"Modern Family" takes a satirical look at a strain of trivial problems that plague several intensely comedic families. The show's structure is unique among serial TV shows. Instead of centering on one nuclear family, "Modern Family" focuses on three chaotic households that play equally major roles in the various plots. Despite the fact that these three households have virtually nothing in common, the members are related by blood or through marriage; thus, all the characters are a part of one big, dysfunctional family.
The oldest character, Jay , is a successful businessman who is married to the gorgeous Gloria . Their son Manny is the same age as Jay's grandson Luke, whose mother Claire is actually older than Gloria. While Luke's older sisters' antics carry on, his father Phil attempts to manage the family's constant bedlam, which he causes more often than not. Jay has a son slightly younger than Claire named Mitchell , who is a gay lawyer and whom Jay cannot stand. Mitchell is married to Cam , who is the funniest and most likeable character. Cam humorously serves as a mother to Lily, the couple's adopted child.
The show has maintained strong qualities during its three seasons. The characters are lovable, the writing is beautiful, the jokes are clever, and the episodes are funny. The first season of "Modern Family" was classic and unforgettable; it seemed simply unbeatable by any subsequent season. The second season came around and managed to do the impossible, surpassing the first in every way. The current season is rough, but it hasn't been entirely bad.
There have been several highlights. The second episode of this third season, "When Good Kids Go Bad" showed promise. In that one, Cam and Mitchell planned on throwing a family dinner to announce their decision to adopt another child; however, plans started going awry when they discovered that their daughter, Lily, would not take well to another baby in the house. After all, Cam has only had so much "momness" to go around. The characters' reactions to Lily were entertaining.
The best episode of the season, "Little Bo Bleep," had a subplot focused on Lily as well. Cam's weakness for children's swearing led him to laugh whenever his daughter unknowingly swore. She quickly developed a habit that Cam and Mitchell had to try to clean up before her big day as a flower girl. In this same episode, Jay's dog Stella kept trying to commit suicide, presumably because of Gloria's inherent distaste for the dog, as Claire ran for office against an opponent whose careless demeanor brought out Claire's negative characteristics.
A couple of other episodes lived up to the expectations set by the first two seasons, including "Treehouse," episode seven, and "Eggdrop," episode twelve.
Nonetheless, the ratio of good episodes to mediocre ones has been distressing. So why is this season so bad? "Modern Family" has recently adopted an annoyingly formulaic structure in the last set of episodes, resulting in unforgivable predictability and an overall lack of engaging humor. Quite simply, the number of clever jokes has decreased. The few jokes that manage to generate laughter are often childish and unoriginal. Also, the writing has changed for the worse: the screenwriters seem to take fewer risks when it comes to working with the basic conflictresolution pattern of Americanstyle TV comedy. Additionally, they try too hard to make the characters fit rigidly into molds of brief descriptions, unlike in previous seasons when these characters tended to emerge as multidimensional.
2012年2月29日星期三
2012年2月28日星期二
PET promises new option for handleware
A new PET resin from Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. could change the way you snack.
Polyclear EBM PET, produced by Indorama-owned Auriga Polymers, can be used to make containers boasting glass-like clarity, high gloss, and handles, said Frank Embs, director of business development for Auriga, to a crowd at The Packaging Conference.
The resin was developed for extrusion blow molding applications and can run on existing machines and molds. In one of Polyclear’s first commercial applications, Denver-based CCW Products Inc. used the resin to make wide-mouth jars for H.K. Anderson Pretzel’s peanut butter filled nuggets, Embs said.
Anderson was looking for a recyclable, high clarity, high-gloss container to replace its current PVC or glycol-modified PET jars. With some adjustments and alterations to equipment and processes, Polyclear fit that criteria, Embs said.
Polyclear is a semi-crystalline, high melt PET variation, and must be processed at a higher temperature than regular PET. In initial runs on a Bekum shuttle machine, containers had problems with poor melt strength, un-melts, runny sleeves, a lack of clarity and a weak finished product. By making alterations to machines and molds, the company was able to solve the problems, Embs said.
The material, like other polyesters, must be dried before processing, and must reach and maintain a moisture level less than 20 parts per million. To meet these requirements, the company installed a large dryer, and attached a small hopper to the top of the machine that feeds the material into the extruder at the correct temperature and moisture level. The resulting containers were actually less brittle following the alterations, Embs said.
The materials high melting point, 230° C, led to the addition of 1,000-watt heater bands to the barrel. But, the hotter, stickier PET parison stuck to the existing blade knifes during cutting. A hot knife was used to cut the material at commercial speeds.
Along with reaching the correct temperature, the material must be processed in the correct time frame. Using PETG-type low-shear screws or PVC barrier screws led to unmelts, barrier screws also resulted in low melt strength. Regular PVC screws created too much shear and runny sleeves. To combat the problem, the company used a hybrid-barrier screw, and modified the temperature profile to increase back pressure and effectively mix the melted polymer and un-melted crystals, Embs said.
Polyclear crystallizes similar to PET, but it’s a stronger polymer with a higher parison temperature. To speed up cooling and avoid crystallization, cooling channels were added to existing molds. The creation of longer cooling belts and blowers prevented the containers from sticking to the trimmer. The original pinchers couldn’t cut through the polymer, so they were replaced with stronger stainless steel ones.
The new containers were required to meet top-load requirements, but the original designs failed crush tests, Embs said. After some alterations, like fixing the weight distribution to eliminate weak spots, the container had zero failures, Embs said. The product has also been available on store shelves for more than a year and has had no failures in use, he added.
The resulting container is recyclable and carries a PETE 1 designation. It can also be made using up to 60 percent internal regrind if the regrind is dried and crystallized, Embs said.
“The Anderson Peanut Butter jar is a great success,” he said.
Though the peanut butter jar doesn’t call for them, Polyclear PET containers can be made with handles, making them ideal for beverage packing, Embs said.
Indorama plans to launch more commercial applications for the material this year, including one for orange juice, he said.
Polyclear EBM PET, produced by Indorama-owned Auriga Polymers, can be used to make containers boasting glass-like clarity, high gloss, and handles, said Frank Embs, director of business development for Auriga, to a crowd at The Packaging Conference.
The resin was developed for extrusion blow molding applications and can run on existing machines and molds. In one of Polyclear’s first commercial applications, Denver-based CCW Products Inc. used the resin to make wide-mouth jars for H.K. Anderson Pretzel’s peanut butter filled nuggets, Embs said.
Anderson was looking for a recyclable, high clarity, high-gloss container to replace its current PVC or glycol-modified PET jars. With some adjustments and alterations to equipment and processes, Polyclear fit that criteria, Embs said.
Polyclear is a semi-crystalline, high melt PET variation, and must be processed at a higher temperature than regular PET. In initial runs on a Bekum shuttle machine, containers had problems with poor melt strength, un-melts, runny sleeves, a lack of clarity and a weak finished product. By making alterations to machines and molds, the company was able to solve the problems, Embs said.
The material, like other polyesters, must be dried before processing, and must reach and maintain a moisture level less than 20 parts per million. To meet these requirements, the company installed a large dryer, and attached a small hopper to the top of the machine that feeds the material into the extruder at the correct temperature and moisture level. The resulting containers were actually less brittle following the alterations, Embs said.
The materials high melting point, 230° C, led to the addition of 1,000-watt heater bands to the barrel. But, the hotter, stickier PET parison stuck to the existing blade knifes during cutting. A hot knife was used to cut the material at commercial speeds.
Along with reaching the correct temperature, the material must be processed in the correct time frame. Using PETG-type low-shear screws or PVC barrier screws led to unmelts, barrier screws also resulted in low melt strength. Regular PVC screws created too much shear and runny sleeves. To combat the problem, the company used a hybrid-barrier screw, and modified the temperature profile to increase back pressure and effectively mix the melted polymer and un-melted crystals, Embs said.
Polyclear crystallizes similar to PET, but it’s a stronger polymer with a higher parison temperature. To speed up cooling and avoid crystallization, cooling channels were added to existing molds. The creation of longer cooling belts and blowers prevented the containers from sticking to the trimmer. The original pinchers couldn’t cut through the polymer, so they were replaced with stronger stainless steel ones.
The new containers were required to meet top-load requirements, but the original designs failed crush tests, Embs said. After some alterations, like fixing the weight distribution to eliminate weak spots, the container had zero failures, Embs said. The product has also been available on store shelves for more than a year and has had no failures in use, he added.
The resulting container is recyclable and carries a PETE 1 designation. It can also be made using up to 60 percent internal regrind if the regrind is dried and crystallized, Embs said.
“The Anderson Peanut Butter jar is a great success,” he said.
Though the peanut butter jar doesn’t call for them, Polyclear PET containers can be made with handles, making them ideal for beverage packing, Embs said.
Indorama plans to launch more commercial applications for the material this year, including one for orange juice, he said.
2012年2月27日星期一
A Sneak Peak at Next Season's Skis, Boots and Bindings
The SIA Snow Show, held every winter in Denver, is a gear geek’s dream. Over 900 snowsports brands come together to show their latest and greatest products for the coming year. Skis, boots and bindings are always a hot topic, and lots of innovation should make every skier and rider salivate for what’s to come in 2012/2013.
Manufacturers add some amount of rocker to most skis in their line for 2012/2013, which is a good move since sales nearly doubled for reverse and mixed camber skis early this season. Rocker is not just for wide skis anymore: Rocker adds all-mountain performance to skis traditionally thought of as carving skis and also makes skis more maneuverable and easier to turn, helping skiers of all abilities.
Almost a third of all skis sold last season were women-specific skis. Next year manufacturers introduce new wider-waisted models for women, which hooks into a non-gender specific trend of sidecountry skiing. New technology has made wide skis easier to use in both powder and hard snow so manufacturers feel that women will be looking to add a second pair of skis with waists 90 mm and above.
New molds for ski boots and hike-ski features change the game for boots in 2012/2013. Boot manufacturers had to pick up the development pace to keep up with rapidly changing ski technology. This means a shift toward an emphasis on lateral stiffness and a more upright stance. Also, many boot manufactures will introduce or add new models with a hike-ski mode. This typically includes some mechanism or built-in design that allows for greater cuff mobility for hiking, but that locks the upper and lower cuffs together for downhill performance. These boots also tend to include ease-of-use features like rubber soles, which help skiers hike more comfortably as well as walk in icy parking lots.
To compliment the new trend in ski boots, binding manufacturers continue to offer bindings or introduce models that favor back- or sidecountry skiing, allowing skiers to free their heels and also lock down for alpine performance.
Manufacturers add some amount of rocker to most skis in their line for 2012/2013, which is a good move since sales nearly doubled for reverse and mixed camber skis early this season. Rocker is not just for wide skis anymore: Rocker adds all-mountain performance to skis traditionally thought of as carving skis and also makes skis more maneuverable and easier to turn, helping skiers of all abilities.
Almost a third of all skis sold last season were women-specific skis. Next year manufacturers introduce new wider-waisted models for women, which hooks into a non-gender specific trend of sidecountry skiing. New technology has made wide skis easier to use in both powder and hard snow so manufacturers feel that women will be looking to add a second pair of skis with waists 90 mm and above.
New molds for ski boots and hike-ski features change the game for boots in 2012/2013. Boot manufacturers had to pick up the development pace to keep up with rapidly changing ski technology. This means a shift toward an emphasis on lateral stiffness and a more upright stance. Also, many boot manufactures will introduce or add new models with a hike-ski mode. This typically includes some mechanism or built-in design that allows for greater cuff mobility for hiking, but that locks the upper and lower cuffs together for downhill performance. These boots also tend to include ease-of-use features like rubber soles, which help skiers hike more comfortably as well as walk in icy parking lots.
To compliment the new trend in ski boots, binding manufacturers continue to offer bindings or introduce models that favor back- or sidecountry skiing, allowing skiers to free their heels and also lock down for alpine performance.
2012年2月26日星期日
Red Lion tire company pursues international trade case
The shiny, rust-free glimmer slaps Troy Kline dead in the face as he paces the gritty floors of his 120,000-square-foot tire factory in Red Lion.
The CEO at Maine Industrial Tire shakes his head, watching the $100,000 tire mill sit idle - but not for the reason you might think.
It's not the decline in U.S. manufacturing, an epidemic that recently claimed nearby Yorktowne Cabinetry's decades-old site across Redco Avenue.
It's not lagging demand for the company's inventory, either.
In fact, Maine Industrial Tire's 50 employees can't keep up with contracts from big names like John Deere, Bobcat, and Caterpillar, clamoring for the company's solid rubber products used on forklifts and construction equipment.
For most manufacturers, it's the stuff of dreams.
For Kline and the company's Chairman Bryan Ganz, it's just a long story - one colored by a 5-year-old court battle with the U.S. government over an international trade regulation designed to stop foreign firms from undercutting American manufacturers.
They say it's left them waiting on $1.5 million - money granted by a 2010 court decision.
That's money to hire about 40 more employees in Red Lion - money to invest in company infrastructure.
"The issue is," Kline said, "how many more customers are we going to lose because we can't keep up with demand?"
The saga begins in 2007.
At the time, Maine Industrial's forerunner GPX International Tires employed 2,600 people at manufacturing operations in Red Lion, Maine, Canada, Europe and - as fate would have it - China.
That year, Titan Tire Corp., the United Steel Workers International and Bridgestone Americas Inc. filed suit against GPX, accusing the Massachusetts-based company of "dumping" and "countervailing" from their Chinese factory.
Dumping occurs when a company exports goods to a country for less than fair market value, typically to gain an initial foothold in a marketplace.
