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Cast Cover Even if Queen Elizabeth II is not coming to Quebec City for the city's 400th anniversary, she is still the talk of the town. The work of an artist depicting the Queen sporting caribou antlers has been censored by municipal authorities and the sponsor of the art event related to the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. The piece of art is a manhole cover called "Tribute To Her Graceful Majesty" by Quebec painter Martin Bureau. It's an openly political work recalling the conquest of Quebec by British troops in 1759. Combining the two faces of the 25 cent Canadian coin, the artist created a new image of the Queen with antlers on her head. The work also reads: "Kwebec 1759-2009. Quarter of a buck." Bureau says the antlers replace the Queen's crown and symbolize a colonization trophy.  The provocative cast-iron piece was supposed to be installed on a street last week along with other manhole covers made into art pieces.   But the art organization which commissioned the work said the sponsor - foundry Bibby from Sainte-Croix-de-Lotbiniere on the south shore of Quebec City - deemed it too political and refused to cast it. Local officials were also not at ease with the work and refused to install the manhole cover that was finally cast by another foundry at the artist's expense. "It's censorship pure and simple," lamented Celine Marcotte, head of Folie/Culture which commissioned the manhole covers from 10 Quebec artists to commemorate the 400th. "It's interference with artistic freedom and the city officials didn't even do anything to back us up. They said it was disrespectful," Marcotte added. A spokeswoman for the municipality said the work was problematic because the name of the city was directly associated with it.  

i-beam steel General Steel Corporation, a leader in thepre-engineered steel building industry, has moved from its originallocation to a new, larger complex in Littleton, Colorado. The move,which gives General Steel a total of 40,000 square feet, isindicative of the sales growth experienced by the company and itssubsidiaries. According to company representatives, growth is seenas key for the organization and its customers, and will furtherenhance the superlative level of service it provides. General Steel, a recognized industry pioneer, sells prefabricated steel buildings internationally and in all 50 states. The company provides customdesigns for churches, agricultural buildings, warehouses, sportsfacilities and small businesses, utilizing solid I-Beamconstruction and top quality pre-engineered components. General Steel ships their buildings from numerous facilities acrossthe country to minimize shipping costs for its customers, and backsits products with an outstanding 50-year structural warranty.Detailed blueprints are included with each project, and designrendering services are available at highly competitive rates. General Steel's buildings, which can feature decorative accessoriesand exteriors that make them virtually indistinguishable fromtraditional structures, are a good illustration of how far thecurrent industry has come from its industrial origins. General Steel's buildings are aesthetically pleasing and blend well with a varietyof architectural styles. "The General," well known through national advertisingprograms such as Paul Harvey's radio broadcasts, provides a freequote service and for qualified projects, can help with financingthrough an exclusive relationship with Helm Lending Group. 

 Long Steel New Delhi, June 13 In its continuing inflation-busting efforts, theCentre has raised the export duty on long steel products used inconstruction and infrastructure projects from 10 to 15 per cent,alongside clamping a flat 15 per cent ad valorem duty on all ironore shipments. Till now, iron ore exports attracted specific duties. These rangedbetween Rs 50 per tonne on fines having iron content up to 62 percent and Rs 300 per tonne on lumps and fines with ferrous contentabove 62 per cent. “In order to further strengthen a policy regime that enablesconservation of good quality ore and ensures its availability todomestic industry at a reasonable price, the effective rate of dutyon iron ore has been enhanced to a uniform rate of 15 per cent advalorem, irrespective of iron content,” according to aFinance Ministry release issued here on Friday. Given that the country has been exporting iron ore to China atabout $140 per tonne free-on-board (Rs 6,000 a tonne), a flat 15per cent duty would straightaway triple the effective dutyincidence to Rs 900 or so. Simultaneously, the export duty on long products of steel (bars androds, angles, shapes and sections, and wire) has been hiked from 10to 15 per cent “to improve their availability in the domesticmarket”. However, exports of flat rolled products (includinggalvanised products, pipes and tubes) – used in manufactureof cars and white goods – have been “fullyexempted” from duty. Currently, they range from five to 15per cent. Domestic car makes have been dealt a further blow. Cars with enginecapacity of 1,500 to 1,999 cc will now be charged to a specificduty of Rs 15,000 per cent over and above the existing 24 per centad valorem rate. The additional levy would be Rs 20,000 on carswith capacity of 2,000 cc and above.
 

