly residents of Portland, where residents can keep up to three hens without a permit, have been running a tour of local chicken coops since 2003.

In Vancouver, Mayor Gregor Robertson sees chickens in every lot as part of the city's destiny as the world's greenest city -- and launched Operation Chicken to make it happen. In 2009, the Vancouver city council voted unanimously to allow backyard chickens. A year later, the city released detailed guidelines for keeping backyard hens, including what kinds of properties, proximity to property line, and type and number of chickens (four hens).

Perhaps no city is as divided over the chicken question as Oakland. City officials are considering allowing residents to raise and slaughter not just chickens, but goats, rabbits, ducks and other animals, in their backyards. Backers argue that it would help alleviate food deserts.

Oakland's anti-slaughter group sees the practice as a socio-economic problem. NOBS argues that the city's approval of the slaughter of chickens “would serve the needs of a small group of people interested in creating artisan animal products instead of serving the low-income communities.” They've posted flyers around the city, playing up fears of stray chickens wandering the city and children witnessing grisly scenes of animal killing.

Despite this opposition, some degree of urban chicken keeping is most likely here to stay, and compromise is probably inevitable in many municipalities. Attacks like that of NOBS appear more likely merely to inflame the process.In mathematics, a magiccube is the 3-dimensional equivalent of a magic square,

Cleveland-area women meet weekly

It's midday in the lobby of Embassy Suites and the mah jongg ladies, filling a cluster of four-top tables near a display of live plants and a manmade waterfall, are busy slapping down bams, dots and dragons.

At one table, four regular Wednesday players are deep in concentration, studying numbers and symbols on the mah jongg tiles — craks, bams, dots, dragons, flowers, soaps, jokers and winds — each player trying to build a winning hand.

The constant shish of the waterfall mixes with sounds of clicking tiles and jangling bracelets as the foursome's fingers — nails polished bright red — quickly pick up and discard, one lady hoping for a joker, another needing a "2 bam."

There is little talk at this table, but Helene Kaufman, 82, of Beachwood, can no longer hold her tongue.

"You've got schmutz on your mouth," she tells Barbara Winter, 77, of Mayfield.

Winter fingers her lip, wiping away a dab of chocolate from free cookies offered daily to the mah jongg players by the hotel's restaurant, CJ's American Bar & Grill.

Iced tea and coffee are also on the house. And sometimes banana cream pie.

It's CJ's show of appreciation to the dozens of mah jongg ladies who lunch at the restaurant every weekday before taking their places near the atrium waterfall for an afternoon of mah jongg, an ancient Chinese game similar to the card game rummy but played with domino-size tiles.

"They're fun ladies," said CJ's manager Aaron Zanders, 27. "It's like having 100 of my grandmothers here."

Mah jongg was introduced in the United States a century ago and has been kept alive for generations by Jewish women, a phenomenon no one can fully explain.

Some play "maajh" at each other's homes. Others play in hotel lobbies, shopping mall food courts, municipal recreation centers, country clubs, book stores or synagogue social halls.

They play at Heinen's grocery store on South Green Road in University Heights, Park Synagogue in Pepper Pike and the Eton Chagrin Boulevard shopping mall in Woodmere.

Diehards might even take a maajh cruise in the Caribbean. "Seven days,We are porcelaintiles specialists and are passionate about our product, all women," says Kaufman. "New Yawkers. They'll kill you."

At a recent game at the Solon home of Stacy Bauer, 48, she is joined by friends Marcy Fisher,Specialized of injection mold, plasticmoulds, 51, of Orange, Stacy Edelstein, 44, also of Orange, and Lauren Spilman, 47, of Moreland Hills.

A tablecloth with maajh symbols covers a card table. Each woman carries a maajh purse that holds cash — they play for quarters and dimes — and the official rules card issued by the National Mah Jongg League.

The card lists dozens of winning combinations among three suits — dots, bams and craks. Players pick up, discard and pass tiles to each other trying to match a hand on the card. Players can't see each other's tiles or know what hands the other players are attempting to build.

The combinations can get complicated. And once a player's tiles form a winning hand, she shouts "Maajh!" and collects the change.

Bauer and her friends, who learned the game as kids from their mothers and grandmothers, started playing seriously 10 years ago.

"I called them up and said, 'I know you guys think this is really queer, but let's start playing maajh,' " recalls Bauer.Specialized of injection mold, plasticmoulds,

The foursome once got together for an overnight at the swanky Walden Inn in Aurora, playing maajh in their pajamas until dawn.

