They had previously discovered them in Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie last year and new summer research uncovered small concentrations also in Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario.Mary Balcer, director of the Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, who has studied more traditional Great Lakes threats such as zebra mussels, said plastics are a new culprit on the list of Great Lakes ecological troubles.
“The accumulation of plastic particles is a great threat to our natural ecosystem and to the humans who use Lake Superior for our drinking water supply,” Balcer said.Fresh off the research boat, Lorena Rios-Mendoza, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, presented her preliminary findings to reporters Thursday.
She said Lake Erie seems to hold the highest concentrations of plastics, probably because the particles float downstream from the upper lakes, according to the Duluth News Tribune.The plastic has also been found in Lake Superior sediment, meaning it’s not just floating on the China beads, Rios-Mendoza said.
“It was very shallow where they were found, but they were in the sediment,” Rios-Mendoza said.The researchers dragged fine-mesh nets across the surface of lakes. Some of the plastic can be seen only under a microscope.So far, Rios-Mendoza’s hypothesis is that the plastic in the Great Lakes starts small, possibly as scrubbing beads in household or beauty products, facial scrubs and even some toothpaste.
The particles are tiny enough to slip through the screens at wastewater treatment plants and then start their journey across the Great Lakes.Not only is the plastic itself an issue, she noted, but research has found that plastic can absorb persistent toxic chemicals, some of them known endocrine disrupters. So the floating plastic beads act like tiny, toxic sponges.
Two Melia Trees in Grey Street outside Gisborne Motors will be removed as part of Gisborne District Council’s focus on actively managing street trees. The health of the 80 year old trees is in decline, and they are causing significant damage to property, says parks and community property manager Grahame Smail. "Trees don’t last forever and council is committed to maintaining a streetscape with healthy trees. Where trees are sick or becoming a hazard we want to remove them before they cause injury to passers-by."
Council looks after 4700 street trees planted on the sides of roads within the city and at Wainui, Makaraka, Manutuke, Patutahi, Te Karaka and Tolaga Bay. This is in addition to thousands of trees planted in the parks throughout the district.
"Our abundance of street trees adds a unique character to the city and council wants to keep it that way. They are an important asset recorded in our tree register which keeps track of the age, species, health and expected lifespan of all street trees."
"This will help us to identify when trees need to be replaced. We are also developing replacement guidelines for street trees. The aim is to ensure the right trees are planted in the right places. For instance the Melia trees planted in Grey Street have caused issues for business owners and passers-by for years. Melia trees drop beads and leaves four times a year. They are a large tree with an intensive root system that lifts and breaks paving causing a trip hazard. They will be replaced with trees that are not so large and do not drop as much onto our footpaths but suit the style of our city centre."
Four palms will be removed in Heipipi Park by the Courthouse. "They were never meant to have been planted there under the original landscaping plan. One is obscuring the lights that illuminate the canoe prow (Tauihu) that was carved by Te Aturangi Nepia-Clamp in 1990. They overshadow the iconic sculpture and are obscuring an important acknowledgement to that site. "Tauihi gives recognition to the district’s voyaging ancestors who settled our turquoise beads. This is a theme that will become more apparent as we move towards 2019, 250 years since the arrival of the Endeavour. The palm trees have been planted where additional sculptures were proposed in the original landscaping plan. Their removal opens up this significant area for alignment with the Tairawhiti Navigations project," says Mr Smail.
Once again the summer has flown by much faster than I thought possible. I make plans, certain projects that seem 'Summerperfect' and only a few come to fruition. One favorite ongoing project is the memory project. There are certain memories from our childrens' childhood that are classics. They are the ones someone is bound to bring up at family gatherings, "Remember the time we ..."
Some were planned and some just happened. I have more time with the grandkids and take great delight in developing adventures and memories to hold on to.
We made a few over the summer, from the planting of certain flowers and watching them bloom to the introduction of lychee nuts in their spidery, scary raw form.
The trip was Nya's first train trip. The autotrain was made to order for making memories. We left in the middle of the night and drove to Lorton, Va. Nya was fascinated as she watched them load our van onto the train. The ride is from 4 p.m. Friday and an arrival at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, in Sanford, Fla.