non-alloy steel Cars above 1,500 cc engine capacity but below 2,000 cc capacitywill attract specific duty of Rs 15,000 per car and cars above2,000 cc engine capacity will attract specific duty of Rs 20,000per car. The excise duty on small cars i.e. cars below 1,500 ccengine capacity remains unchanged. The hike in excise duty comes weeks after some car manufacturershad hiked the prices of cars due to increase in the prices of inputs especially steel. Maruti Suzuki increased prices of itsmodels from Rs 1,000 to Rs 18,000 on May 20. Two days later,Hyundai announced a price rise of 0.75 per cent to 2 per cent. Hyundai vehicles became costlier by Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 from June1. Tata Motors followed suit last week by announcing a 1 to 2 percent hike in prices. Its multi utility vehicles became costlier by2 to 3 per cent. Lower demand, especially in the monsoon months,may, however, force manufacturers to come out with promotionalmeasures and attractive discounts. The steel sector also got special attention last week. Export dutywas fully exempted on flat rolled products of iron or non-alloysteel, hot rolled, not clad, plated or coated, flat rolled productsof iron or non-alloy steel, cold rolled (cold-reduced), not clad,plated or coated, flat rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel,plated or coated with zinc and tubes and pipes, of iron or steel.The rate of export duty on long products such as bars and rods;angles, shapes and sections and wire was hiked from 10 per cent to15 per cent. The Government rescinded the notification regarding export duty oniron ore fines and imposed uniform export duty of 15 per cent oniron ore irrespective of iron content and also on all sorts of ironore and concentrates. The iron ore exporters from Goa will now haveto make suitable representations to the finance ministry to enablethem keep their export commitments. The duty revisions might have everything to do with curbing pricerise of steel items and suitable relaxation that lower demandduring the monsoon months warrant but the overall impression isthat the steps are taken keeping in view the need for party fundsin the run up to the impending elections  expected this year end,rather than mid-2009. The Government needs to explain its movesmore cogently to dispel such impressions. Area based excise duty exemption notifications have been amended toallow refund of 75 per cent of the duty payable for iron &steel, cement, starch and coco-butter, when these are manufacturedstarting from specified inputs in the same factory. The time limitfor filing application for revision of value addition rates havebeen revised and special provisions have been made for new units.

Lead Product CoStar Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSGP), the number one provider ofcommercial real estate information/marketing solutions, todayannounced the promotion of John L. Stanfill to Senior VicePresident of Sales and Customer Service. Stanfill, who previouslyserved as Senior Vice President of Marketing and ProductManagement, will continue to report directly to Andrew C. Florance,the company's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, in his newlyexpanded role on CoStar's executive management team. Prior to joining CoStar in June 1995, Stanfill founded a commercialreal estate information service in Seattle that provided access toimages of commercial buildings throughout the market. Stanfill hasheld positions of increasing responsibility over the course of hisCoStar career, beginning as Sales Account Executive for the NewYork City market and including positions in business development,opening sales markets during periods of the company's U.S. nationalexpansion, and establishing and managing the company's Inside Salesoperation. He also directed the company's transition to a fullyWeb- based product offering in 2002. He served as Vice President ofProduct Management from December 2007 to early 2008, when heassumed overall responsibility for CoStar's product marketingefforts, and most recently directed the highly successful launch ofCoStar Showcase(R). "CoStar Showcase has now sold more than $3 million in subscriptionsales since its official launch last month," said Florance. "Thisnew listing marketing service is on pace to become the mostsuccessful new product in CoStar history. And while many of thesesubscriptions include a trial period and an option to cancel, theresponse to date clearly indicates these clients find CoStarShowcase to be a very compelling and effective solution formarketing their listings online. "John's extensive experience managing our product development andmarketing groups, culminating in the tremendous market reception toCoStar Showcase, make him an outstanding choice for this vitalsales management position," Florance continued. "I am confidentthat John's management experience, industry knowledge and provensuccess in selling CoStar's industry-leading information andmarketing services to a wide variety of clients and markets willhelp the company capture the tremendous sales opportunity beforeus, and achieve our goal of attaining a 30% EBITDA margin in ourU.S. operations and break-even in our international operations by2008 year-end." The company confirmed its guidance for the second quarter andfull-year 2008. For the second quarter of 2008, the companycontinues to expect a sequential quarterly increase in revenue of2.0% to 4.0% and fully diluted net income per share ofapproximately $0.24 to $0.26, as well as fully diluted net incomeper share of approximately $1.05 to $1.10 for the full-year 2008 --unchanged from its previous guidance. Dan Kimball, who recently was promoted to Vice President ofMarketing, will assume Stanfill's former responsibilities anddirect the company's marketing operations. Prior to joining CoStarin early 2007, Kimball was Partner/Vice President of Advertising atQuestus Inc., a leading interactive marketing agency, and also heldmarketing leadership positions at Capital One and other financialservices companies. Throughout his career at both start- ups andFortune 500's, Kimball has spearheaded new ventures and beenresponsible for a range of corporate development initiatives,including roles in business development, marketing, e-commerce andproduct development. Kimball joined CoStar as Senior Director,E-Commerce, and played a key role in the development and release ofCoStar Showcase. 