In the United States, companies engaging in these practices pay customs duties designed to level the playing field between domestic and foreign producers.
Ganz said the suit, filed with the international trade commission, wasn't taken seriously initially.
"My head would snap off if I tried to sell something below cost," he said. "We did not need to take additional market share. We weren't a start-up company."
In late 2007, the U.S. Department of Commerce began charging GPX customs duties for dumping and countervailing. These fees amounted to 44 percent of the cost of each off-the-road tire.
For example, if a tire cost $100, GPX paid the U.S. government $44 before the item could touch U.S. soil.
Duties aside, that same tire would only garner about $25 in profits for the company, Ganz said.
GPX sued the Department of Commerce in 2008, accusing the imposition of both duties as "double-counting," he added. "At the time, there was tremendous anti-China sentiment - a tremendous push in Congress to restrict trade with China."
Daniel Porter, attorney at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle in Washington, D.C., represented GPX in the case.
"As you have increased globalization, you're going to see this more and more," he said. "What's a bit unusual is that this manufacturer had its own Chinese production facility. In many cases, a Chinese exporter will send to a U.S. manufacturer and have no affiliation."
GPX asked a judge to suspend the duties until the case could be heard in court. The request was denied, and GPX filed for bankruptcy in October 2009, citing the continued hefty customs costs for its demise.
The blow was devastating for Ganz, whose grandfather started GPX in 1922. He teamed up with Kline and other investors to buy a small piece of the company out of bankruptcy - along with the rights to pursue a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce.
The CEO at Maine Industrial Tire shakes his head, watching the $100,000 tire mill sit idle - but not for the reason you might think.
It's not the decline in U.S. manufacturing, an epidemic that recently claimed nearby Yorktowne Cabinetry's decades-old site across Redco Avenue.
It's not lagging demand for the company's inventory, either.
In fact, Maine Industrial Tire's 50 employees can't keep up with contracts from big names like John Deere, Bobcat, and Caterpillar, clamoring for the company's solid rubber products used on forklifts and construction equipment.
For most manufacturers, it's the stuff of dreams.
For Kline and the company's Chairman Bryan Ganz, it's just a long story - one colored by a 5-year-old court battle with the U.S. government over an international trade regulation designed to stop foreign firms from undercutting American manufacturers.
They say it's left them waiting on $1.5 million - money granted by a 2010 court decision.
That's money to hire about 40 more employees in Red Lion - money to invest in company infrastructure.
"The issue is," Kline said, "how many more customers are we going to lose because we can't keep up with demand?"
The saga begins in 2007.
At the time, Maine Industrial's forerunner GPX International Tires employed 2,600 people at manufacturing operations in Red Lion, Maine, Canada, Europe and - as fate would have it - China.
That year, Titan Tire Corp., the United Steel Workers International and Bridgestone Americas Inc. filed suit against GPX, accusing the Massachusetts-based company of "dumping" and "countervailing" from their Chinese factory.
Dumping occurs when a company exports goods to a country for less than fair market value, typically to gain an initial foothold in a marketplace.
In the United States, companies engaging in these practices pay customs duties designed to level the playing field between domestic and foreign producers.
Ganz said the suit, filed with the international trade commission, wasn't taken seriously initially.
"My head would snap off if I tried to sell something below cost," he said. "We did not need to take additional market share. We weren't a start-up company."
In late 2007, the U.S. Department of Commerce began charging GPX customs duties for dumping and countervailing. These fees amounted to 44 percent of the cost of each off-the-road tire.
For example, if a tire cost $100, GPX paid the U.S. government $44 before the item could touch U.S. soil.
Duties aside, that same tire would only garner about $25 in profits for the company, Ganz said.
GPX sued the Department of Commerce in 2008, accusing the imposition of both duties as "double-counting," he added. "At the time, there was tremendous anti-China sentiment - a tremendous push in Congress to restrict trade with China."
Daniel Porter, attorney at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle in Washington, D.C., represented GPX in the case.
"As you have increased globalization, you're going to see this more and more," he said. "What's a bit unusual is that this manufacturer had its own Chinese production facility. In many cases, a Chinese exporter will send to a U.S. manufacturer and have no affiliation."
GPX asked a judge to suspend the duties until the case could be heard in court. The request was denied, and GPX filed for bankruptcy in October 2009, citing the continued hefty customs costs for its demise.
The blow was devastating for Ganz, whose grandfather started GPX in 1922. He teamed up with Kline and other investors to buy a small piece of the company out of bankruptcy - along with the rights to pursue a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce.
2012年2月23日星期四
Oracle Racing gives sneak peek of top-secret racing hull
Security isn't what it used to be at the America's Cup. For instance, any media member with a hidden camera could have taken pictures of Oracle Racing's hull under construction Tuesday.
Inside the team's cavernous Pier 80 headquarters, technicians were working on a hull for one of the gigantic AC72 wing-sailed catamarans that will be used in Oracle's America's Cup defense next year in San Francisco Bay.
The media people were ushered into the area marked "TOP SECRET" in red, 2-foot-tall letters. They saw the two halves of the 72-foot hull being built from several layers of carbon fiber in huge molds. The layers are compressed at high temperatures. Eventually, the two halves will be glued together.
If operatives for a competing syndicate could have taken part in the sneak preview, structural engineer Kurt Jordan said, "They'd be looking at the shape or the curvature."
Competing teams "used to be ridiculously secretive," said Oracle Racing boss Russell Coutts, who -- with four wins -- is the most successful skipper in America's Cup history. Teams used to have "15-foot high barriers" around their operations, he said.
By Cup rules, the hulls have to be built in the countries that their racing teams represent. The wings of the Oracle boats are being built in New Zealand and will be brought to the Bay Area in sections beginning next month. The boats will be launched in July.
Parked outside by the water was the huge main structure of USA-17, which won the 33rd America's Cup in 2010 over the Swiss boat Alinghi 5 in Valencia, Spain. USA-17 is expected to be on display on the San Francisco waterfront during the America's Cup World Series this summer and the 2013 races.
That's assuming the Board of Supervisors ratifies an agreement with Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's group. Under the deal, the group would pay at least $55 million to repair aging piers for use during the racing events in return for long-term development rights to waterfront properties.
With the city officials still deliberating, Coutts said: "I'm not sure the Board of Supervisors realize what they've got here. I'm not sure San Francisco realizes how lucky it is to get the America's Cup."
So far there are only three entries in the Louis Vuitton Cup next year: Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa of Italy and Artemis of Sweden. Cup officials hope to have more entries by the June 1 deadline and have spoken recently about considering a revised format for the challenger series.
Coutts said he thought there would be at least one and as many as three more entries, and that the number would have been higher if it hadn't been for the global recession.
"It would be nice to have 20 other teams out there," he said. "It would be great to have teams from China and Korea and France and these other countries ... but if we don't, it will still be a spectacular race."
The afternoon portion of Tuesday's media event emphatically demonstrated that point when Oracle's two AC45 catamarans were put through their paces.
The two 45-footers, versions of the 72-foot boats that will race in the Cup, launched from Pier 80. They headed north under the Bay Bridge, turned the corner and sailed toward Alcatraz. As the winds increased, onlookers received a riveting preview of the speeds of these boats.
The catamarans zipped past the island, and soon each boat leaned on one hull with five sailors hanging off the other sides, 10 to 15 feet in the air.
The crews performed a variety of maneuvers, coming to a stop at times, restarting and taking runs straight at Crissy Field. It will be an exciting part of the Cup races when boats charge toward the shore before making a hairpin turn and heading back into the bay.
Inside the team's cavernous Pier 80 headquarters, technicians were working on a hull for one of the gigantic AC72 wing-sailed catamarans that will be used in Oracle's America's Cup defense next year in San Francisco Bay.
The media people were ushered into the area marked "TOP SECRET" in red, 2-foot-tall letters. They saw the two halves of the 72-foot hull being built from several layers of carbon fiber in huge molds. The layers are compressed at high temperatures. Eventually, the two halves will be glued together.
If operatives for a competing syndicate could have taken part in the sneak preview, structural engineer Kurt Jordan said, "They'd be looking at the shape or the curvature."
Competing teams "used to be ridiculously secretive," said Oracle Racing boss Russell Coutts, who -- with four wins -- is the most successful skipper in America's Cup history. Teams used to have "15-foot high barriers" around their operations, he said.
By Cup rules, the hulls have to be built in the countries that their racing teams represent. The wings of the Oracle boats are being built in New Zealand and will be brought to the Bay Area in sections beginning next month. The boats will be launched in July.
Parked outside by the water was the huge main structure of USA-17, which won the 33rd America's Cup in 2010 over the Swiss boat Alinghi 5 in Valencia, Spain. USA-17 is expected to be on display on the San Francisco waterfront during the America's Cup World Series this summer and the 2013 races.
That's assuming the Board of Supervisors ratifies an agreement with Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's group. Under the deal, the group would pay at least $55 million to repair aging piers for use during the racing events in return for long-term development rights to waterfront properties.
With the city officials still deliberating, Coutts said: "I'm not sure the Board of Supervisors realize what they've got here. I'm not sure San Francisco realizes how lucky it is to get the America's Cup."
So far there are only three entries in the Louis Vuitton Cup next year: Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa of Italy and Artemis of Sweden. Cup officials hope to have more entries by the June 1 deadline and have spoken recently about considering a revised format for the challenger series.
Coutts said he thought there would be at least one and as many as three more entries, and that the number would have been higher if it hadn't been for the global recession.
"It would be nice to have 20 other teams out there," he said. "It would be great to have teams from China and Korea and France and these other countries ... but if we don't, it will still be a spectacular race."
The afternoon portion of Tuesday's media event emphatically demonstrated that point when Oracle's two AC45 catamarans were put through their paces.
The two 45-footers, versions of the 72-foot boats that will race in the Cup, launched from Pier 80. They headed north under the Bay Bridge, turned the corner and sailed toward Alcatraz. As the winds increased, onlookers received a riveting preview of the speeds of these boats.
The catamarans zipped past the island, and soon each boat leaned on one hull with five sailors hanging off the other sides, 10 to 15 feet in the air.
The crews performed a variety of maneuvers, coming to a stop at times, restarting and taking runs straight at Crissy Field. It will be an exciting part of the Cup races when boats charge toward the shore before making a hairpin turn and heading back into the bay.
2012年2月22日星期三
Ukraine Fans Default Risk in Russia Bet as Vote Molds Policy
Ukraine’s efforts to seek cheaper natural gas from Russia rather than comply with the terms of a bailout have alarmed investors, propelling the former Soviet republic’s credit risk above Argentina’s for the first time in two years.
The government is shunning the International Monetary Fund as it struggles to agree on discounted fuel imports from Russia, with whom clashes halted European gas transit twice since 2006. That’s fanned concern over its ability to meet $11.9 billion in debt costs this year, with default risk rising more than any country Bloomberg tracks except Greece in the last six months.
While Ukraine faces a widening current-account gap, slowing economic growth and limited access to global capital markets, President Viktor Yanukovych has refused to raise household gas tariffs to restart a $15.6 billion IMF aid package as support for his ruling party ebbs before October elections.
“It’s a question of willingness to pay a political price,” Ronald Schneider, who helps manage about $1 billion in emerging-market debt at Raiffeisen Kapitalanlage GmbH in Vienna, said Jan. 31 by phone. “Skepticism for Ukraine will increase” without a resumption in IMF disbursements.
The cost of insuring Ukrainian state debt against non- payment for five years using credit-default swaps rose 254 basis points in the last six months to 780 today, according to CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices from dealers in the privately-negotiated market. That compares with 768 yesterday for Argentina, which the gauge surpassed Jan. 13.
Ukraine’s CDS price fell this month after peaking at 930 basis points on Jan. 17. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
“The improvement in Ukrainian debt spreads is a mere consequence of the risk rally we’re now seeing in the markets,” Luis Costa, an emerging-market strategist at Citigroup Inc. in London, said today by e-mail. “The macro story in Ukraine still points to very dangerous imbalances in the local economy.”
Economic growth may slow to 3.9 percent this year from about 5 percent in 2011, the government estimates, as the euro- region turmoil threatens its steel exports and cold weather curbs the grain harvest.
Pressure on the hryvnia has intensified in recent months while dwindling trust in the authorities has halted capital inflows and investment, the IMF’s Ukraine representative, Max Alier, warned former First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuev in a Jan. 31 letter, the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper reported Feb. 13.
The hryvnia has declined to 8.0138 per U.S. dollar from 7.9550 a year ago. Ukraine’s gold and foreign-currency reserves fell $3.3 billion to $31.8 billion in 2011 as the hryvnia weakened and its current-account deficit widened to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product from 2.2 percent.
The former Soviet state’s credit-rating outlook was cut to stable from positive at Fitch Ratings in October, while Moody’s Investors Service lowered it to negative in December, citing risks to funding, liquidity and political stability. They both rate Ukraine five levels below investment grade.
The yield on the government’s Eurobond due 2016 has jumped to 8.587 percent from 6.265 percent when it was issued last June. Foreign investors have cut hryvnia-debt holdings to 4.26 billion hryvnia ($532 million) as of yesterday from 11.26 billion hryvnia last January, central bank data show.
Ukraine’s IMF loan, obtained in 2010, has been frozen since last March because the government won’t approve a one-third increase in consumer energy costs, a move the Washington-based fund has demanded to trim losses at state energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy.
“We can’t burden the citizens,” Yanukovych, whose ruling Party of Regions has 14 percent backing before this year’s parliamentary vote, said Feb. 16 in comments published on his website.