"It's addictive," says Bauer.

But why is the addiction so strong among Jewish women?

"I have been trying for years to get the answer to that question," says Judi Feniger, executive director of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood. "No one really knows.Plastic moldmaker located in the Philippines.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good and affordable alternative to buying a new sofa that is run down."

In 1912, Joseph Babcock, a representative of the Standard Oil Co., doing business in the Orient, brought the game to the United States. Somehow, it caught on in New York City's Jewish ghettos, migrated to Jewish vacation spots in the Catskill Mountains and eventually spread to suburban America, where it flourishes today.

"It's like a subculture," says Feniger.

Chinese still play the game, though it's very different from the one played by Jewish women, who have adopted different rules over the years.

The Maltz museum is hosting a mah jongg exhibit that runs through April 22. It features history, photographs, a video and antique game sets with elaborately decorated ivory, bone, Bakelite and ebony tiles.

The exhibit includes a number of activities, including lessons, a tournament and a bus trip to Li Wah Chinese restaurant in Cleveland for a backroom, cross-culture game.

"The game is an interesting combination of skill and luck," says Feniger.

But win or lose, it's the camaraderie that makes maajh fun.

Under the palm trees at the Embassy Suites, the games and gossip often go deep into the afternoon.

Recently, the Embassy ladies had an unexpected visitor — a turtle the size of an eggplant crawled out of a pool below the waterfall and worked its way through the mah jongg tables.

A hotel worker put it back in the water, but 10 minutes later, the reptile was back at the ladies' feet.

A bigger turtle, the size of a soccer ball, sometimes shows up during the games. The ladies call him Charlie.

"I saw him one day heading for the ladies' restroom," says Marlene Gordon, 73, of Beachwood.

Sometimes the four-legged creatures startle the ladies, but on this day Naomi Seligman, 77, of South Euclid, is unfazed by a turtle at her feet. She's too busy working the tiles and too frustrated with the loser hand she's holding.

The woman on her left has been discarding some of the tiles she needs, but the other players are grabbing them before Seligman can. "I'm going to kill this broad," she says.

At the next table, Sue Forman, 64, of Mayfield Heights, is a newcomer to the Embassy games. "When you're retired you think you've got a lot of time on your hands," she says. "But you really don't because you're playing maajh all the time."

A few tables down, Barb Kupps, 60, of Moreland Hills, and Shelley Stahlman, 60, of South Euclid, had played together at a Chinese restaurant in University Heights when they were teenagers.

Now, after raising their kids, they have rejoined the subculture.

"It brings back good memories of our childhood when we had no cares, no worries," says Stahlman, slapping down a 2 crak.

Kupps, picking up a 6 bam, adds, "Making new friends and keeping old ones, that's what maajh is all about."

Jambbas cited for Animal Wel fare Act violations unrelated

Jambbas Ranch Tours was cited last month for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, but a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections backlog means a report on earlier violations found last year could still be months away.

The USDA found two violations at the ranch on Tabor Church Road during an inspection Jan. 4,Choose from our large selection of cableties, prompted by a complaint filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

A one-eyed llama was found with thick,My favourite city councillor,You can find best mouldengineeringsolution china manufacturers from here! creamy discharge coming from its eye socket and dried diarrhea on its back legs, according to the inspection report. A raccoon had lost all the hair on its tail and part of its hindquarters, the report stated. Neither had been seen by a veterinarian.

Jambbas owner James Bass was ordered to have the animals examined by a veterinarian and appropriate treatment provided within a week.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? Bass could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The inspection was not part of an ongoing investigation, launched last summer, into multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Jambbas, said Dave Sacks, a USDA spokesman.

That investigation remains open, Sacks said. It involves repeated violations found during inspections, including some with direct impact on animal welfare. Specific details have not been released.

Sacks said Thursday he did not know when the report would be complete.

"Each investigation has its own set of variables and such, so it is not possible to gauge how long a case will last," Sacks said via email.

Gregory Parham, administrator of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in an open letter last month that the average investigation takes almost two years to complete because of a massive backlog. The agency can handle about 1,You can find best china electronicplasticmould manufacturers from here!000 complaints a year but had about 2,050 open at the end of 2011, Parham wrote.The liquid hardens or sets inside the molds, The agency plans to send warning letters for some of the less serious violations on its books to close them out.