oil chemical Hong Kong shares endend a skittishmorning session little changed on Tuesday as investors weighed theimpact of another spike in oil prices to another record high near$140 a barrel overnight, which sent energy stocks soaring, whileairline stocks crashed. Continued speculation that China will raise prices of refined oilproducts drove China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (nyse: SNP - news - people ) higher, while selective interest in telecom stocks afterprevious falls helped buoy China Unicom (nyse: CHU - news - people ). 'It's another listless trading day as investors digest mixed leadsin overseas markets and the volatile oil prices,' said Peter Lai,investment manager at DBS Vickers. The Hang Seng finished the session down 1.14 points at 23,028.55. Overnight, light, sweet crude for July delivery dropped 25 cents tosettle at $134.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchangeafter earlier soaring to a trading record of $139.89. 

oil driling Sen. John McCain criticized his rival's plan to tax energycompanies today as he called for lifting the moratorium onoff-shore oil drilling to try to alleviate the nation's dependenceon "sheiks and princes" to fuel the economy and dictate gas prices.He said he still wants to remove the federal gas tax for the summerto ease high prices. "He wants a windfall profits tax on oil, to go along with the newtaxes he also plans for coal and natural gas," McCain said of Sen.Barack Obama in remarks he plans to deliver tonight in Houston. "Ifthe plan sounds familiar, it's because that was President JimmyCarter's big idea too - and a lot of good it did us. Now as then,all a windfall profits tax will accomplish is to increase ourdependence on foreign oil, and hinder exactly the kind of domesticexploration and production we need. I'm all for recycling - butit's better applied to paper and plastic than to the failedpolicies of the 1970's." McCain called the nation's economic policies a recipe fordependence, despite oil reserves off the coast of at least 21billion barrels. He said states should be allowed to decide whetherto allow off-shore drilling on its coastline, but he said he wouldnot allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge inAlaska. "In oil, gas, and coal deposits, we have enormous energy reservesof our own. And we are gaining the means to use these resources incleaner, more responsible ways," he said. "As for offshoredrilling, it's safe enough these days that not even HurricanesKatrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the batteredrigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston. Yet for reasonsthat become less convincing with every rise in the price of foreignoil, the federal government discourages offshore production." McCain, who likes to consider himself in the mold of a TeddyRoosevelt when it comes to the environment, said energyconservation is "no longer just a moral luxury or a personalvirtue." "Over time, we must shift our entire energy economy toward asustainable mix of new and cleaner power sources," he said. "Thiswill include some we use already, such as wind, solar, biofuels,and other sources yet to be invented. It will include a variety ofnew automotive and fuel technologies -- clean-burning coal andnuclear energy -- and a new system of incentives, under acap-and-trade policy, to put the power of the market on the side ofenvironmental protection." But Obama slammed McCain for flip-flopping his position on offshoredrilling, saying it was done in order to curry favor with the oilindustry. "John McCain's support of the moratorium on offshore drillingduring his first presidential campaign was certainly laudable, buthis decision to completely change his position and tell a group ofHouston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today wasthe same Washington politics that has prevented us from achievingenergy independence for decades," Obama said in a statement. "Much like his gas tax gimmick that would leave consumers withpennies in savings, opening our coastlines to offshore drillingwould take at least a decade to produce any oil at all, and theeffect on gasoline prices would be negligible at best since Americaonly has 3% of the world's oil," he said. "It's another example ofshort-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-termleadership we need to solve our dependence on oil. Instead ofgiving oil executives another way to boost their record profits, Ibelieve we should put in place a windfall profits tax that willhelp to ease the burden of higher energy costs on working families,and we should invest in the affordable, renewable sources of energythat Senator McCain has opposed in the past."

