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July 2009

Garden Tables

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 18:52 — admin

A bench is a piece of furniture, which mostly offers several persons seating. As a rule, benches are made of wood, but one can also find stone benches and benches made of synthetic materials. Many benches have arm rests. In public areas, benches are often donated by persons or associations, which may then be indicated on it, e.g. by a small copper plaque.

Various types of benches are specifically designed for and/or named after specific uses, such as a Bench (weight training) is used for fitness exercises, such as the bench press which is named after its use of a bench a Communion bench is not used as a seat Piano benches offer usually one person seating and are height adjustable. a spanking bench, such as a caning bench, is specifically designed for a spankee to lie upon, possibly strapped down, while submitting to paining of the posterior Swing seats are independently movable, suspended benches, used for play or as a relaxing porch swing. a courting bench (or kissing bench, or tête-à-tête): a two-seater with the seats pointing in opposite directions, thus almost facing each other. A friendship bench in a school playground is where a child can go when they want someone to talk to. The bench in a courtroom, behind which the judge is seated.

Garden Tables

Struggles hamper Southern-based civil rights group (AP)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 13:37 — admin

ATLANTA – The organization that gave birth to the modern civil rights movement is in danger of missing out on a chance to capitalize on the country's conversation on race, despite President Barack Obama's historic campaign and election.
Unlike the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which was recently galvanized by a speech from the president on that organization's 100th anniversary, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference — distracted by infighting and with its leadership in flux — has been largely absent from the national stage.
"People often question whether anyone would notice if the NAACP disappeared," said Spelman College history professor William Jelani Cobb. "The more damning question is, why haven't people noticed that the SCLC is still here?"
Co-founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the SCLC's mission is to "save the soul of America." The group, however, has first had to work on saving itself. The SCLC's annual convention opens this weekend in Memphis, Tenn., where King was killed in 1968.
The group's general counsel, Dexter Wimbish, said the SCLC has been focused on rebuilding and addressing issues that don't always make headlines.
"We're not the old SCLC," Wimbish said. "We're younger, and more vibrant. We're poised to remain a relevant fixture in the arena of civil and human rights as we go into the future."
Internal bickering has overshadowed signs of progress that included paying off millions in debt and opening a $3 million headquarters in Atlanta. A former state director in Florida accused several national leaders of financial mismanagement and the president of the Los Angeles chapter last fall clashed with leadership over his support for gay marriage in California.
"When you have the older leadership, sometimes it's harder for them to readily embrace the changing society we're in," said the Rev. Eric Lee, president of the 4,000-member SCLC of Greater Los Angeles, the group's largest chapter.
Lee is among the SCLC's younger leaders at age 51, but the national board of directors historically made up of older civil rights-era stalwarts is becoming younger, too.
"There needs to be a change in the board, with people who understand the types of challenges with equity issues going on in our society and that justice is not just a black-and-white issue; it's a human issue," Lee said.
A clearer agenda that resonates with today's generation would help, said Kendra King, a professor at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.
"I think it's important that the SCLC capture the hope, desire and ambition of this new generation of young people who are talented, educated and know what's going on," she said.
Obama could be a major factor in that strategy. He spoke as a Democratic presidential candidate at the SCLC's 2007 convention in Atlanta, which coincided with the group's 50th anniversary, but the group hasn't quite taken advantage of his election like the NAACP.
When Obama thanked the NAACP for its sacrifice and rallied blacks to take responsibility for their futures on July 16, it was a watershed moment for the group called by longtime activist and NAACP chairman Julian Bond as the "biggest, baddest, oldest civil rights organization in the country."
Founded in 1909, the NAACP has more than half-million members throughout the country compared with the SCLC's current 10,000.
The SCLC "never really had the same cache, which leads some to wonder exactly what it is the SCLC actually does," said Cobb, the Spelman professor. "If the SCLC is a protest organization, it's been overshadowed by people like (Jesse) Jackson and (Al) Sharpton. If they're an institution building group, which institutions and where?"
Attracting younger members has been a priority. Wimbish estimated about 20 percent of the current membership is made up of 18- to 30-year-olds. But the group has no college chapters, unlike the NAACP, and attempts to introduce modern-day technology like Internet social networking sites has been difficult for older members.
Other setbacks have also stalled momentum. In June, less than 1,000 people came to the Mississippi Delta for a march to raise awareness about poverty in America in the spirit of King's Poor People's Campaign. Organizers had hoped for 50,000. And the conference has been without a leader since Charles Steele, a former Alabama lawmaker and funeral director, left in February after raising money and helping quell some of the infighting.