The new violations did not involve the most famous resident at Jambbas, Ben the Bear. Activists at the local and national level have campaigned for a larger enclosure for the bear or to have him moved to a bear sanctuary.

The Jambbas website offers the opportunity to donate toward a $40,000 enclosure for the bear. So far, $2,259.61 has been raised, according to the site.

Delcianna Winders, a PETA spokeswoman, said the latest complaint was reported by a local PETA supporter.

Other concerns the complaint raised that did not result in violations were dirty and empty dog water bowls and a camel that was foaming at the mouth, Winders said.

PayPal rolls out in-store payment at Bay Area Home Depot stores

In its first test of an ambitious effort to change how customers pay for purchases, the online payments giant has set up in-store checkout systems at every Home Depot store in the Bay Area.

"You'll be able to pay just using your mobile phone. You don't need to even bring your wallet," said Anuj Nayar, a spokesman for PayPal, which announced earlier it plans to introduce a similar system in 20 brand-name national retailers by the end of the year. Home Depot is the first.

People with a PayPal account linked to their mobile phone can type their mobile number, along with a security code, into an existing card-processing terminal at the checkout stand. A mobile phone number is required because after the sale is completed, an electronic receipt is sent to the consumer's mobile phone and PayPal account. Consumers can choose which credit or debit card they want to use for in-store payment when they sign up with PayPal.

The pilot was launched in January at 51 Home Depot stores nationwide, including all 44 Bay Area stores. It is expected to be rolled out nationally in March at more than 2,000 Home Depot stores.

PayPal's in-store payment system is one of many efforts by companies to let consumers use their mobile phones for making payments in brick-and-mortar stores. Wireless carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are developing the Isis payment system that will let consumers tap a smartphone to make purchases. Google (GOOG) has already launched its mobile payment application, Google Wallet, in a partnership with MasterCard, which makes a compatible card reader.

Google Wallet and Isis use a technology called near-field communications, which requires consumers to have an NFC-enabled smartphone and the merchant to have a compatible card reader to handle payments made using this system. That's not the case with PayPal's in-store payment system, which works with a merchant's existing card reader and any mobile phone.

About 17 million of the 106 million PayPal account holders worldwide have linked their accounts to a mobile phone.VulcanMold is a plastic molds and injectionmold manufacturer in china.

Renato Mascardo, 34, of San Ramon tried the service at a Home Depot store in Danville and likes it -- especially when he is shopping with his young daughters and has his hands full.

"It's super convenient for me not to have to take my wallet out. It seems like a little thing, but when you have a two-year-old in your arms and a five-year-old (in the store) it's pretty convenient," said Mascardo, vice president of engineering at Metamoki, a San Francisco-based online gaming company.

So what's in it for Home Depot?

It provides a convenient payment option for customers, said Dwaine Kimmet, treasurer and vice president for financial services at Atlanta-based Home Depot.

At the same time,Product information for Sell electronicplasticmoulds from China! Home Depot is able to save money, he said. That's because Home Depot pays a lower fee for processing credit and debit card transactions linked to a PayPal account than what the retailer pays card-issuing banks. How much lower? Neither PayPal nor Home Depot will say.

The in-store payment technology also gives consumers the option of swiping a PayPal payment card.

The in-store payment launch is all part of a far-reaching initiative PayPal calls the "digital wallet," which eventually will make it possible for consumers to add gift cards and electronic coupons to their PayPal account.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good and affordable alternative to buying a new sofa that is run down. Once they get to the checkout stand, consumers will be able to apply a discount from a gift card or electronic coupon to the purchase price.

"People are talking about how the mobile phone can replace the (physical) wallet in the future. We think that's only a partial solution,The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good and affordable alternative to buying a new sofa that is run down." Nayar of PayPal said. "The move from traditional analog payments -- cash, credit card -- is going to move to the digital field."

But while PayPal is pushing its in-store payment platform that works with existing card readers, it has not turned away from near-field communications. Last year, it introduced an app for NFC-enabled Android phones that lets people send money to each other by tapping their phones

The goal of both technologies is to provide consumers with an alternative to pulling out plastic when buying merchandise in brick-and-mortar stores while being able to store coupons and gift cards on a mobile phone, said Beth Robertson, director of payment research at Pleasanton-based Javelin Strategy & Research.

"I think the difference is,Omega Plastics are leading plasticinjectionmoulding and injection mould tooling specialists. PayPal is intentionally wanting to be very open. The consumer has the choice of what they want to load in whereas Google seems to be more concerned about who they are partnering with," she said.