Instead, he wants to wipe a third off his country’s gas bill by seeking a discount on its Russian imports to $250 per 1,000 cubic meters from the $416 average price assumed in this year’s budget. The bill came to about $12 billion last year.
While the two neighbors have been negotiating for months, no agreement has been reached. Ukrainian officials say Russia wants control of the transit pipelines OAO Gazprom uses to ship gas to Europe, a similar deal to one Belarus accepted last year.
Ukraine is unwilling to sanction the sale and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov reiterated Feb. 11 that there are no plans to join a Russia-led customs union of which Belarus is also a member.
“Russia will demand a very high price in terms of sovereignty and getting control of key economic assets,” Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said Feb. 8 by phone.
Gazprom’s press service declined to comment yesterday when asked about the negotiations with Ukraine and what the company is seeking in return for potential price discounts.
Russia, which supplies Ukraine with more than 70 percent of its gas needs, agreed to cut prices in April 2010 in exchange for a 25-year extension on its lease of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, where it has a naval base.
The government is shunning the International Monetary Fund as it struggles to agree on discounted fuel imports from Russia, with whom clashes halted European gas transit twice since 2006. That’s fanned concern over its ability to meet $11.9 billion in debt costs this year, with default risk rising more than any country Bloomberg tracks except Greece in the last six months.
While Ukraine faces a widening current-account gap, slowing economic growth and limited access to global capital markets, President Viktor Yanukovych has refused to raise household gas tariffs to restart a $15.6 billion IMF aid package as support for his ruling party ebbs before October elections.
“It’s a question of willingness to pay a political price,” Ronald Schneider, who helps manage about $1 billion in emerging-market debt at Raiffeisen Kapitalanlage GmbH in Vienna, said Jan. 31 by phone. “Skepticism for Ukraine will increase” without a resumption in IMF disbursements.
The cost of insuring Ukrainian state debt against non- payment for five years using credit-default swaps rose 254 basis points in the last six months to 780 today, according to CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices from dealers in the privately-negotiated market. That compares with 768 yesterday for Argentina, which the gauge surpassed Jan. 13.
Ukraine’s CDS price fell this month after peaking at 930 basis points on Jan. 17. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
“The improvement in Ukrainian debt spreads is a mere consequence of the risk rally we’re now seeing in the markets,” Luis Costa, an emerging-market strategist at Citigroup Inc. in London, said today by e-mail. “The macro story in Ukraine still points to very dangerous imbalances in the local economy.”
Economic growth may slow to 3.9 percent this year from about 5 percent in 2011, the government estimates, as the euro- region turmoil threatens its steel exports and cold weather curbs the grain harvest.
Pressure on the hryvnia has intensified in recent months while dwindling trust in the authorities has halted capital inflows and investment, the IMF’s Ukraine representative, Max Alier, warned former First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuev in a Jan. 31 letter, the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper reported Feb. 13.
The hryvnia has declined to 8.0138 per U.S. dollar from 7.9550 a year ago. Ukraine’s gold and foreign-currency reserves fell $3.3 billion to $31.8 billion in 2011 as the hryvnia weakened and its current-account deficit widened to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product from 2.2 percent.
The former Soviet state’s credit-rating outlook was cut to stable from positive at Fitch Ratings in October, while Moody’s Investors Service lowered it to negative in December, citing risks to funding, liquidity and political stability. They both rate Ukraine five levels below investment grade.
The yield on the government’s Eurobond due 2016 has jumped to 8.587 percent from 6.265 percent when it was issued last June. Foreign investors have cut hryvnia-debt holdings to 4.26 billion hryvnia ($532 million) as of yesterday from 11.26 billion hryvnia last January, central bank data show.
Ukraine’s IMF loan, obtained in 2010, has been frozen since last March because the government won’t approve a one-third increase in consumer energy costs, a move the Washington-based fund has demanded to trim losses at state energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy.
“We can’t burden the citizens,” Yanukovych, whose ruling Party of Regions has 14 percent backing before this year’s parliamentary vote, said Feb. 16 in comments published on his website.
Instead, he wants to wipe a third off his country’s gas bill by seeking a discount on its Russian imports to $250 per 1,000 cubic meters from the $416 average price assumed in this year’s budget. The bill came to about $12 billion last year.
While the two neighbors have been negotiating for months, no agreement has been reached. Ukrainian officials say Russia wants control of the transit pipelines OAO Gazprom uses to ship gas to Europe, a similar deal to one Belarus accepted last year.
Ukraine is unwilling to sanction the sale and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov reiterated Feb. 11 that there are no plans to join a Russia-led customs union of which Belarus is also a member.
“Russia will demand a very high price in terms of sovereignty and getting control of key economic assets,” Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said Feb. 8 by phone.
Gazprom’s press service declined to comment yesterday when asked about the negotiations with Ukraine and what the company is seeking in return for potential price discounts.
Russia, which supplies Ukraine with more than 70 percent of its gas needs, agreed to cut prices in April 2010 in exchange for a 25-year extension on its lease of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, where it has a naval base.
2012年2月21日星期二
More Minnesota factories having trouble finding skilled workers
A metal fabricating company in Stacy last summer posted a job on MinnesotaWorks, the state-run website, for a laser operator. Despite a salary of $40,000 and a full array of benefits, there were no takers.
"We did not have one person apply for our job for two months," said Lori Tapani, co-president of Wyoming Machine. The company eventually turned to a staffing company to help fill that job and others.
Finding qualified workers has become a bigger worry for Minnesota manufacturers, despite some 170,000 Minnesotans without jobs. An annual poll of manufacturing execs from across the state released today shows that 31 percent listed finding skilled workers as a major concern, more than double last year's 14 percent.
"There's a perception sometimes that working in a manufacturing plant isn't a good place to be," said Tapani, whose 55-employee shop about 35 miles north of St. Paul makes metal parts used in a diverse array of products, from computers to tractors to food-packaging equipment.
There is a dwindling interest among young people who want to train for manufacturing jobs, perhaps because they view the industry as outdated and the jobs as "dark and dirty" and not high-tech, said Bob Kill, president of Enterprise Minnesota, the trade group that sponsored the study. There's also a skills mismatch where many workers who are unemployed - in the building trades, for example - are unwilling or unable to train for a new job in manufacturing.
challenges, manufacturers generally indicated that they continue to grow. The State of Manufacturing, an annual poll, in January tapped the opinions of 400 executives at Minnesota companies. Despite an overall contraction in manufacturing in Minnesota since the late '90s, the industry remains one of the most important in the state, employing close to 300,000 workers or about 11 percent of the state's workforce.
After a period of widespread wage freezes, the skills gap may be pushing wages up. Close to half of the manufacturing firms surveyed say their wages have increased over the year, while a majority of executives expect their firm's wages will increase in the next few years.
Delkor Systems in Circle Pines is hiring to meet rising demand for its newly developed packaging equipment from food and consumer products companies and from new fast-growth markets overseas. The company has added 40 employees in the past six months and now has a workforce of 130.
But Delkor is looking for more. With projected sales of $55 million this year, the company is hiring another 20 workers in the next three months. "We're putting a lot of emphasis into hiring," said Dale Andersen, the company's chief executive.
Delkor hires engineers and graduates of automation and robotics programs to help build and test new machines. There's a shortage of skilled applicants in the company's internal metal fabricating shop. A typical CNC (computer numerical control) machinist makes between $23 and $26 per hour, Andersen said. Such workers need technical knowledge to program the machines that cut the metal parts used on the packaging equipment.
"There's a very significant shortage" of people with that knowledge, Andersen said. "There's a general feeling out there that these types of jobs are a dying breed in America. If you interview high school graduates or even their parents, there's not a really good appreciation, first, of how highly compensated those jobs are now and the amount of technology there is with these jobs compared with years ago."
Despite the shortage, Andersen is determined to find workers to keep up with demand. The company has 15 machinists now with plans to add five by summer.
"We did not have one person apply for our job for two months," said Lori Tapani, co-president of Wyoming Machine. The company eventually turned to a staffing company to help fill that job and others.
Finding qualified workers has become a bigger worry for Minnesota manufacturers, despite some 170,000 Minnesotans without jobs. An annual poll of manufacturing execs from across the state released today shows that 31 percent listed finding skilled workers as a major concern, more than double last year's 14 percent.
"There's a perception sometimes that working in a manufacturing plant isn't a good place to be," said Tapani, whose 55-employee shop about 35 miles north of St. Paul makes metal parts used in a diverse array of products, from computers to tractors to food-packaging equipment.
There is a dwindling interest among young people who want to train for manufacturing jobs, perhaps because they view the industry as outdated and the jobs as "dark and dirty" and not high-tech, said Bob Kill, president of Enterprise Minnesota, the trade group that sponsored the study. There's also a skills mismatch where many workers who are unemployed - in the building trades, for example - are unwilling or unable to train for a new job in manufacturing.
challenges, manufacturers generally indicated that they continue to grow. The State of Manufacturing, an annual poll, in January tapped the opinions of 400 executives at Minnesota companies. Despite an overall contraction in manufacturing in Minnesota since the late '90s, the industry remains one of the most important in the state, employing close to 300,000 workers or about 11 percent of the state's workforce.
After a period of widespread wage freezes, the skills gap may be pushing wages up. Close to half of the manufacturing firms surveyed say their wages have increased over the year, while a majority of executives expect their firm's wages will increase in the next few years.
Delkor Systems in Circle Pines is hiring to meet rising demand for its newly developed packaging equipment from food and consumer products companies and from new fast-growth markets overseas. The company has added 40 employees in the past six months and now has a workforce of 130.
But Delkor is looking for more. With projected sales of $55 million this year, the company is hiring another 20 workers in the next three months. "We're putting a lot of emphasis into hiring," said Dale Andersen, the company's chief executive.
Delkor hires engineers and graduates of automation and robotics programs to help build and test new machines. There's a shortage of skilled applicants in the company's internal metal fabricating shop. A typical CNC (computer numerical control) machinist makes between $23 and $26 per hour, Andersen said. Such workers need technical knowledge to program the machines that cut the metal parts used on the packaging equipment.
"There's a very significant shortage" of people with that knowledge, Andersen said. "There's a general feeling out there that these types of jobs are a dying breed in America. If you interview high school graduates or even their parents, there's not a really good appreciation, first, of how highly compensated those jobs are now and the amount of technology there is with these jobs compared with years ago."
Despite the shortage, Andersen is determined to find workers to keep up with demand. The company has 15 machinists now with plans to add five by summer.
2012年2月20日星期一
Ohio voters may get say on ‘right to work’
In the wake of Indiana’s recent passage a right-to-work law, opposing sides in Ohio are preparing to battle over the same issue.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels earlier this month signed the first right-to-work law to be enacted in the so-called Rust Belt, a stronghold for union-represented work forces. The law makes it illegal to force employees to join a union or pay union dues and is similar to laws in 22 other states. Indiana was the first state in a decade to enact such a law.
Some believe the law will give Indiana a competitive advantage in luring businesses to that state. Others don’t believe that.
On Monday, the organization Ohioans for Workplace Freedom said it will gather signatures to place before voters a proposed constitutional amendment to “guarantee the freedom of Ohioans to choose whether to participate in a labor organization as a condition of employment.”
The people behind the drive — which they hope to place before voters this November or November 2013 — are some of the same people who wrote the Ohio health care amendment, Issue 3, that voters overwhelmingly approved last November. Maurice Thompson, an attorney and executive director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, crafted the language of both Issue 3 and a proposed amendment that would make Ohio a right-to-work state.
“Our polling has always shown that Ohioans want the freedom to choose that other states have always had,” Thompson said Monday.
Other recent polling by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute showed that more than half of Ohio voters favor passing a right-to-work law.
Ohioans for Workplace Freedom wants to collect the signatures of about 600,000 registered voters in Ohio, said Chris Littleton, a Butler County resident and former president of the conservative Ohio Liberty Council. The organization needs to collect a minimum 386,000 valid signatures, Littleton said.
Last week, the Ohio secretary of state’s office approved the organization as a single-issue political action committee, Littleton said.
The group’s proposal and Indiana’s new law sparked strong reaction among proponents and opponents.
“Seven years of evidence and experience ultimately demonstrated that Indiana did need a right-to-work law to capture jobs for which, despite our highly rated business climate, we are not currently being considered,” Daniels said.
Tim Burga, chief of staff of Ohio AFL-CIO, calls the issue “right to work for less.” He contends that right-to-work laws drive wages and benefits lower and do nothing to create new jobs. He cited a recent New York Times article that reported that six of the 10 states with the highest unemployment rates have right-to-work laws.
“We had this debate all last year about workers’ rights and collective bargaining, and voters spoke very clearly,” said Burga, referring to Senate Bill 5, which would have weakened the ability of Ohio public-sector unions to collectively bargain and which voters overwhelmingly rejected.
Thompson and Littleton reject comparisons with Senate Bill 5, saying SB 5 and right-to-work laws have nothing to do with each other.
James Winship, president of the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America Local 755 in Dayton, calls right-to-work legislation an attack on unions.
When members stop contributing, unions “crumble,” he said. To counter that, Winship believes younger workers need to be reminded that unions have a history of winning for them benefits, including a 40-hour work week and child-protection labor laws, which they may now take for granted.
Winship also believes Indiana will lose in the long run. Without dues and members, union negotiators lose “clout” in workplaces, which ultimately puts pressure on wages and benefits — and tax revenue, he said. “Wait and see what happens with their tax base there,” Winship said.
But Warren Davidson, owner of metal stamper West Troy Tool & Machine, sees the issue differently. In the year 2000, about 90 percent of his sales were to customers in Ohio. Last year, his Ohio sales amounted to just 40 to 50 percent of his company’s business. Davidson says he is watching customers move to the southwestern states with right-to-work laws. If enough of his customers move, he may have to move as well, he said.