There is a community feel to train travel that delights me. We quickly got to know our neighbors from Connecticut. David and Jossetta Andrews and their three children, Corin, Caylee and Cash were on their first trip to Disneyworld. The grownups chatted and we settled everyone in. Toddler Cash giggled and shouted Disneyworld. It was Caylee that sealed the friendship. After talking to Nya and admiring her afro puffs and beads, Caylee wrote a note to Nya that said: "Do you want to be my friend? Circle one, yes or no" They were coloring buddies for the rest of the trip.
Nya giggled along the wobbly walks to the bathroom, the lounge car to play Uno and war and the dining car. She was pleasantly surprised that we were having dinner on the train car that looked like a restaurant with tables and linen napkins and very good food. Nya tasted my braised beef sirloin, her grandfathers' lemon pepper cod and decided her chicken tenders were the best. Our server was Kevin Clement , a wonderfully kind and efficient young man, who made it seem his only wish was to serve Nya as he balanced trays with grace. We toasted: "Here's to you, kid!" with chardonnay for Andy and I and apple juice for Nya. We renamed the autotrain the dream train as we settled in for the night.
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2013年9月2日星期一
The business of making prayer beads
Koonammavu is a small village on the NH 17 a few kilometers to the north of Kochi. This village, however, is on the global business map, thanks to a cottage industry – rosary-making.People of Koonammavu proudly call their village ‘little Rome’ as it ships the prayer beads all over India and abroad. “Wherever there are Christians, there are rosaries from Koonammavu,” claims Ravi Jose Thannikot, who owns a shop that sells rosaries and other items of religious use.
Mr. Thannikot is one of Koonammavu’s many entrepreneurs who procures beads, thread and wire from parts of North India and supplies them to women in the village. The women return finished rosaries for a pay and these are sold locally or exported by him. Mr. Thannikot says around 2,000 women from Koonammavu and surrounding areas bring him finished rosaries. Twelve women are employed full-time on his staff too.
“If you’re an expert you can finish one rosary of 59 beads in under 10 minutes,” says Swapna, who works at the store and makes rosaries in her spare time too. Young girls here learn how to make rosaries from their friends at school and older siblings at a young age. Even those who don’t make rosaries for a living have learnt the craft from their friends as children. They may start making rosaries to help out at home and soon become experts. Swapna’s mother-in-law has been making rosaries for several decades now. She is an expert on the ‘thudal kettu,’ a complicated chain link usually seen in gold chains that these women complete with nothing but a wire and pliers. She gets Rs.7 for each rosary she makes with the ‘thudal kettu.’ A rosary on wire can fetch the women Rs.3.50 each and the thread rosary Rs.1.60. These sell in the market for Rs.15 or more.
The cottage industry helps women supplement the family’s income. “Those who need the money spend longer hours making rosaries. People do it according to their need,” says Mr. Thannikot. Some in the village also make rosaries as a service. These are usually handed over to the church when complete. “Rosary-making was started off by nuns here almost 150 years ago to empower local women. A lady from Kollam was brought in to teach a few women here how to make rosaries. These women taught others and now everyone here makes rosaries,” says Fr. Cherian Kuniyanthodath of the St. Joseph’s CMI monastery at Koonammavu. What started off as a cottage industry is now a big business at Koonammavu. Women from Koonammavu who married into families in other parts of the city also practice their craft there. “There are many people here who have come out of poverty and prospered in life through the business of jewelry findings,” says Fr. Kuniyanthodath. Rosaries in different materials and patterns have now in the market. Those produced in factories in China have also made their way to Koonammavu. But for thousands of women here, the prayer beads are a way to good fortune and a better life.
Walking as quickly as she could in her sequined silver high-heel boots, Electra City stalked down Bourbon Street on Sunday afternoon, heading for the start of the Southern Decadence parade. Although she was in a hurry, the drag queen couldn’t help stopping whenever someone wanted to snap a picture.