Bringing a hen home to roost

IF, DESPITE my dire warnings, you are still determined to buy hens,We can produceplasticmould,plastic mould, let us see what they need.

First is a draught-free, dry house. Investing in a poultry magazine such as Fancy Fowl or Practical Poultry and surfing the net (especially on eBay) will reveal a wide range of prices. It pays to shop around.

My favourite is a two-tier house with a run underneath. If you pick an ark-shaped house, choose a solidly-made one. Cheap tongue-and-groove ones are a bad investment. After a year in the rain and wind, the slats fall apart.You can find best china automotiveplasticmoulds manufacturers from here!

Plastic hen houses are available that are easy to clean and do not harbour mites. Only the price puts me off.

Four things can kill chickens: damp, mites, draughts and foxes.

Chickens do not mind the cold. If you slip your hand under the wing of a sleeping chicken, you will find it as warm as toast there.Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles.

But sometimes, in very cold weather, cockerels get frostbite on their combs. A little Vaseline will prevent that.

Red mites are a major problem however clean your pens. Where they come from or how they get there, nobody knows. Afflicted birds grow pale with anaemia and may die. Red mites love new wood and new hutches. In the old days, creosoting was the ultimate deterrent. I always take it as a personal affront and become obsessive with red mite spray.

I even know one keeper who goes over his pens with a blowtorch.And not just the usual suspects,Customized imprinted and promotionalusbonsale flash drives. Vaseline at the end of the perches is another tip – but never along the middle, otherwise the hens will fall off.

Ensure latches are secure and wire walls are well-fixed to keep out foxes. Once they find a tasty chicken they will be back, usually killing more than they need. It can be a very distressing business.

I staple wire beneath pens and runs to prevent foxes digging underneath.

If your hens stay in a pen, ensure they have sufficient room to scratch about and remain active. Bored, cramped chickens pick up nasty habits such as feather-pecking or bullying.

A cauliflower or apple hanging on a string, a few dried meal worms thrown on the ground and plenty of room will keep them busy and happy.

If they are confined, provide them with grit to help them digest their food and a dirt or sand tray to bath in.

There are many recipes for each stage of a chicken's life in old poultrymen's books. Now all the ingredients are in pellets.

Layers' pellets provide all the minerals and protein your hens need. Chick crumbs and growers' pellets are just right for healthy chicks and adolescent birds.

A rough rule is a good handful of pellets per bird per day.

I always have a bag of mixed corn in the shed as a treat later in the day. Never overfeed because waste food encourages rats and mice and you will start to get black looks from the neighbours. Keeping chickens can be fraught with antisocial dangers. I suggest a gift of fresh eggs is the best antidote.

Chickens love treats. Apples, bananas (skin and all chopped up), cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are favourites. Cooked potatoes, pasta and any fruit will also cause excitement in the coop.

Two things to avoid are avocado and uncooked potato peelings – both can be lethal to chickens.

Percy the peacock shares the same menu of pellets and corn, supplemented by our neighbours' custard creams, digestives and leftover cat food. However, all these extras are treats. Don't overdo them or you will have fat chickens.

A few drops of apple cider vinegar in the water once a month is said to be beneficial and a few drops of cod liver oil in the corn once in a while keeps feathers gleaming. A little of both once a month is enough.

Any spare eggs, either boiled or scrambled and maybe mixed with garlic powder, are also a tonic.

Clean water is essential. Birds drink a surprising amount. Dirty water is a recipe for disaster, especially in the summer.

If you are unfortunate enough to find one of your birds hunched up, looking lethargic or bubbling at the eyes or nostrils, you need to act at once.

My chicken-keeping friends usually have a bottle of Tylan powder or liquid Baytril (both only available on prescription from the vet) in the cupboard alongside the cod liver oil and Vaseline.

Tylan powder must be mixed with a little warm water to ensure it dissolves. Baytril is also diluted as instructed by the vet. Do not eat the eggs of a bird on medication. Both antibiotics are expensive but will go a long way.

If treated as soon as symptoms appear, a chicken will often rally in a day or two. If left untreated, a bird may soon develop respiratory problems, gluey eyes and a running nose.

Watch out for odd behaviour in the coop – you'll soon spot a sickly bird. Then act at once – isolate the bird,Hobby Silicone for mold making moldmaking , medicate and wait for recovery.

Make sleeping quarters snug with shavings or hemp. I don't use hay because it can go slimy. Straw can harbour mites. But find what suits you best and is available.