“The customer base is making location decisions,” said Davidson, whose 50-employee shop is not unionized. “And total cost is a factor. But labor cost is a very big factor.”
However, Davidson said, Dayton-area companies like his can easily serve customers in Indiana.
Where customers move is an issue as well for Michael van Haaren, president and chief operating officer for Stillwater Technologies, a Troy firm that makes tooling for original equipment manufacturers like Honda and Chrysler. While Stillwater isn’t unionized, some of van Haaren’s customers are, and he believes those companies are sensitive to the perceived business climate of other states.“Directly, it’s not an impact,” van Haaren said of Indiana’s new law. “But indirectly and long-term, it’s definitely an impact.”
Dennis McLaughlin, a Middletown-based shareholder of business consultant Clark Schaefer and Hackett, works with manufacturers, many of them small, family-owned and nonunionized. Right-to-work provisions don’t often come up in conversation with owners of those businesses, McLaughlin said. Taxes, regulations and other issues seem to be more critical to them, he said.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels earlier this month signed the first right-to-work law to be enacted in the so-called Rust Belt, a stronghold for union-represented work forces. The law makes it illegal to force employees to join a union or pay union dues and is similar to laws in 22 other states. Indiana was the first state in a decade to enact such a law.
Some believe the law will give Indiana a competitive advantage in luring businesses to that state. Others don’t believe that.
On Monday, the organization Ohioans for Workplace Freedom said it will gather signatures to place before voters a proposed constitutional amendment to “guarantee the freedom of Ohioans to choose whether to participate in a labor organization as a condition of employment.”
The people behind the drive — which they hope to place before voters this November or November 2013 — are some of the same people who wrote the Ohio health care amendment, Issue 3, that voters overwhelmingly approved last November. Maurice Thompson, an attorney and executive director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, crafted the language of both Issue 3 and a proposed amendment that would make Ohio a right-to-work state.
“Our polling has always shown that Ohioans want the freedom to choose that other states have always had,” Thompson said Monday.
Other recent polling by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute showed that more than half of Ohio voters favor passing a right-to-work law.
Ohioans for Workplace Freedom wants to collect the signatures of about 600,000 registered voters in Ohio, said Chris Littleton, a Butler County resident and former president of the conservative Ohio Liberty Council. The organization needs to collect a minimum 386,000 valid signatures, Littleton said.
Last week, the Ohio secretary of state’s office approved the organization as a single-issue political action committee, Littleton said.
The group’s proposal and Indiana’s new law sparked strong reaction among proponents and opponents.
“Seven years of evidence and experience ultimately demonstrated that Indiana did need a right-to-work law to capture jobs for which, despite our highly rated business climate, we are not currently being considered,” Daniels said.
Tim Burga, chief of staff of Ohio AFL-CIO, calls the issue “right to work for less.” He contends that right-to-work laws drive wages and benefits lower and do nothing to create new jobs. He cited a recent New York Times article that reported that six of the 10 states with the highest unemployment rates have right-to-work laws.
“We had this debate all last year about workers’ rights and collective bargaining, and voters spoke very clearly,” said Burga, referring to Senate Bill 5, which would have weakened the ability of Ohio public-sector unions to collectively bargain and which voters overwhelmingly rejected.
Thompson and Littleton reject comparisons with Senate Bill 5, saying SB 5 and right-to-work laws have nothing to do with each other.
James Winship, president of the International Union of Electronic Workers-Communication Workers of America Local 755 in Dayton, calls right-to-work legislation an attack on unions.
When members stop contributing, unions “crumble,” he said. To counter that, Winship believes younger workers need to be reminded that unions have a history of winning for them benefits, including a 40-hour work week and child-protection labor laws, which they may now take for granted.
Winship also believes Indiana will lose in the long run. Without dues and members, union negotiators lose “clout” in workplaces, which ultimately puts pressure on wages and benefits — and tax revenue, he said. “Wait and see what happens with their tax base there,” Winship said.
But Warren Davidson, owner of metal stamper West Troy Tool & Machine, sees the issue differently. In the year 2000, about 90 percent of his sales were to customers in Ohio. Last year, his Ohio sales amounted to just 40 to 50 percent of his company’s business. Davidson says he is watching customers move to the southwestern states with right-to-work laws. If enough of his customers move, he may have to move as well, he said.
“The customer base is making location decisions,” said Davidson, whose 50-employee shop is not unionized. “And total cost is a factor. But labor cost is a very big factor.”
However, Davidson said, Dayton-area companies like his can easily serve customers in Indiana.
Where customers move is an issue as well for Michael van Haaren, president and chief operating officer for Stillwater Technologies, a Troy firm that makes tooling for original equipment manufacturers like Honda and Chrysler. While Stillwater isn’t unionized, some of van Haaren’s customers are, and he believes those companies are sensitive to the perceived business climate of other states.“Directly, it’s not an impact,” van Haaren said of Indiana’s new law. “But indirectly and long-term, it’s definitely an impact.”
Dennis McLaughlin, a Middletown-based shareholder of business consultant Clark Schaefer and Hackett, works with manufacturers, many of them small, family-owned and nonunionized. Right-to-work provisions don’t often come up in conversation with owners of those businesses, McLaughlin said. Taxes, regulations and other issues seem to be more critical to them, he said.
2012年2月19日星期日
He is the Hope and Change Candidate of 2012
Who is the inspirational leader, the “hope and change” of the 2012 elections? That would be Ron Paul.
And if Republicans hope to win in November, they must include the libertarian congressman on their eventual presidential ticket.
Take a mental field trip with me, and let me walk you through this.
Even the fiercest critics of President Barack Obama have to honestly ask themselves one simple question: Do you really think, deep down in your heart, Obama will lose in November?
At this stage in the presidential race, it’s hard for any level-headed individual to honestly say yes.
Obama is crushing the game.
And if your gut isn’t giving you this answer, then try and argue the cold hard data points.
A recent CNN poll shows that Obama is beating all of his possible Republican rivals in hypothetical GOP match-ups. Obama leads Mitt Romney 51% to 46%, tops Rick Santorum 52% to 45%, beats Paul, 52% to 45%, and crushes Newt Gingrich (why is he still in the race, btw?) 55% to 42%.
A Fox News poll of key battleground states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin — shows the same: Obama leads Romney, 47% to 39%, tops Santorum, 48% to 38%, beats Paul 48% to 37% and crushes Gingrich, 52% to 32% (L Republicans).
Obama raised $11.8 million for his campaign in January, according to FEC filings released Friday. This total is less than a third of the $36.8 million he raised during the same month four years ago. He remains the top fundraiser in the presidential race.
What’s better for Obama is the complete political disunity in the Republican Party. The race has boiled down to Romney against any-flavor-of-the-month of anti-Romney. The GOP primary is turning into a meat grinder, blackening the eyes of all candidates. And there’s no end in sight. The Wall Street Journal argues that the GOP primary will run into May or June (George W. Bush in 2000 and John McCain in 2008 had won their respective primary battles by the middle of March), making this the most “grueling” GOP race since the Reagan-Ford marathon went all the way to the convention in 1976.
Disunity, unfortunately, is the one intangible piece in this puzzle. If Republicans were more unified in their battle to unseat one of the most unpopular presidents in modern history, then they could have a true fighting chance. But for a party that is facing an identity crisis — filled with the juxtaposition of evangelical conservatives, Tea Partiers, libertarians, neocons, and moderates —“unity” in itself will be a “grueling” process.
But unity will be the only way forward for Republicans, and if the GOP hopes to take back the White House, then they should realize that the answer to all of their woes lies in uniting Ron Paul and his supporters with the wider party.
Paul is the biggest chance the GOP has to win the presidency in 2012. His brand of conservatism is progressive enough to draw in key voting blocs and his immense grass roots base is fervent enough to challenge the “hope and change-ers” that propelled Obama to the presidency in 2008. Unfortunately, though, Paul will never be the Republican presidential nominee. He’s a fringe candidate. As such, the eventual GOP candidate must pick Paul as their running mate.
Paul would draw in massively critical demographics. He is the quintessential Tea Partier (check). Young people love him and are hugely inspired by him (check). Progressives and liberals can easily jump on the Paul bandwagon (um, super check). Military folks overwhelmingly love him (check).
The only comparable Republican who could possibly fit this mold would be Tea Party Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), but he has neither the grassroots followers nor political résumé to be a viable threat on the GOP ticket.
Continue on this mental field trip with me.
Paired with a more mainstream conservative like Mitt Romney, the GOP ticket would truly be able to call itself “electable.” Imagine the one-two punch a Romney-Paul ticket could provide: Romney’s money machine juggernaut could compete with Obama and the Democrats’ Super PACS, while Paul would rain down a storm of philosophical and policy counterpoints that would unhinge Obama’s own policy platform.
In an age of austerity and military pull-back, Paul’s ideals would trump Obama in the eyes of the average voter. In this Super PAC election cycle, Romney’s money would drown the Democrats.
There’s still the unity question. It seems any libertarian or Paulite doesn’t comprehend that Paul is running, in fact, as a Republican — under the same banner as other notable politicians including George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, and Ronald Reagan, all of which I would contend libertarians don’t relate to. Libertarians seem to hate being grouped in the “Republican” category, and would be hard-pressed to buy into the Grand Old Party’s wider ideals.
And, besides, Paul in a fringe candidate. Regular conservatives think Paul is stirring a crock of … well you know. A foreign policy built on diplomacy rather than the military ? Are you kidding me? How un-Republican.
Then there's that whole racism thing. That'll sting.
Still, I think there’s something there, something that the Republicans should consider tapping into if they hope to have a realistic chance at the presidency.
Paul could prove to be the iconic image of the 2012 election, especially in a time when many voters are looking for such a political savior.
And if Republicans hope to win in November, they must include the libertarian congressman on their eventual presidential ticket.
Take a mental field trip with me, and let me walk you through this.
Even the fiercest critics of President Barack Obama have to honestly ask themselves one simple question: Do you really think, deep down in your heart, Obama will lose in November?
At this stage in the presidential race, it’s hard for any level-headed individual to honestly say yes.
Obama is crushing the game.
And if your gut isn’t giving you this answer, then try and argue the cold hard data points.
A recent CNN poll shows that Obama is beating all of his possible Republican rivals in hypothetical GOP match-ups. Obama leads Mitt Romney 51% to 46%, tops Rick Santorum 52% to 45%, beats Paul, 52% to 45%, and crushes Newt Gingrich (why is he still in the race, btw?) 55% to 42%.
A Fox News poll of key battleground states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin — shows the same: Obama leads Romney, 47% to 39%, tops Santorum, 48% to 38%, beats Paul 48% to 37% and crushes Gingrich, 52% to 32% (L Republicans).
Obama raised $11.8 million for his campaign in January, according to FEC filings released Friday. This total is less than a third of the $36.8 million he raised during the same month four years ago. He remains the top fundraiser in the presidential race.
What’s better for Obama is the complete political disunity in the Republican Party. The race has boiled down to Romney against any-flavor-of-the-month of anti-Romney. The GOP primary is turning into a meat grinder, blackening the eyes of all candidates. And there’s no end in sight. The Wall Street Journal argues that the GOP primary will run into May or June (George W. Bush in 2000 and John McCain in 2008 had won their respective primary battles by the middle of March), making this the most “grueling” GOP race since the Reagan-Ford marathon went all the way to the convention in 1976.
Disunity, unfortunately, is the one intangible piece in this puzzle. If Republicans were more unified in their battle to unseat one of the most unpopular presidents in modern history, then they could have a true fighting chance. But for a party that is facing an identity crisis — filled with the juxtaposition of evangelical conservatives, Tea Partiers, libertarians, neocons, and moderates —“unity” in itself will be a “grueling” process.
But unity will be the only way forward for Republicans, and if the GOP hopes to take back the White House, then they should realize that the answer to all of their woes lies in uniting Ron Paul and his supporters with the wider party.
Paul is the biggest chance the GOP has to win the presidency in 2012. His brand of conservatism is progressive enough to draw in key voting blocs and his immense grass roots base is fervent enough to challenge the “hope and change-ers” that propelled Obama to the presidency in 2008. Unfortunately, though, Paul will never be the Republican presidential nominee. He’s a fringe candidate. As such, the eventual GOP candidate must pick Paul as their running mate.
Paul would draw in massively critical demographics. He is the quintessential Tea Partier (check). Young people love him and are hugely inspired by him (check). Progressives and liberals can easily jump on the Paul bandwagon (um, super check). Military folks overwhelmingly love him (check).
The only comparable Republican who could possibly fit this mold would be Tea Party Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), but he has neither the grassroots followers nor political résumé to be a viable threat on the GOP ticket.
Continue on this mental field trip with me.
Paired with a more mainstream conservative like Mitt Romney, the GOP ticket would truly be able to call itself “electable.” Imagine the one-two punch a Romney-Paul ticket could provide: Romney’s money machine juggernaut could compete with Obama and the Democrats’ Super PACS, while Paul would rain down a storm of philosophical and policy counterpoints that would unhinge Obama’s own policy platform.
In an age of austerity and military pull-back, Paul’s ideals would trump Obama in the eyes of the average voter. In this Super PAC election cycle, Romney’s money would drown the Democrats.
There’s still the unity question. It seems any libertarian or Paulite doesn’t comprehend that Paul is running, in fact, as a Republican — under the same banner as other notable politicians including George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, and Ronald Reagan, all of which I would contend libertarians don’t relate to. Libertarians seem to hate being grouped in the “Republican” category, and would be hard-pressed to buy into the Grand Old Party’s wider ideals.