Whomever leads the SCLC going forward will need to shift away focus on traditional civil rights work and bridge the generational gap. Recommendations for a new leader will be made to the board at the group's convention, but a decision is not expected for several months.

Among the list of candidates is King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King.

In the future, the group will need to form alliances with other civil rights groups, said Wimbish, echoing a sentiment recently expressed by the NAACP.

"The days of us functioning on our own are numbered," Wimbish said. "To remain viable in the 21st century, you have to be part of a coalition."

___

On the Net:

Southern Christian Leadership Conference: http://www.sclcnational.org

US on track to pump $2 bln into cash-for-clunkers program (AFP)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 13:31 — admin

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
The US House of Representatives voted Friday to pump another two billion dollars into a program that lets consumers trade in gas-guzzling cars and trucks for more efficient vehicles.

Lawmakers voted 316-109 to prime the "cash-for-clunkers" program with monies taken from a giant economic stimulus package approved in early 2009 after the vastly popular effort burned through one billion dollars in its first week.

The measure must now clear the US Senate, where its fate is far less clear, amid disputes on whether to require higher fuel efficiency and greater emissions reductions before extending the campaign.

In a statement thanking the House for passing the legislation, President Barack Obama hailed the program as "a successful part of our economic recovery (that) will help lessen our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of the air we breathe.

"I urge the Senate to act with the American consumers in mind to pass this important legislation."

The program offers owners of old cars and trucks as much as 4,500 dollars toward a new, more-efficient vehicle, a scheme meant to help stimulate the struggling auto industry while also helping the environment.

The plan is modeled on similar programs in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, which have had some success in sparking sales of new autos.

"I'm happy to report that it has succeeded well beyond our expectations and all expectations, and we're already seeing a dramatic increase in showroom traffic at local car dealers," Obama told reporters earlier at a briefing.

"It's working so well that there are legitimate concerns that the funds in this program might soon be exhausted. So we're now working with Congress ... to ensure that the program can continue for everyone out there who's still looking to make a trade."

Obama added that he is "guardedly optimistic about the direction that our economy is going," but stressed that "we've got a lot more work to do."

Democratic Representative Dave Obey, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, said the program had already resulted in 40,000 official requests and that at least 200,000 deals had been done but not yet officially submitted.

But some Republicans complained that the program was another instance of government meddling improperly in the economy.

"Cash for Clunkers is another example of the government picking winners and losers and enshrines us as a bailout nation," said Republican Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas.

"You cannot bail out, borrow and spend your way to prosperity. We now have the highest unemployment rate in a quarter of a century. The bailout mania approach to economic recovery is not working," he said.

Economist Himanshu Patel said the program's shift into overdrive was a sign of pent-up consumer demand for new vehicles, adding that auto sale increases could lead to a rise in employment in four to six quarters.

He suggested that if the government cuts off funding, "carmakers will consider raising their own incentive offers in an effort to stimulate demand after having seen the powerful impact of the 4,000-dollar" offer.

Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens (Politico)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 13:07 — admin

Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tank John Kerry’s presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday. 
Or at least most of them did. 
Kerry skipped the regularly scheduled lunch; his staff said the Massachusetts Democrat “was unable to attend because he had a long scheduled lunch with his interns and pages.” 
Sen. Al Franken managed to make time for the lunch – but then let Pickens have it afterward. 
According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of “The First Billion is the Hardest” stepped up to introduce himself to Franken in a room just off the Senate Floor after the lunch ended Franken, who was seated talking to someone else, did not stand when Pickens said hello. Instead, Franken began to berate him about the billionaire’s financing of the Swift Boat ads in 2004. According to a source, the confrontation grew heated. 
Said Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh: “It was a lively conversation.” 
Pickens was on the Hill to address the Senate Democratic Policy Committee lunch about his plans to use wind energy to lower the nation’s dependence on oil and gas. But the thought of Pickens being invited to a Democratic event angered some on the Hill and in the liberal blogs. 
Pickens’ camp appears unmoved by the drama. “If they have a problem, that’s their problem,” said Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser. 
“Boone has clearly moved on and is focused on a mission to solve the foreign oil dependency problem that he believes is a national security and economic crisis that America has to confront. Boone’s grateful for the impressive turnout of Democrats at the Democrat Policy Committee yesterday and for the interest they have shown in helping address this problem.”
Read More Stories from POLITICOWaxman gets deal on health billHouse passes $2B 'cash for clunkers'Takeaways from the Gibbs briefingDodd has cancer, prognosis goodHealth care: A front in culture wars?

Senator Dodd has prostate cancer (Reuters)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 13:07 — admin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, a leading force for U.S. healthcare reform, said on Friday he has prostate cancer but still plans to run for re-election next year.

"I'll be a little leaner and a little meaner but I'm running," Dodd, 65, told a televised news conference in his home state of Connecticut.

Dodd said he planned to undergo surgery during the August Senate recess, but that he was confident the cancer had been caught at an early stage and that he would recover fully.

Early stage prostate cancer typically is easily treated and cured, according to medical experts. Dodd had the choice of surgery, radiation or a type of radiation therapy that uses radioactive seeds planted near the prostate.

His choice of surgery will require what he called a brief period of recuperation.

"He is expected to return to full activity within a few weeks of the surgery," Howard Scher, head of the genitourinary service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said in a statement.

Dodd, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, chairs the powerful Senate Banking Committee.

Recently he has taken charge of the healthcare debate in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, filling in for Senator Edward Kennedy, who has was diagnosed with brain cancer last year.

President Barack Obama has made healthcare reform his top priority but Democrats in Congress have battled to sell the plan to both Republicans and to fiscal conservatives in their own party.

Dodd said he received his cancer diagnosis six weeks ago but had not revealed it during early stages of the Senate's debate on healthcare reform. "This is not about me," he said.

Dodd is now serving in his fifth six-year term in the Senate. Recent polls have shown he could face a tough re-election next year, following his central role a year ago in crafting a $700 billion Wall Street bailout that is unpopular among voters.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Maggie Fox; Editing by Bill Trott)

Tandem Bikes

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 12:46 — admin

Tandem Bikes

A folding bicycle is a type of bicycle that incorporates hinges or joints in the frame that permit it to be broken down into a more compact size. Most 'folders' have 20 inch (51 cm) diameter wheels, or less. Folding bikes can be taken on public transport and into apartment buildings or workplaces where conventional bicycles are not allowed. This facilitates mixed-mode commuting, because a folding bike can be carried on any available transport, and ridden when there is none. Folding bikes are also easier to transport in a car.

Most folding bicycles are intended for commuter and utility purposes, hence emphasize ruggedness, comfort and convenience over speed. A small number of high-end folding bikes are made for speed. In the interest of compact folding, certain trade-offs are common. Most folding bicycles use small (20 inches (51 cm) or less) diameter wheels. All else being equal, smaller diameter wheels give a rougher ride than larger wheels. Folding bicycles often have a shorter wheelbase, which also contributes to a rougher ride. To avoid losing any more comfort, narrow tires are rarer than for non folders. Suspension systems can be incorporated into the design of a bicycle to give a smoother ride. The suspension, however, will also absorb some of the pedaling energy that would otherwise be used to move the bicycle forward in a more rigid bicycle.[citation needed]

Video Gamers Hooked for Life (LiveScience.com)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 10:55 — admin

Video gamers are gamers for life, analysts say. And that's no surprise to the industry that peddles the games and the hardware, which grew last year as the rest of the economy went south.

But health experts are worried that the deepening love affair some gamers have with their consoles may lead to addiction.

Consumer spending on video game hardware, software and accessories rose by 19 percent in 2008 over the previous year to $22.9 billion, according to the report released this week by the Entertainment Merchants Association.