She was an obvious target for anyone with a camera, starting with her towering orange-and-pink wig and the orange and pink boas that hung from her shoulders, front and back, encircling her torso but not quite hiding her sequined mini-dress. Despite the 90-degree heat and wiltingly high humidity, she wore three pairs of black tights.
In the 15-minute procession through the French Quarter, led by flamboyantly clad grand marshals Tami Tarmac and Venus Santiago, some did their bit for drag culture by donning stunning costumes and teetering on stilettos, while others were barely costumed at all.
Most marchers were men, some of whom wore ill-advised Speedos and nothing else, but there were several groups of women. One bewigged member of the Yes Girls managed to poke fun at two groups at once – fundamentalist religious groups who had opposed the gay-themed observance in past years and overly fashion-conscious people – by carrying a giant placard reading, “God Hates Your Outfit.”
Among the conventionally clothed marchers were the members of the Pair-o’-Dice Tumblers Brass Band, who played, without a hint of irony, the Doors’ hit “People Are Strange.”
The Pussyfooters, a marching group, fit right into the extravagant sensibility of the event, with their pink and orange costumes and wigs the color of cotton candy. Unlike other participants who merely walked along the route, they danced, keeping time to a Katy Perry song that boomed out of speakers on the back of a truck.
“I love this parade,” said one member, Sharon Novak, 48, of Mandeville. “I’m glad I’m here. I’m all about crystal beads wholesale.”That was a reference to the equal-sign bit of face paint that she and many other marchers, as well as spectators, sported. It’s the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group supporting equal rights for gay men and lesbians that had a pop-up store on Bourbon Street.
Although the event was billed as a parade, it was more like a giant receiving line because marchers kept breaking ranks to exchange hugs and air kisses with friends along the way. Rod Lemaire, an Afro-wig-wearing New Orleans expatriate who lives in San Francisco, stopped frequently to greet old friends – people he wouldn’t have time to see because he was heading for the airport as soon as the parade ended.
But Elvira West Nile, Queen of the Damned, stopped simply because marching in golden stilettos was just too much for feet accustomed to flats.“Hear that?” she said, leaning against a lamppost. “That’s the sound of my blisters popping.”
The epicenter of the action Sunday afternoon was the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann streets, where loud, pulsating music poured out of amplifiers from the balconies of Oz and Bourbon Pub & Parade, gay bars that are across Bourbon Street from each other.
Their balconies, as well as another one across St. Ann, were packed with people – mostly men – who tossed beads to the throngs who packed the intersection, clamoring for trinkets. Following the example of what some women do at Mardi Gras to get beads, one man lifted his T-shirt – and was rewarded with a purple necklace.Observing it all on St. Ann Street, steps away from the thickest of the crowd, was James-Michael Cox, 24, a New Orleanian who was having a fine time watching humanity and waiting for the parade to make its way to that part of the Vieux Carre.
Read the full products at http://www.bestjewelrybeads.com/!
Mr. Thannikot is one of Koonammavu’s many entrepreneurs who procures beads, thread and wire from parts of North India and supplies them to women in the village. The women return finished rosaries for a pay and these are sold locally or exported by him. Mr. Thannikot says around 2,000 women from Koonammavu and surrounding areas bring him finished rosaries. Twelve women are employed full-time on his staff too.
“If you’re an expert you can finish one rosary of 59 beads in under 10 minutes,” says Swapna, who works at the store and makes rosaries in her spare time too. Young girls here learn how to make rosaries from their friends at school and older siblings at a young age. Even those who don’t make rosaries for a living have learnt the craft from their friends as children. They may start making rosaries to help out at home and soon become experts. Swapna’s mother-in-law has been making rosaries for several decades now. She is an expert on the ‘thudal kettu,’ a complicated chain link usually seen in gold chains that these women complete with nothing but a wire and pliers. She gets Rs.7 for each rosary she makes with the ‘thudal kettu.’ A rosary on wire can fetch the women Rs.3.50 each and the thread rosary Rs.1.60. These sell in the market for Rs.15 or more.