And, besides, Paul in a fringe candidate. Regular conservatives think Paul is stirring a crock of … well you know. A foreign policy built on diplomacy rather than the military ? Are you kidding me? How un-Republican.
Then there's that whole racism thing. That'll sting.
Still, I think there’s something there, something that the Republicans should consider tapping into if they hope to have a realistic chance at the presidency.
Paul could prove to be the iconic image of the 2012 election, especially in a time when many voters are looking for such a political savior.
2012年2月16日星期四
Teens make sweet treats
Tuesday's holiday sparked the sweet teeth of the teenagers who came to the library's Valentine's Day candy-making workshop. Tables lined with chocolates, sprinkles, cocoa and crushed Oreo, dotting along the festive red tablecloths.
"We like to provide something at the library specifically for teens," Kayla Williams, teen librarian, said. On months with special occasions the events tend to focus on the specific holiday. Some of the other activities include craft programs. The library tries to hold teen-related events nearly every month.
Naturally, the candy-making had a great turnout. The teens melted chocolate in the microwave and spooned it into molds. After about five minutes in the freezer the shaped chocolates are released from their casings.
Others molded more pliable chocolate into small balls and rolled them in toppings to create truffles. The treats could then be packed into little boxes for taking home.
Something about chocolate makes smiling natural. And the holiday, for many, only adds to the sentiment.
Williams has been the teen librarian for the past year and a half, but the teen-related events have been around for a number of years. Their focus is to find ways to draw teens into the library and to work with them to develop their current interests and find others, as well.
"We like to provide something at the library specifically for teens," Kayla Williams, teen librarian, said. On months with special occasions the events tend to focus on the specific holiday. Some of the other activities include craft programs. The library tries to hold teen-related events nearly every month.
Naturally, the candy-making had a great turnout. The teens melted chocolate in the microwave and spooned it into molds. After about five minutes in the freezer the shaped chocolates are released from their casings.
Others molded more pliable chocolate into small balls and rolled them in toppings to create truffles. The treats could then be packed into little boxes for taking home.
Something about chocolate makes smiling natural. And the holiday, for many, only adds to the sentiment.
Williams has been the teen librarian for the past year and a half, but the teen-related events have been around for a number of years. Their focus is to find ways to draw teens into the library and to work with them to develop their current interests and find others, as well.
2012年2月15日星期三
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, and we sent a GIS student with cancer to the Bahamas."
"It's awesome," 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."
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, Locker Buddies magnets, Anna's Creative Crayons made from melted crayons and personalized with faces, Guitar Pick Pendants, 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."
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, and we sent a GIS student with cancer to the Bahamas."
"It's awesome," 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."
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, Locker Buddies magnets, Anna's Creative Crayons made from melted crayons and personalized with faces, Guitar Pick Pendants, 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."
2012年2月14日星期二
Warm Winter Helps Flu, Hurts Allergies
It hasn’t been a very cold winter in the Tri-Cities, which may be more of a curse than a blessing for people with allergies. On the other hand, the spring-like temperatures may be helping our health and our ability to avoid the flu.
"It’s a little unusual not to have hardly any flu cases yet in February," said Dr. David Kirschke at the Northeast Regional Health Office. He said the influenza virus hasn’t hit Tennessee yet even though it usually peaks during this month. In fact, there were only 3 confirmed cases in Tennessee during January.
Doctors may be able to thank Mother Nature because different viruses survive better in different conditions. "Influenza just tends to do very good in moist, cold environments like during winter," Kirschke said.
The lack of snow means more sniffles for people with allergies since mold allergies increase during a mild winter. "In the winter time, when there's no snow cover, it's not as cold, the molds are able to release more spores in to the air,” said Dr. Neil Wallen, an allergist and immunologist. The temperatures also affect temperamental trees. Wallen said they could start budding one to two weeks earlier and get a jump start on pollinating.
Doctors said if you start experiencing allergy-like symptoms including itchy eyes and running nose, try an over-the-counter medication. If that doesn’t help, go to your doctor. The physician may suggest you see an allergist. "For patients with mild allergy symptoms, over the counter medications like Zyrtec, Allegra, and Claritin are helpful. In fact, the majority of people benefit from those kinds of medications," Wallen said.
One allergy patient at Wallen’s office has had four sinus infections this winter and has been on antibiotics for about two months. He blames the Spring-time problem on the Spring-like temperatures. "This is the only time I can remember having sinus infections. Maybe one or two a year, but nothing like this,” said Seth Testerman.
Doctors said there is still time to get your flu shot. However, it’s too late to get your allergy shot for this season. The series of shots has to be started a season in advance and require multiple shots over a period of time.
"It’s a little unusual not to have hardly any flu cases yet in February," said Dr. David Kirschke at the Northeast Regional Health Office. He said the influenza virus hasn’t hit Tennessee yet even though it usually peaks during this month. In fact, there were only 3 confirmed cases in Tennessee during January.
Doctors may be able to thank Mother Nature because different viruses survive better in different conditions. "Influenza just tends to do very good in moist, cold environments like during winter," Kirschke said.
The lack of snow means more sniffles for people with allergies since mold allergies increase during a mild winter. "In the winter time, when there's no snow cover, it's not as cold, the molds are able to release more spores in to the air,” said Dr. Neil Wallen, an allergist and immunologist. The temperatures also affect temperamental trees. Wallen said they could start budding one to two weeks earlier and get a jump start on pollinating.
Doctors said if you start experiencing allergy-like symptoms including itchy eyes and running nose, try an over-the-counter medication. If that doesn’t help, go to your doctor. The physician may suggest you see an allergist. "For patients with mild allergy symptoms, over the counter medications like Zyrtec, Allegra, and Claritin are helpful. In fact, the majority of people benefit from those kinds of medications," Wallen said.
One allergy patient at Wallen’s office has had four sinus infections this winter and has been on antibiotics for about two months. He blames the Spring-time problem on the Spring-like temperatures. "This is the only time I can remember having sinus infections. Maybe one or two a year, but nothing like this,” said Seth Testerman.
Doctors said there is still time to get your flu shot. However, it’s too late to get your allergy shot for this season. The series of shots has to be started a season in advance and require multiple shots over a period of time.
2012年2月13日星期一
3D printing can revolutionize the future
Made from titanium powder, heated and built-up in layers in a 3D printer, the lower jaw of the woman was given a bioceramic coating. The implant was designed and built by LayerWise--a Belgian metal parts manufacturer which maintains that 3D printing could reduce costs of medical treatment, since operations would be quicker and recovery time shorter.
It was only last July that engineers at the University of Southampton emulated the Wright brothers and printed an aircraft. The engineers, according to an institute release, designed and flew the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft, “which could revolutionise the economics of aircraft design”. The Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft (SULSA) plane is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) whose entire structure has been printed, including the wings, integral control surfaces and access hatches. SULSA is part of the EPSRC-funded DECODE project, which is employing the use of manufacturing techniques such as laser sintering, to demonstrate their use in the design of UAVs.
The aircraft was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine, which fabricates plastic or metal objects, building the item layer by layer. No fasteners were used and all equipment was attached using ‘snap fit’ techniques so that the aircraft could be assembled without tools in minutes. The electric-powered aircraft, with a two-metre wingspan, has a top speed of nearly 100 miles per hour. However, it’s almost silent when in cruise mode, said the release.
Laser sintering allows designers to create shapes and structures that would normally involve expensive traditional manufacturing techniques. The technology allows a highly-tailored aircraft to be developed from concept to first flight in days. Using conventional materials and manufacturing techniques, such as composites, this would normally take months. Furthermore, because no tooling is required for manufacturing, radical changes to the shape and scale of the aircraft can be made at no extra cost.
Fabbers, or personal manufacturing machines (3D printers come under this category), are expected to change the way we live. They resemble microwave ovens but, in fact, 3D printers not only make jewellery, toothbrushes, complex machine components and medical implants, but football boots, racing-car parts and custom-designed cakes as well.
Engineers and designers have been using 3D printers for more than a decade, but mostly to make prototypes quickly and cheap. In India, DesignTech Systems, a distributor of Stratasys Inc, had launched uPrint – a personal 3D printer – priced at $14,900 in June 2009. Wohlers research suggests that over 20 per cent of 3D printers’ output are now final products rather than prototypes and the figure is expected to rise to 50% by 2020.
3D printers fabricate complex objects by depositing materials, layer by layer. They use an additive process (make objects by systematically depositing a chosen raw material in layers). The most common household 3D printing process involves a ‘print head’ that works with any material that can be extruded or squirted through a nozzle.
Another common type uses a laser beam or glue to selectively fuse powdered plastic, metal or ceramic in layers. A user can select an electronic design blueprint and load the raw materials into the 3D printer. The machine does the rest. In a process that can take several hours to days.
At Cornell University, for instance, engineering students with no culinary training used their lab’s 3D printer to fabricate custom-designed cakes which, when cut open, revealed a letter ‘C’. Cornell’s 3D food printer isn’t commercially available as yet.
3D printers typically use plastic, but some high-end machines are able to work with metals and ceramics too. Known as personal manufacturing machines or ‘fabbers’, industrial-size 3D printers cost up to half-a-million dollars, while low-end personal-scale 3D printers cost less than $1,000. Today’s lowest-cost 3D printers have their roots in the University of Bath’s 3D printer called RepRap and Cornell’s Fab@Home project. The blueprints for both are available free to anyone who wants to build his/her own machine or improve upon existing designs — even commercially.
Hod Lipson, an associate professor at Cornell University, who authored a report commissioned by the US Office of Science and Technology Policy titled Factory@Home, told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) event held in Washington DC early this year: “People with no special training can rip, mix and burn physical objects like custom machine parts, household goods, jewellery, and maybe someday, electronic devices.”
Going forward, lack of human imagination appears to be the only limitation for 3D printers. The Fab@Home team at Cornell, for instance, is pursuing the ability to manufacture, on a single 3D printer machine in a single “print job” — a robot. Lipson tickles one’s imagination with his vision of an “...assembly line of computer-guided, 3D printers giving ‘birth’ to baby robots that crawl out of the printer and wander off to a nearby nursery where they learn to use their arms and legs according to instructions already hard-wired into their electronic circuitry.”
It was only last July that engineers at the University of Southampton emulated the Wright brothers and printed an aircraft. The engineers, according to an institute release, designed and flew the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft, “which could revolutionise the economics of aircraft design”. The Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft (SULSA) plane is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) whose entire structure has been printed, including the wings, integral control surfaces and access hatches. SULSA is part of the EPSRC-funded DECODE project, which is employing the use of manufacturing techniques such as laser sintering, to demonstrate their use in the design of UAVs.
The aircraft was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine, which fabricates plastic or metal objects, building the item layer by layer. No fasteners were used and all equipment was attached using ‘snap fit’ techniques so that the aircraft could be assembled without tools in minutes. The electric-powered aircraft, with a two-metre wingspan, has a top speed of nearly 100 miles per hour. However, it’s almost silent when in cruise mode, said the release.
Laser sintering allows designers to create shapes and structures that would normally involve expensive traditional manufacturing techniques. The technology allows a highly-tailored aircraft to be developed from concept to first flight in days. Using conventional materials and manufacturing techniques, such as composites, this would normally take months. Furthermore, because no tooling is required for manufacturing, radical changes to the shape and scale of the aircraft can be made at no extra cost.
Fabbers, or personal manufacturing machines (3D printers come under this category), are expected to change the way we live. They resemble microwave ovens but, in fact, 3D printers not only make jewellery, toothbrushes, complex machine components and medical implants, but football boots, racing-car parts and custom-designed cakes as well.
Engineers and designers have been using 3D printers for more than a decade, but mostly to make prototypes quickly and cheap. In India, DesignTech Systems, a distributor of Stratasys Inc, had launched uPrint – a personal 3D printer – priced at $14,900 in June 2009. Wohlers research suggests that over 20 per cent of 3D printers’ output are now final products rather than prototypes and the figure is expected to rise to 50% by 2020.
3D printers fabricate complex objects by depositing materials, layer by layer. They use an additive process (make objects by systematically depositing a chosen raw material in layers). The most common household 3D printing process involves a ‘print head’ that works with any material that can be extruded or squirted through a nozzle.
Another common type uses a laser beam or glue to selectively fuse powdered plastic, metal or ceramic in layers. A user can select an electronic design blueprint and load the raw materials into the 3D printer. The machine does the rest. In a process that can take several hours to days.
At Cornell University, for instance, engineering students with no culinary training used their lab’s 3D printer to fabricate custom-designed cakes which, when cut open, revealed a letter ‘C’. Cornell’s 3D food printer isn’t commercially available as yet.
3D printers typically use plastic, but some high-end machines are able to work with metals and ceramics too. Known as personal manufacturing machines or ‘fabbers’, industrial-size 3D printers cost up to half-a-million dollars, while low-end personal-scale 3D printers cost less than $1,000. Today’s lowest-cost 3D printers have their roots in the University of Bath’s 3D printer called RepRap and Cornell’s Fab@Home project. The blueprints for both are available free to anyone who wants to build his/her own machine or improve upon existing designs — even commercially.
Hod Lipson, an associate professor at Cornell University, who authored a report commissioned by the US Office of Science and Technology Policy titled Factory@Home, told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) event held in Washington DC early this year: “People with no special training can rip, mix and burn physical objects like custom machine parts, household goods, jewellery, and maybe someday, electronic devices.”