New game console hardware sales increased by 11 percent, despite no price drops from Nintendo or Sony, two of the three major console manufacturers. Microsoft dropped the price of each version of their Xbox 360 console just prior to the holiday 2008 season.

There are signs of a slowdown, however, including a dip in sales during June, also reported this week. And yesterday, Nintendo announced that sales of its popular Wii consoles fell by 57 percent in the latest quarter -- the first drop since 2006, according to news reports. Still, industry analysts expect overall industry profits to rebound with a slew of highly anticipated titles scheduled for release in the second half of the year.

"Our data also shows that the number of video gamers is broadening across many demographics, meaning as people get older they keep playing because they are now playing video games with their kids or getting fit with the Nintendo Wii," says George Van Horn, a senior analyst at IBISworld.

One factor behind the rise: The average console game typically provides between 5 and 25 hours of playtime. When that game is completed, gamers look to a new game, often without replaying the old ones.

"Once a person becomes a video gamer, he or she will remain a video gamer indefinitely, rendering the industry essentially turnover-proof," Van Horn said.

Meanwhile, the notion that video gaming can become addictive has remained controversial.

A study published in the May issue of the journal Psychological Science found that nearly 1 in 10 youths who play video games behaved in ways that were similar to other addictive disorders, such as compulsive gambling. These behaviors include skipping chores, lying to parents and even stealing money to support their gaming habits.

Excessive gaming has become a particularly severe problem in Asian countries, where a number of gaming-related deaths have been reported. In 2005, a 28-year old South Korean man died of exhaustion after playing computer games at an Internet cafe non-stop for close to 50 hours. A state survey released by the South Korean government revealed that an estimated 2.4 percent of the population aged 9 to 39 may be addicted to gaming.

Still, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has yet to recognize those who play games excessively as having a disorder, though some experts expect that to change.

"With these gamers, there's almost always some other underlying issue such as depression, anxiety or some form of social disorder," says Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health & Sciences University and an APA advisor. "But if the game playing poses a barrier to treating any of these other issues, it would have to be addressed separately as a pathology."

Block is currently lobbying the APA to include pathological video game playing in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, due out in 2012.

POLL: Are Video Games Addictive?
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Lucas Siegel writes for Newsarama and Tuan C. Nguyen writes for LiveScience.

Original Story: Video Gamers Hooked for Life LiveScience.com chronicles the daily advances and innovations made in science and technology. We take on the misconceptions that often pop up around scientific discoveries and deliver short, provocative explanations with a certain wit and style. Check out our science videos, Trivia & Quizzes and Top 10s. Join our community to debate hot-button issues like stem cells, climate change and evolution. You can also sign up for free newsletters, register for RSS feeds and get cool gadgets at the LiveScience Store.

Baghdad Shiite mosques bombed, 28 killed (AFP)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 06:55 — admin

BAGHDAD (AFP) –
A string of powerful bomb attacks targeting Shiite Muslim worshippers as they emerged from mosques across Baghdad on Friday killed 28 people and wounded 63, security officials said.

The six apparently coordinated blasts occurred outside mosques and prayer centres in and around the Iraqi capital, including one frequented by followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, they said.

The most devastating attack was in the northeastern Baghdad district of Al-Shaab, where a car bombing killed 21 people and injured 35 others, an interior ministry official said.

"At least 21 people were killed and 35 wounded by a bomb targeting citizens while they were leaving Al-Shurufi mosque in Al-Shaab," a security official said on condition of anonymity.

The mosque itself is occupied by the Iraqi military, and before the car bomb exploded worshippers, many of them loyal to Sadr, were praying between the building itself and the parking lot.

Witnesses at the mosque said the 1980s Volkswagen Passat had raised suspicions, with worshippers trying to alert police when the bomb exploded.

In the aftermath, police cordoned off the area but faced verbal abuse from local residents, who said they blamed Iraqi security forces for not doing their job.

Meanwhile, in twin bombings at Diyala bridge, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Baghdad, five people were killed and 15 wounded, an interior ministry official said.

Attacks in Zafaraniyah and Kamaliyah neighbourhoods killed one person each and left six and three people wounded respectively. A separate attack in Al-Elam in western Baghdad injured four.