The cottage industry helps women supplement the family’s income. “Those who need the money spend longer hours making rosaries. People do it according to their need,” says Mr. Thannikot. Some in the village also make rosaries as a service. These are usually handed over to the church when complete. “Rosary-making was started off by nuns here almost 150 years ago to empower local women. A lady from Kollam was brought in to teach a few women here how to make rosaries. These women taught others and now everyone here makes rosaries,” says Fr. Cherian Kuniyanthodath of the St. Joseph’s CMI monastery at Koonammavu. What started off as a cottage industry is now a big business at Koonammavu. Women from Koonammavu who married into families in other parts of the city also practice their craft there. “There are many people here who have come out of poverty and prospered in life through the business of jewelry findings,” says Fr. Kuniyanthodath. Rosaries in different materials and patterns have now in the market. Those produced in factories in China have also made their way to Koonammavu. But for thousands of women here, the prayer beads are a way to good fortune and a better life.
Walking as quickly as she could in her sequined silver high-heel boots, Electra City stalked down Bourbon Street on Sunday afternoon, heading for the start of the Southern Decadence parade. Although she was in a hurry, the drag queen couldn’t help stopping whenever someone wanted to snap a picture.
She was an obvious target for anyone with a camera, starting with her towering orange-and-pink wig and the orange and pink boas that hung from her shoulders, front and back, encircling her torso but not quite hiding her sequined mini-dress. Despite the 90-degree heat and wiltingly high humidity, she wore three pairs of black tights.
In the 15-minute procession through the French Quarter, led by flamboyantly clad grand marshals Tami Tarmac and Venus Santiago, some did their bit for drag culture by donning stunning costumes and teetering on stilettos, while others were barely costumed at all.
Most marchers were men, some of whom wore ill-advised Speedos and nothing else, but there were several groups of women. One bewigged member of the Yes Girls managed to poke fun at two groups at once – fundamentalist religious groups who had opposed the gay-themed observance in past years and overly fashion-conscious people – by carrying a giant placard reading, “God Hates Your Outfit.”
Among the conventionally clothed marchers were the members of the Pair-o’-Dice Tumblers Brass Band, who played, without a hint of irony, the Doors’ hit “People Are Strange.”
The Pussyfooters, a marching group, fit right into the extravagant sensibility of the event, with their pink and orange costumes and wigs the color of cotton candy. Unlike other participants who merely walked along the route, they danced, keeping time to a Katy Perry song that boomed out of speakers on the back of a truck.
“I love this parade,” said one member, Sharon Novak, 48, of Mandeville. “I’m glad I’m here. I’m all about crystal beads wholesale.”That was a reference to the equal-sign bit of face paint that she and many other marchers, as well as spectators, sported. It’s the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group supporting equal rights for gay men and lesbians that had a pop-up store on Bourbon Street.
Although the event was billed as a parade, it was more like a giant receiving line because marchers kept breaking ranks to exchange hugs and air kisses with friends along the way. Rod Lemaire, an Afro-wig-wearing New Orleans expatriate who lives in San Francisco, stopped frequently to greet old friends – people he wouldn’t have time to see because he was heading for the airport as soon as the parade ended.
But Elvira West Nile, Queen of the Damned, stopped simply because marching in golden stilettos was just too much for feet accustomed to flats.“Hear that?” she said, leaning against a lamppost. “That’s the sound of my blisters popping.”
The epicenter of the action Sunday afternoon was the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann streets, where loud, pulsating music poured out of amplifiers from the balconies of Oz and Bourbon Pub & Parade, gay bars that are across Bourbon Street from each other.
Their balconies, as well as another one across St. Ann, were packed with people – mostly men – who tossed beads to the throngs who packed the intersection, clamoring for trinkets. Following the example of what some women do at Mardi Gras to get beads, one man lifted his T-shirt – and was rewarded with a purple necklace.Observing it all on St. Ann Street, steps away from the thickest of the crowd, was James-Michael Cox, 24, a New Orleanian who was having a fine time watching humanity and waiting for the parade to make its way to that part of the Vieux Carre.
Read the full products at http://www.bestjewelrybeads.com/!
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