Going forward, lack of human imagination appears to be the only limitation for 3D printers. The Fab@Home team at Cornell, for instance, is pursuing the ability to manufacture, on a single 3D printer machine in a single “print job” — a robot. Lipson tickles one’s imagination with his vision of an “...assembly line of computer-guided, 3D printers giving ‘birth’ to baby robots that crawl out of the printer and wander off to a nearby nursery where they learn to use their arms and legs according to instructions already hard-wired into their electronic circuitry.”
2012年2月12日星期日
Boulder's STEELIE gets a grip on smart phones, tablets
In a world increasingly defined by technology, smart phones and tablets have become all the rage.
Many people are virtually inseparable from their devices, burrowing their heads and spending hours upon hours of time consumed by such electronics. In fact, it's been projected that businesses alone will buy $12 billion worth of tablets in 2012.
While these devices may make our lives easier, they contain one notable pitfall: They aren't hands-free.
That's where Boulder-based Blackglass LLC's STEELIE comes in. Launched in November, STEELIE is a magnetic ball-and-socket system that connects your electronic device to different mounts.
The system works by attaching a slim magnetic ring socket to the back of a phone or tablet, which then connects to a steel ball on a mount, allowing the device to be rotated in virtually any position. It is the steel ball that gives STEELIE its name.
"Everyone loves their phones so much and we wanted to provide a home for them," said Rich Garcia, a partner in STEELIE.
Users can purchase the Phone Kit that comes with a mount to place on their cars' dashboards, giving them easy access to their phones' GPS. There's also the Table Top Kit, which includes an easily transportable stand to place devices on for while on the go. Another option is the Hobknob, which provides a non-slip surface, functioning as both a stand and handle for a tablet.
But it's the manufacturing process that makes STEELIE unique, company officials say.
Under the mantra "four guys, four walls," Blackglass manufactures nearly all of its parts by hand in Boulder, taking out the middle man and providing quality products to consumers directly.
"Everything seems so disposable in today's society, so we wanted to make something that would last," Garcia said.
Garcia, Frank Vogel, Paul Turner and Andy Emanuel make up the four guys who design and manufacture up to 500 STEELIEs a week . Aluminum rods are manually fed into a 25-year-old machine called Mazak that produces nearly all of STEELIE's various parts. While Mazak works well, it still has its hiccups.
The team tries to outsource labor as little as possible, doing nearly everything in their shop, from assembling to tooling to labeling to packaging.
"The design is such that we make everything so you know that is what I really wanted to prove that you can be profitable and you can get into the customers' hands directly," Vogel said.
Available in an "everything you need" kits or individual parts, users can mix and match any of the pieces to come up with their own ways of using STEELIE.
The rare-earth neodymium magnet that STEELIE uses is strong enough to securely hold a phone or tablet to any metal surface. In fact, once you place the ring socket on the back of your device, you can place it on anything that is metal, such as refrigerators or lockers. Also, the ring socket that you place on your phone contains a silicone friction pad, preventing any unwanted movement.
"Bottom line, we use the best materials and the best craftsmanship which we think keeps us ahead of everyone else," Garcia said.
STEELIE's success attests to this belief. The company has been successful selling its products on an international level, with orders coming in from places all over the world, including Russia, Austria, Hungary and Italy to name a few. STEELIE products are available online, at McGuckin Hardware in Boulder and at select retail outlets.
On Feb. 17, STEELIE will launch its Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is one of the world's largest funding platforms for creative products. As an online threshold pledge system, the site gives creatives the opportunity to expose their ideas to the public.
Many people are virtually inseparable from their devices, burrowing their heads and spending hours upon hours of time consumed by such electronics. In fact, it's been projected that businesses alone will buy $12 billion worth of tablets in 2012.
While these devices may make our lives easier, they contain one notable pitfall: They aren't hands-free.
That's where Boulder-based Blackglass LLC's STEELIE comes in. Launched in November, STEELIE is a magnetic ball-and-socket system that connects your electronic device to different mounts.
The system works by attaching a slim magnetic ring socket to the back of a phone or tablet, which then connects to a steel ball on a mount, allowing the device to be rotated in virtually any position. It is the steel ball that gives STEELIE its name.
"Everyone loves their phones so much and we wanted to provide a home for them," said Rich Garcia, a partner in STEELIE.
Users can purchase the Phone Kit that comes with a mount to place on their cars' dashboards, giving them easy access to their phones' GPS. There's also the Table Top Kit, which includes an easily transportable stand to place devices on for while on the go. Another option is the Hobknob, which provides a non-slip surface, functioning as both a stand and handle for a tablet.
But it's the manufacturing process that makes STEELIE unique, company officials say.
Under the mantra "four guys, four walls," Blackglass manufactures nearly all of its parts by hand in Boulder, taking out the middle man and providing quality products to consumers directly.
"Everything seems so disposable in today's society, so we wanted to make something that would last," Garcia said.
Garcia, Frank Vogel, Paul Turner and Andy Emanuel make up the four guys who design and manufacture up to 500 STEELIEs a week . Aluminum rods are manually fed into a 25-year-old machine called Mazak that produces nearly all of STEELIE's various parts. While Mazak works well, it still has its hiccups.
The team tries to outsource labor as little as possible, doing nearly everything in their shop, from assembling to tooling to labeling to packaging.
"The design is such that we make everything so you know that is what I really wanted to prove that you can be profitable and you can get into the customers' hands directly," Vogel said.
Available in an "everything you need" kits or individual parts, users can mix and match any of the pieces to come up with their own ways of using STEELIE.
The rare-earth neodymium magnet that STEELIE uses is strong enough to securely hold a phone or tablet to any metal surface. In fact, once you place the ring socket on the back of your device, you can place it on anything that is metal, such as refrigerators or lockers. Also, the ring socket that you place on your phone contains a silicone friction pad, preventing any unwanted movement.
"Bottom line, we use the best materials and the best craftsmanship which we think keeps us ahead of everyone else," Garcia said.
STEELIE's success attests to this belief. The company has been successful selling its products on an international level, with orders coming in from places all over the world, including Russia, Austria, Hungary and Italy to name a few. STEELIE products are available online, at McGuckin Hardware in Boulder and at select retail outlets.
On Feb. 17, STEELIE will launch its Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is one of the world's largest funding platforms for creative products. As an online threshold pledge system, the site gives creatives the opportunity to expose their ideas to the public.
2012年2月9日星期四
Toronto scientist develops artificial leg that costs just $50
If a man loses his leg in Sierra Leone — from the blast of a land mine or in a horrific car accident — chances are he will not be able to get an artificial limb.
Those used in Canada and the U.S. are too expensive, costing many thousands of dollars each. And if a limb were available, it would likely be too primitive for him to use.
But Jan Andrysek, a scientist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, has developed a cheap and functional artificial limb for those who have had their leg amputated above the knee.
It costs just $50. Comparable limbs have a $3,000 price tag.
On Thursday, Andrysek received a $100,000 grant to further develop his innovative limb, prosaically dubbed the Low-Cost Prosthetic Knee Joint, or the LC Knee. The award is one of 15 handed out by Grand Challenges Canada, an independent non-profit organization funded by the federal government, to Canadian researchers working to improve global health conditions.
Researchers whose ideas prove successful are eligible for an additional $1 million to help get their innovation to the people who need it most.
Andrysek, a rehab engineer, says designing the limb had its challenges. It had to be simple, but robust enough to withstand rough terrain, whether unpaved roads or mountain paths. It had to be comfortable so those who use the limbs could go back to work, often the hard physical labour of farming. It also needed to be inexpensive, yet made of high-quality materials that could last for years without need of repair.
A key component of the limb is its unique knee mechanism that functions much like the human joint.
“It automatically locks and unlocks itself based on how the person is putting their weight on the limb,” Andrysek says, noting that many of the artificial limbs used in developing countries have outdated manual locks on the joints.
“The mechanisms and technologies used are based on designs from post-World War II. They have not changed in 50 years.”
In addition to the novel design, which cut costs, Andrysek made the LC Knee of low-cost thermoplastics which could be mass-produced using injection molding techniques.
“We can now mold all the pieces for a knee for about $15,” he says. “These are fairly complex parts that have a complex structure and integrity and strength.”
An added bonus of using plastic? The knee is waterproof, increasing its chances of working well in humid environments.
Andrysek plans to use the $100,000 grant to further test the LC Knee in developing countries, including Ethiopia, Colombia and Nicaragua.
Toronto Innovators
15 Canadian researchers received $100,000 grants from Grand Challenges Canada. The money is to be used to help get innovative health solutions to people in the poorest regions of the world. Four grants went to Toronto researchers.
Lu Chen from the University of Toronto is developing a low-cost, portable device to monitor HIV progression in patients, a service usually unavailable to those in resource-poor areas.
Helen Dimaras from the University Health Network is working on a way to quickly evaluate the progression of cancer in patients living in rural Africa.
Ophira Ginsburg from Women’s College Research Institute is designing a mobile phone tool for community health workers to use to encourage women in rural Bangladesh to seek help for breast cancer, a disease for which many women do not get treated until it is too late.
Those used in Canada and the U.S. are too expensive, costing many thousands of dollars each. And if a limb were available, it would likely be too primitive for him to use.
But Jan Andrysek, a scientist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, has developed a cheap and functional artificial limb for those who have had their leg amputated above the knee.
It costs just $50. Comparable limbs have a $3,000 price tag.
On Thursday, Andrysek received a $100,000 grant to further develop his innovative limb, prosaically dubbed the Low-Cost Prosthetic Knee Joint, or the LC Knee. The award is one of 15 handed out by Grand Challenges Canada, an independent non-profit organization funded by the federal government, to Canadian researchers working to improve global health conditions.
Researchers whose ideas prove successful are eligible for an additional $1 million to help get their innovation to the people who need it most.
Andrysek, a rehab engineer, says designing the limb had its challenges. It had to be simple, but robust enough to withstand rough terrain, whether unpaved roads or mountain paths. It had to be comfortable so those who use the limbs could go back to work, often the hard physical labour of farming. It also needed to be inexpensive, yet made of high-quality materials that could last for years without need of repair.
A key component of the limb is its unique knee mechanism that functions much like the human joint.
“It automatically locks and unlocks itself based on how the person is putting their weight on the limb,” Andrysek says, noting that many of the artificial limbs used in developing countries have outdated manual locks on the joints.
“The mechanisms and technologies used are based on designs from post-World War II. They have not changed in 50 years.”
In addition to the novel design, which cut costs, Andrysek made the LC Knee of low-cost thermoplastics which could be mass-produced using injection molding techniques.
“We can now mold all the pieces for a knee for about $15,” he says. “These are fairly complex parts that have a complex structure and integrity and strength.”
An added bonus of using plastic? The knee is waterproof, increasing its chances of working well in humid environments.
Andrysek plans to use the $100,000 grant to further test the LC Knee in developing countries, including Ethiopia, Colombia and Nicaragua.
Toronto Innovators
15 Canadian researchers received $100,000 grants from Grand Challenges Canada. The money is to be used to help get innovative health solutions to people in the poorest regions of the world. Four grants went to Toronto researchers.
Lu Chen from the University of Toronto is developing a low-cost, portable device to monitor HIV progression in patients, a service usually unavailable to those in resource-poor areas.
Helen Dimaras from the University Health Network is working on a way to quickly evaluate the progression of cancer in patients living in rural Africa.
Ophira Ginsburg from Women’s College Research Institute is designing a mobile phone tool for community health workers to use to encourage women in rural Bangladesh to seek help for breast cancer, a disease for which many women do not get treated until it is too late.
2012年2月8日星期三
India’s chronic water shortages mean growth for rotomolders
India’s persistent water shortages could mean rapid growth for its rotational molding industry, with one new study saying spending on new water-related projects will help the industry shrug off the worldwide economic slowdown and grow 12 percent a year over the next five years.
The study, from Indian resin maker Reliance Industries Ltd., suggests that the population growth in the world’s second-most populous country will continue to stress its water supplies, putting it close to critical levels of water scarcity by 2025.
While that’s a huge societal challenge, rotomolding executives from India and around the world meeting at a recent conference in New Delhi looked at the business opportunities it presents.
“We believe underground water storage could provide the next big breakthrough, and this could be the catalyst for the next phase of growth for this industry,” said Puneet Madan, business head of polyethylenes for Reliance, who delivered the study. “Water storage will provide significant demand for this industry because of the needs in India.”
India’s rotomolding industry is currently the world’s second-largest, after the United States, Reliance estimates.
It grew more than 10 percent a year between 2006 and 2011, driven by rising consumer demand, although 2011 saw a marked drop to about 3 percent growth amid problems in both the world economy and India’s real estate market, Madan said.
But Reliance and other industry executives at the Society of Asian Rotomolders conference, held Jan. 29-31 in New Delhi, said they believe the underlying demand from India’s development will continue to push rapid growth and any slowdown will be short-lived.
Reliance, citing figures from Houston-based consulting firm Chemical Market Associates Inc., said India’s rotomolding sector is projected to grow from 260 million pounds of plastic consumption last year to 474 million pounds in 2016.
Indian rotomolders added 88 million pounds of capacity in both 2010 and 2011, in anticipation of growth in consumption, Reliance said.
The United States, by comparison, will grow much more slowly, from 653 million pounds to 697 million pounds of consumption in the same period, after being flat from 2006 to 2011. And the third-largest market, China, will grow from 243 million pounds to 403 million pounds between 2006 and 2011.
Statistics make the scope of India’s water crisis clear. Reliance said the country had more than 528,000 gallons of water available per person annually in 1991, but by 2001 that had dipped to just below that number and reached the “water stress line.”