Attacks in the capital over the past two months have mostly targeted Iraq's majority Shiite community, prompting fears of efforts by Al-Qaeda to reignite the sectarian violence that swept the country in 2006 and 2007, killing tens of thousands of people.

Violence has dropped markedly throughout Iraq in recent months, but attacks increased in the run-up to the US military pullback a month ago from urban centres, with 437 Iraqis killed in June -- the highest death toll in 11 months.

Attacks remain particularly common in Baghdad and the restive northern city of Mosul.

Violence has claimed several lives over the past week.

On Thursday 11 people were killed in two separate attacks, one against a political party's offices in Baquba, north of Baghdad, while the other targeted a police station near the Iraq-Syria border.

On Wednesday a senior US commander warned that security forces would have to be watchful of violence targeting parties and politicians in the run-up to general elections next January.

"Leading up to the elections, we're also going to see some politically motivated violence," said Colonel Tobin Green, commander of the US army's 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.

On Tuesday 10 people were killed and 42 others were wounded in a string of attacks in Baghdad, including a motorcycle bomb near a cinema in a crowded area of the predominantly Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad Jadida.

Those bombings came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited Iraq to assess the security situation after American troops withdrew from urban centres at the end of June.

On Monday a senior Iraqi army officer, a Sunni tribal chief and two Iraqi special forces soldiers were among six people killed in violence across the country.

Euro regulators order Airbus sensors replaced (AP)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 06:34 — admin

BRUSSELS – European air safety regulators told world airlines on Friday they will have to replace hundreds of air speed sensors of the type that may have contributed to the Air France Airbus A330 crash in the Atlantic Ocean in June.
The announcement came after Airbus recommended that airlines flying its planes exchange some of the speed sensors manufactured by Thales Corp. for another model.
Investigators have focused on the possibility that the external monitors on the A330, known as pitot tubes, iced over and gave false speed readings to the Air France plane's computers as it ran into a turbulent thunderstorm. Each modern jet airliner carries at least three of the L-shaped metal pitot tubes that jut from the forward fuselage.
Several other manufacturers make the components, including North Carolina-based Goodrich Corp.
"The European Aviation Safety Agency plans to propose an airworthiness directive mandating that all A330 and A340 currently fitted with Thales pitot probes must be fitted with at least two Goodrich probes, allowing a maximum of one Thales to remain fitted to the aircraft," said a statement released by the agency based in Cologne, Germany.
The statement said the airworthiness directive — effectively an order to the planes' operators — would be issued within the next 14 days. It described the move as precautionary, based on pitot tube data the agency had analyzed in recent weeks.
Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath told The Associated Press that his company also had recommended on Thursday that airlines using its planes exchange two of the three pitot tubes on each of its A330 and A340 aircraft from the Thales type to the Goodrich product.
The recommendation would create a mix of different sensors that would increase safety by providing redundancy if one of the systems failed.
Schaffrath said the move would affect some 200 aircraft in the inventory of various airlines.
He noted that it remains unclear whether incorrect air speed data had contributed in any way to the Air France crash, but said Airbus has since received more feedback from airlines about glitches with the Thales probes.
In June, one of the Air France pilots' unions urged its members to refuse to fly Airbus A330s and A340s unless their Thales tubes have been replaced.
"Obviously pilots are watching this very carefully," said Philip von Schoppenthau, secretary-general of the European Cockpit Association. "We obviously want safe operations, and there is a clearly identified problem with the Thales probes that needs to be addressed."
But air safety experts have cautioned that there was no hard evidence that a pitot tube malfunction caused Air France Flight 447 to crash during a thunderstorm on June 1. The black boxes containing flight data recordings have never been recovered.
Air France said in a statement Friday that it would begin replacing Thales pitot tubes with Goodrich models on its A330 and A340 aircraft after it receives the technical instructions from Airbus next week.
___
Associated Press writers Deborah Seward, Tobias Schmidt and Greg Keler in Paris contributed to this report.

Holiday Gift Baskets

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 06:04 — admin

Holiday Gift Baskets

In the United States and some other countries, certain types of gifts above a certain monetary amount are subject to taxation. See gift tax for more information.

By extension the term gift can refer to anything that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favour, including forgiveness and kindness.



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