By 2025, water availability will fall to about 343,000 gallons per person, close to the more severe “water scarcity level” of about 291,000 gallons a person.
By 2050, when India’s population hits a projected 1.66 billion from its current 1.22 billion, it will officially reach “water scarcity,” Reliance said. In 1951, by comparison, India had more than 1.3 million gallons of water available annually per person.
“What can we all do given this statistic that is staring us in the face,” Madan asked the conference attendees.
In an interview after his speech, he said many Indian homes only have running water part of the day, so they buy rotomolded tanks to collect water and store it for use later.
Indian rotomolders have historically specialized in above-ground tanks for that market, and that application still accounts for about 70 percent of their production, much higher than in many other countries.
But the industry is looking to modernize and move away from those tanks, which are relatively simple to manufacture, and diversify into other more complicated products like underground tanks and new markets like automotive and agriculture.
To do that, the biggest challenge they face is technology, some participants said.
“The rotomolders need to upgrade themselves to the latest technology, processes and systems,” said Venkit Mahadevan, Mumbai-based national sales manager for American materials supplier A. Schulman Plastics India Pvt. Ltd. and its Ico Polymers division.
Mukesh Ambani, president of the Society of Asian Rotomolders in New Delhi and managing director of Mumbai-based rotomolder Infra Industries Ltd., said there is significant interest from foreign rotomolders to invest in India’s sector. There are opportunities for both sides, with Indian firms needing technology, he said.
The study, from Indian resin maker Reliance Industries Ltd., suggests that the population growth in the world’s second-most populous country will continue to stress its water supplies, putting it close to critical levels of water scarcity by 2025.
While that’s a huge societal challenge, rotomolding executives from India and around the world meeting at a recent conference in New Delhi looked at the business opportunities it presents.
“We believe underground water storage could provide the next big breakthrough, and this could be the catalyst for the next phase of growth for this industry,” said Puneet Madan, business head of polyethylenes for Reliance, who delivered the study. “Water storage will provide significant demand for this industry because of the needs in India.”
India’s rotomolding industry is currently the world’s second-largest, after the United States, Reliance estimates.
It grew more than 10 percent a year between 2006 and 2011, driven by rising consumer demand, although 2011 saw a marked drop to about 3 percent growth amid problems in both the world economy and India’s real estate market, Madan said.
But Reliance and other industry executives at the Society of Asian Rotomolders conference, held Jan. 29-31 in New Delhi, said they believe the underlying demand from India’s development will continue to push rapid growth and any slowdown will be short-lived.
Reliance, citing figures from Houston-based consulting firm Chemical Market Associates Inc., said India’s rotomolding sector is projected to grow from 260 million pounds of plastic consumption last year to 474 million pounds in 2016.
Indian rotomolders added 88 million pounds of capacity in both 2010 and 2011, in anticipation of growth in consumption, Reliance said.
The United States, by comparison, will grow much more slowly, from 653 million pounds to 697 million pounds of consumption in the same period, after being flat from 2006 to 2011. And the third-largest market, China, will grow from 243 million pounds to 403 million pounds between 2006 and 2011.
Statistics make the scope of India’s water crisis clear. Reliance said the country had more than 528,000 gallons of water available per person annually in 1991, but by 2001 that had dipped to just below that number and reached the “water stress line.”
By 2025, water availability will fall to about 343,000 gallons per person, close to the more severe “water scarcity level” of about 291,000 gallons a person.
By 2050, when India’s population hits a projected 1.66 billion from its current 1.22 billion, it will officially reach “water scarcity,” Reliance said. In 1951, by comparison, India had more than 1.3 million gallons of water available annually per person.
“What can we all do given this statistic that is staring us in the face,” Madan asked the conference attendees.
In an interview after his speech, he said many Indian homes only have running water part of the day, so they buy rotomolded tanks to collect water and store it for use later.
Indian rotomolders have historically specialized in above-ground tanks for that market, and that application still accounts for about 70 percent of their production, much higher than in many other countries.
But the industry is looking to modernize and move away from those tanks, which are relatively simple to manufacture, and diversify into other more complicated products like underground tanks and new markets like automotive and agriculture.
To do that, the biggest challenge they face is technology, some participants said.
“The rotomolders need to upgrade themselves to the latest technology, processes and systems,” said Venkit Mahadevan, Mumbai-based national sales manager for American materials supplier A. Schulman Plastics India Pvt. Ltd. and its Ico Polymers division.
Mukesh Ambani, president of the Society of Asian Rotomolders in New Delhi and managing director of Mumbai-based rotomolder Infra Industries Ltd., said there is significant interest from foreign rotomolders to invest in India’s sector. There are opportunities for both sides, with Indian firms needing technology, he said.
2012年2月7日星期二
2012 Mitsubishi Outlander
After spending a couple of weeks test-driving the 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander, I've decided it's a great car for dads. Compared to many moms, dads tend to keep their parenting style as simple as possible. My husband is known to skimp on the kids' snacks and supplies, while my pockets, purse and center console are loaded with diapers, wipes, outfits and snacks. It's much the same for the Outlander.
The 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander keeps it simple -- maybe too simple -- in its interior with low-key technology and not enough storage space, but its sporty exterior and agility on the road make it a fun car to have around.
The Outlander comes with two rows of seats standard. My test car, an Outlander GT S-AWC, had three rows of seats, but the third row was so tiny that it was nearly unusable by my kids.
Since its restyling in 2010, the Outlander hasn't changed too dramatically. For 2012, enhancements include an optional auto-dimming rearview mirror and a standard Eco indicator. There are also only three trim levels now as compared to four in previous years. The Outlander competes with heavyweights like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.
The 2012 Outlander starts at $22,345 for the two-row base model. I tested the highest trim, the GT S-AWC with all-wheel drive and three rows of seats, which starts at an MSRP of $27,895. With the addition of the Navigation Package and Touring Package, which adds leather upholstery, a power-adjustable driver's seat and a moonroof, the SUV cost $33,605 as-tested.
When compared with its rivals, the 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander's exterior is an original. Where the others are shapely and docile, the Outlander is aggressive. It sits low to the ground with an insistently sporty front grille and strong lines throughout its body. The emphasis is definitely more on sport than utility.
In addition to the traditional liftgate, there's also a small rear tailgate that flips down to make loading groceries or putting on your ski boots easier. It also creates a nice tailgating seat that can support up to 440 pounds, which means Dad can take this car to the game.
What's also dad-friendly are the doors, which are light enough for a 3-year-old to open and close independently. The step-in height is also manageable for anyone making date night easier when Mom is wearing a tight skirt.
The top-of-the-line Outlander GT I tested comes with a 230-horsepower, 3.0-liter V-6 engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. My test car had optional all-wheel drive, which Mitsubishi calls Super All-Wheel Control and includes a center dial to select driving modes to optimize traction in varying weather and road conditions. This test car gets an EPA-estimated 19/25 mpg city/highway and premium gas is recommended.
The 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander keeps it simple -- maybe too simple -- in its interior with low-key technology and not enough storage space, but its sporty exterior and agility on the road make it a fun car to have around.
The Outlander comes with two rows of seats standard. My test car, an Outlander GT S-AWC, had three rows of seats, but the third row was so tiny that it was nearly unusable by my kids.
Since its restyling in 2010, the Outlander hasn't changed too dramatically. For 2012, enhancements include an optional auto-dimming rearview mirror and a standard Eco indicator. There are also only three trim levels now as compared to four in previous years. The Outlander competes with heavyweights like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.
The 2012 Outlander starts at $22,345 for the two-row base model. I tested the highest trim, the GT S-AWC with all-wheel drive and three rows of seats, which starts at an MSRP of $27,895. With the addition of the Navigation Package and Touring Package, which adds leather upholstery, a power-adjustable driver's seat and a moonroof, the SUV cost $33,605 as-tested.
When compared with its rivals, the 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander's exterior is an original. Where the others are shapely and docile, the Outlander is aggressive. It sits low to the ground with an insistently sporty front grille and strong lines throughout its body. The emphasis is definitely more on sport than utility.
In addition to the traditional liftgate, there's also a small rear tailgate that flips down to make loading groceries or putting on your ski boots easier. It also creates a nice tailgating seat that can support up to 440 pounds, which means Dad can take this car to the game.
What's also dad-friendly are the doors, which are light enough for a 3-year-old to open and close independently. The step-in height is also manageable for anyone making date night easier when Mom is wearing a tight skirt.
The top-of-the-line Outlander GT I tested comes with a 230-horsepower, 3.0-liter V-6 engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. My test car had optional all-wheel drive, which Mitsubishi calls Super All-Wheel Control and includes a center dial to select driving modes to optimize traction in varying weather and road conditions. This test car gets an EPA-estimated 19/25 mpg city/highway and premium gas is recommended.
2012年2月6日星期一
New Mesa store Lulubell brings exotic toys and art
Del Castillo is the co-owner of Lulubell Toy Bodega, a designer toy store at 128 W. Main St. in downtown Mesa. The shop opened in October after moving from Tucson. It specializes in limited-run T-shirts, books and collectible vinyl toys -- usually Japanese figures not widely available in the U.S.
The addition of Lulubell continues the trend of designer, special-interest, often fringe, stores rotating into downtown Mesa. But it may face an uphill battle.
Both Evermore Nevermore, a pop-culture art shop, and the Royale, an offbeat avant-garde movie theater, closed in December, citing low sales, the down economy and the lack of nightlife in the area.
Now stores such as Lulubell and Monsterland, a Halloween attraction planning to open a year-round nightclub this spring, are inheriting their off-beat, artistic legacy.
David Short, the executive director of the Downtown Mesa Association, said the organization is "thrilled" to have Lulubell, adding that the store fits in perfectly with the area's vibe.
"It's that creative, unique type of store you don't have in every downtown," Short said.
Short said the store is a well-established business with a solid online presence that will become a destination for people all over the Valley. On the store's opening night, he stopped by and found a line of people from Las Vegas, he said.
Del Castillo said the appeal of Japanese toys is the artistry that goes into making them. Unlike Western vinyl toys, which are factory-produced with molds and will have a run of up to 1,000, the Japanese toys are crafted entirely by artists, and a popular run might produce only 100 collectibles, she said.
"It's literally a handmade process from start to finish." Del Castillo said.
And although toys may be the store's focus, Del Castillo said the art spirals outward to other media. Lulubell sells books on European graffiti and tattoo artists. It works with 50 local artists to sell their work, such as limited T-shirt runs. Every Second Friday the store hosts a gallery for a select local artist. Del Castillo said the goal is to provide products that make art more accessible.
"People like art, but they can't spend $5,000 on a painting," she said. "But they can buy a book or a T-shirt."
The art is what drew Mike Marinello, a collector of Japanese kaiju -- literally "strange beast" or "monster" -- toys. He first went to Lulubell in Tucson to find more, and recently has started purchasing "blank style," or unpainted toys he can customize.
"I consider them an art," Marinello said about the toys he has painted.
Although he occasionally runs into people who share his interests, Marinello said the designer toy scene isn't that large in Arizona and Lulubell might help change that. They are known nationwide and even globally through their website, and the new location could help bring in a younger generation to designer toys, he said.
Luke Rook started Lulubell seven years ago, after discovering the designer toy market overseas. Rook named the shop after a childhood nickname given to him by his father, which the company's website says "sounds like a toy store."
Rook now lives in Japan and designs toys. Del Castillo was originally brought in part time to help with the website, but soon found it becoming a full-time job. Eventually a flagging economy and the difficulty of having a niche product in a small market such as Tuscon persuaded the owners to relocate to the Valley.
Lulubell came to Mesa, over options in Phoenix or Gilbert, because it was looking for a tight-knit, small-business community with a district for small, independent stores, Del Castillo said.
"Mesa, out of everywhere, had the potential to have that," she said.
The addition of Lulubell continues the trend of designer, special-interest, often fringe, stores rotating into downtown Mesa. But it may face an uphill battle.
Both Evermore Nevermore, a pop-culture art shop, and the Royale, an offbeat avant-garde movie theater, closed in December, citing low sales, the down economy and the lack of nightlife in the area.
Now stores such as Lulubell and Monsterland, a Halloween attraction planning to open a year-round nightclub this spring, are inheriting their off-beat, artistic legacy.
David Short, the executive director of the Downtown Mesa Association, said the organization is "thrilled" to have Lulubell, adding that the store fits in perfectly with the area's vibe.
"It's that creative, unique type of store you don't have in every downtown," Short said.
Short said the store is a well-established business with a solid online presence that will become a destination for people all over the Valley. On the store's opening night, he stopped by and found a line of people from Las Vegas, he said.
Del Castillo said the appeal of Japanese toys is the artistry that goes into making them. Unlike Western vinyl toys, which are factory-produced with molds and will have a run of up to 1,000, the Japanese toys are crafted entirely by artists, and a popular run might produce only 100 collectibles, she said.
"It's literally a handmade process from start to finish." Del Castillo said.
And although toys may be the store's focus, Del Castillo said the art spirals outward to other media. Lulubell sells books on European graffiti and tattoo artists. It works with 50 local artists to sell their work, such as limited T-shirt runs. Every Second Friday the store hosts a gallery for a select local artist. Del Castillo said the goal is to provide products that make art more accessible.
"People like art, but they can't spend $5,000 on a painting," she said. "But they can buy a book or a T-shirt."
The art is what drew Mike Marinello, a collector of Japanese kaiju -- literally "strange beast" or "monster" -- toys. He first went to Lulubell in Tucson to find more, and recently has started purchasing "blank style," or unpainted toys he can customize.
"I consider them an art," Marinello said about the toys he has painted.
Although he occasionally runs into people who share his interests, Marinello said the designer toy scene isn't that large in Arizona and Lulubell might help change that. They are known nationwide and even globally through their website, and the new location could help bring in a younger generation to designer toys, he said.
Luke Rook started Lulubell seven years ago, after discovering the designer toy market overseas. Rook named the shop after a childhood nickname given to him by his father, which the company's website says "sounds like a toy store."
Rook now lives in Japan and designs toys. Del Castillo was originally brought in part time to help with the website, but soon found it becoming a full-time job. Eventually a flagging economy and the difficulty of having a niche product in a small market such as Tuscon persuaded the owners to relocate to the Valley.
Lulubell came to Mesa, over options in Phoenix or Gilbert, because it was looking for a tight-knit, small-business community with a district for small, independent stores, Del Castillo said.
"Mesa, out of everywhere, had the potential to have that," she said.
2012年2月5日星期日
Student contest winners to design portal adornments
Henry Meyers was a prominent Bay Area architect in the mid-1930s when he designed the bas relief medallions adorning the entrances of the Caldecott Tunnel's two original bores.
Later this year, an as-yet-unchosen student -- a kindergartner, a high school senior, or someone in between -- will design the medallions for the $391 million fourth bore under construction on Highway 24 between Oakland and Orinda.
Caltrans will hold a competition limited to students from Contra Costa and Alameda counties to submit the design for six artistic medallions to be cast in concrete above the tunnel opening, the state highway agency announced.
The six new hexagon-shaped medallions -- each about 36 inches high -- will be public art for the ages.
Caltrans two years ago was considering opening the contest to professional artists and architects, but opted instead for young, homegrown talent.
"We wanted to engage the two communities on both sides of the tunnel," said Jeanne Gorham, the landscape architect for Caltrans District 4. "It's a way to give them a sense of ownership of the project, due to open in late 2013."
Each public or private school in the East Bay will be eligible to submit up to three students' design proposals for the competition judged by Caltrans, said Ivy Morrison, a Caltrans spokeswoman. The designs will be used to produce molds for casting the concrete images in place.
The contest will open in a few weeks. Before then, Caltrans is conducting an online survey asking the public to rank six potential themes for the medallions.
Options for themes include images of transportation, technology, current East Bay places, plants or images, the future or the art-deco style that Meyers used for the tunnel, which opened in 1937.
Meyers, the official Alameda County architect in the 1930s, and perhaps others came up with the artistic images under which 160,000 vehicles drive each weekday. One depicts people facing each other to symbolize how the tunnel joins the residents of Contra Costa and Alameda counties; another shows a car headlight exiting a tunnel.
While the images are somewhat difficult for motorists to take in as they drive by, the medallions give an artistic and historical feel to the tunnel, says a 1995 Caltrans report.
"The Art Deco images in each of the four medallions are somewhat abstract but appear to trace the history of the tunnel," the report says.
Meyers may have had a lot of help from draftsman George Klinkhardt in designing the tunnel exterior and medallions, a Caltrans report suggests. In fact, Klinkhardt may have designed the entire tunnel exterior, the reports says.
Still, Meyers had responsibility over the entire project design as chief architect.
Meyers, who grew up in Livermore and whose Alameda home has been turned into a museum, designed more than 200 buildings, including Highland Hospital in Oakland, the Posey Tube in Alameda and 10 veterans memorial buildings, including the ones in Livermore and Pleasanton.
Orinda City Councilwoman Amy Worth said she is enthusiastic about using student designers.
"I think our talented youth can produce fresh ideas," said Worth, who serves on a Contra Costa County transportation commission that contributed $122 million of county sales tax toward the project.
Later this year, an as-yet-unchosen student -- a kindergartner, a high school senior, or someone in between -- will design the medallions for the $391 million fourth bore under construction on Highway 24 between Oakland and Orinda.
Caltrans will hold a competition limited to students from Contra Costa and Alameda counties to submit the design for six artistic medallions to be cast in concrete above the tunnel opening, the state highway agency announced.
The six new hexagon-shaped medallions -- each about 36 inches high -- will be public art for the ages.
Caltrans two years ago was considering opening the contest to professional artists and architects, but opted instead for young, homegrown talent.
"We wanted to engage the two communities on both sides of the tunnel," said Jeanne Gorham, the landscape architect for Caltrans District 4. "It's a way to give them a sense of ownership of the project, due to open in late 2013."
Each public or private school in the East Bay will be eligible to submit up to three students' design proposals for the competition judged by Caltrans, said Ivy Morrison, a Caltrans spokeswoman. The designs will be used to produce molds for casting the concrete images in place.
The contest will open in a few weeks. Before then, Caltrans is conducting an online survey asking the public to rank six potential themes for the medallions.
Options for themes include images of transportation, technology, current East Bay places, plants or images, the future or the art-deco style that Meyers used for the tunnel, which opened in 1937.
Meyers, the official Alameda County architect in the 1930s, and perhaps others came up with the artistic images under which 160,000 vehicles drive each weekday. One depicts people facing each other to symbolize how the tunnel joins the residents of Contra Costa and Alameda counties; another shows a car headlight exiting a tunnel.
While the images are somewhat difficult for motorists to take in as they drive by, the medallions give an artistic and historical feel to the tunnel, says a 1995 Caltrans report.
"The Art Deco images in each of the four medallions are somewhat abstract but appear to trace the history of the tunnel," the report says.
Meyers may have had a lot of help from draftsman George Klinkhardt in designing the tunnel exterior and medallions, a Caltrans report suggests. In fact, Klinkhardt may have designed the entire tunnel exterior, the reports says.
Still, Meyers had responsibility over the entire project design as chief architect.
Meyers, who grew up in Livermore and whose Alameda home has been turned into a museum, designed more than 200 buildings, including Highland Hospital in Oakland, the Posey Tube in Alameda and 10 veterans memorial buildings, including the ones in Livermore and Pleasanton.
Orinda City Councilwoman Amy Worth said she is enthusiastic about using student designers.
"I think our talented youth can produce fresh ideas," said Worth, who serves on a Contra Costa County transportation commission that contributed $122 million of county sales tax toward the project.
2012年2月2日星期四
Hats off to bacchanal
When soca artiste turned band leader, Ronnie Mc Intosh outlined what carnival is in his 1997 International Soca Monarch winner, Ent, he left out one crucial line—Carnival is hats. For during the season of revelry, hats are a must—a point that is undisputed by one of Trinidad and Tobago’s longest serving hat producers, Hannah Janoura. “We make hats for every occasion and everyone during the Carnival season. Band leaders, fete promoters, masqueraders, spectators, pan groups, fete goers, you name it,” Janoura said, as she busily worked on a black sample hat with gold trimming, that just may be worn by members of a steelband at this year’s Panorama competition. With a variety of designs and colours of hats to choose from which are on display at her store on Sackville Street, Port-of-Spain, Janoura says for more than two decades her hats have been designed, molded, trimmed and decorated at the establishment.
Many of her designs, she says, have been worn to countless events, formal and casual, and have always been in high demand. At Carnival time, its no different. “There are a lot of designers from different sections of bands that come in to order hats for their sections,” she said. “Tribe, Ronnie & Caro, (Brian) MacFarlane, big buyers,” she disclosed, adding that she customised the headwear to match each designer’s creation. And while she says her preference remains her straw hats, which are made from natural straw, she always facilitates her customers. “If they want fabric hats, they bring the fabric to match the costume. We make molds of the design and make the hats from the fabric,” Janoura explained.
And for the many events hosted during the Carnival season, she takes care of that too. “Some fete promoters give hats to patrons as part of their all-inclusive package, so they come in and order their hats.” But she doesn’t just cater to the needs of the wholesale buyers. “Anyone can just walk in and buy anything, wholesale or retail. “A lot of people come in for big hats to shade the sun on Carnival Monday and Tuesday too,” with women straw hats being the biggest seller. However, unlike a fair share of Trinbagonians, Janoura understands that there is life before and after Carnival, and structures her business accordingly. In addition, there’s a need for hats at Ash Wednesday cool downs at beaches across the country, Easter follows the season of revelry. “We do a lot of hats for Easter. There are the Easter bonnet parades and church services.”
Many of her designs, she says, have been worn to countless events, formal and casual, and have always been in high demand. At Carnival time, its no different. “There are a lot of designers from different sections of bands that come in to order hats for their sections,” she said. “Tribe, Ronnie & Caro, (Brian) MacFarlane, big buyers,” she disclosed, adding that she customised the headwear to match each designer’s creation. And while she says her preference remains her straw hats, which are made from natural straw, she always facilitates her customers. “If they want fabric hats, they bring the fabric to match the costume. We make molds of the design and make the hats from the fabric,” Janoura explained.
And for the many events hosted during the Carnival season, she takes care of that too. “Some fete promoters give hats to patrons as part of their all-inclusive package, so they come in and order their hats.” But she doesn’t just cater to the needs of the wholesale buyers. “Anyone can just walk in and buy anything, wholesale or retail. “A lot of people come in for big hats to shade the sun on Carnival Monday and Tuesday too,” with women straw hats being the biggest seller. However, unlike a fair share of Trinbagonians, Janoura understands that there is life before and after Carnival, and structures her business accordingly. In addition, there’s a need for hats at Ash Wednesday cool downs at beaches across the country, Easter follows the season of revelry. “We do a lot of hats for Easter. There are the Easter bonnet parades and church services.”
2012年2月1日星期三
Restoration spurs renewal
Choctaw tribal chief Phyliss Anderson restored and reopened Phillip M's at the Pearl River Resort last week. She also signaled her intent to renew the economic policies so successfully implemented by the restaurant's namesake.
"Under the visionary leadership of our late Chief Phillip Martin, our tribe realized great progress and today I am proud to honor his legacy with the re-opening of Phillip M's," said Anderson, flanked by members of Martin's family.
"Our Tribe has realized the greatness that began in 1994 was a true and real beginning of true and honest Choctaw self determination," she continued. "That's the milestone we reached, and if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have reached that."
Martin was credited with vastly improving the economic standing of the Tribe by bringing wiring harness factories, plastic molding enterprises, two casinos, and world class golf courses to the 30,000-acre reservation in Neshoba County.
Just down the road, another renewal is occurring, the restoration of the once-prominent downtown in Meridian.
Earlier this month Mississippi State University completed its second major restoration project in the downtown core. The MSU-Meridian business school began classes in the renovated Newberry Building, next door to MSU's Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts.
"I think it's going to greatly enhance our ability to grow all of our business programs here in downtown Meridian and attract more students," said MSU President Mark Keenum of the $6 million project funded by The Riley Foundation. "That's what we're about. We want to grow our enrollment here in Meridian."
The restoration of this central block of downtown Meridian has one more phase to go. MSU and The Riley Foundation, again, have joined forces to renovate the architecturally significant Kress Building. Keenum hopes it will house a new baccalaureate nursing program. With help from The Phil Hardin Foundation, a university library will connect the first floors of the adjacent Kress and Newberry Buildings.
This week, Meridian Mayor Cheri Barry holds an open house celebrating the completion of the city's $18 million restoration of its "Beaux Arts style" City Hall.
The capstone of Meridian's downtown renewal is still to come. That will be the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center Museum. The Legislature designated Meridian as the site for the center to celebrate and honor "the lives and works of talented Mississippians, whose stories, paintings, performances, dances and other artistic expressions have touched the lives of so many around the world."
Likewise, the capstone of the Tribe's renewal is still to come. That will occur when job growth resumes under the guidance of Chief Anderson as it did under Chief Martin. In that same vein, Meridian hopes its downtown renewal results in job growth too, not just nice buildings.
"Under the visionary leadership of our late Chief Phillip Martin, our tribe realized great progress and today I am proud to honor his legacy with the re-opening of Phillip M's," said Anderson, flanked by members of Martin's family.
"Our Tribe has realized the greatness that began in 1994 was a true and real beginning of true and honest Choctaw self determination," she continued. "That's the milestone we reached, and if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have reached that."
Martin was credited with vastly improving the economic standing of the Tribe by bringing wiring harness factories, plastic molding enterprises, two casinos, and world class golf courses to the 30,000-acre reservation in Neshoba County.
Just down the road, another renewal is occurring, the restoration of the once-prominent downtown in Meridian.
Earlier this month Mississippi State University completed its second major restoration project in the downtown core. The MSU-Meridian business school began classes in the renovated Newberry Building, next door to MSU's Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts.
"I think it's going to greatly enhance our ability to grow all of our business programs here in downtown Meridian and attract more students," said MSU President Mark Keenum of the $6 million project funded by The Riley Foundation. "That's what we're about. We want to grow our enrollment here in Meridian."
The restoration of this central block of downtown Meridian has one more phase to go. MSU and The Riley Foundation, again, have joined forces to renovate the architecturally significant Kress Building. Keenum hopes it will house a new baccalaureate nursing program. With help from The Phil Hardin Foundation, a university library will connect the first floors of the adjacent Kress and Newberry Buildings.
This week, Meridian Mayor Cheri Barry holds an open house celebrating the completion of the city's $18 million restoration of its "Beaux Arts style" City Hall.
The capstone of Meridian's downtown renewal is still to come. That will be the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center Museum. The Legislature designated Meridian as the site for the center to celebrate and honor "the lives and works of talented Mississippians, whose stories, paintings, performances, dances and other artistic expressions have touched the lives of so many around the world."
Likewise, the capstone of the Tribe's renewal is still to come. That will occur when job growth resumes under the guidance of Chief Anderson as it did under Chief Martin. In that same vein, Meridian hopes its downtown renewal results in job growth too, not just nice buildings.
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