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State fertilizer maker PT Pusri gave theassurance Friday there will no increase in the upper retail pricesof subsidized fertilizers despite the government`s decision toraise fuel oil prices last week. It was the government which had the authority to raise the pricesof subsidized fertilizers, PT Pusri President Director Dadang HKodri said. "So, there will not be an increase in the prices of subsidizedfertilizers, except non-subsidized fertilizers," he said afterattending a workshop themed "Corporate Business Ethics". The government has set the upper retail prices of subsidizedurea-based fertilizers at Rp1,200 per kg or Rp60,000 per 50-kgsack, subsidized NPK fertilizers at Rp1,750 per kg or Rp35,000 per20-kg sack, subsidized ZA fertilizers at Rp1,050 per kg or Rp52,500per 50-kg sack and subsidized SP-36 fertilizers at Rp1,550 per kgor Rp77,500 per 50-kg sack. In budget year 2008, the government has allocated a subsidy of morethan Rp7.51 trillion for the procurement of 7 million tons ofsubsidized fertilizers, including 4.3 million tons of urea-basedfertilizers, 800,000 tons of SP-36 fertilizers, 700,000 tons of ZAfertilizers, 900,000 tons of NPK fertilizers and 345,000 tons oforganic fertilizers.

fertilizers and pesticides "Here", said Chef Jeanne on our first gourmet foray out of Africato France's Champagne district, "here, life is one great feast,where champagne is the guest of honour." Suddenly, steamed pud andmutton chops seemed light years away as we set to work learning howto cook gougere de gibier (dense, cheesy choux pastry with agame-meat filling), garlic snails and creme brulee.Subsequently, in Holland and Belgium, I learned how to makechocolates. On one memorable occasion, chocolatier Christian Vanderkerten ofthe famous Chocolatier Manon in Brussels showed us how hotchocolate cooled best when poured over an old marble tombstone. Manon had inherited his chocolate recipe book from his grandfather,from the days when, instead of sending you to the pharmacy, adoctor would prescribe a visit to the chocolatier who then made upmedicinal chocolates for your ailments. Fine ingredients like hot,red peppers and orange peel went into the dark chocolates weconcocted. In Holland, I also learned how to incorporate edible(pesticide-free) flowers in elaborate meals, in Tokyo's TsukijiFish Market, how to source the very best ingredients for sushi and,several continents and cuisines later, I am always mentallysharpening my cooking knives, anticipating another great culinaryadventure. In B.C., this has involved learning how to make authentic bannockand, under the guidance of an aboriginal chief, split-roasting afresh salmon alongside a beach fire. Another oceanic cookingopportunity happens this summer at Saltspring Island's HastingsHouse where nascent chefs can not only catch their crab, but alsolearn how to prepare it in the inn's kitchen. While, up-country,vegans and vegetarians can team up with the cooking team at theAlive Resort north of Vernon where we have learned some of ourtastiest vegetarian recipes.In Vancouver, as good a place to start as any is at The Cookshopnear City Hall, where nightly lessons showcase the talents of someof our top Pacific Northwest Chefs.On the other side of our country, where Quebec City lays claim tobeing the gourmet heartbeat of Canada, from July 29 to Aug. 11 chefEric Arrouze leads a regional cuisine program put on by UBC'sContinuing Studies Department. The deal with Chef Eric is that every morning he takes studentsright to the heart of Quebecoise cuisine during a three-hourculinary arts class. Grilled quail salad, blueberry tartlet of LacSt-Jean and home-made maple ice cream are some of the disheslearned, prepared and eaten. Afternoons are devoted to walkingaround places in the old city and l'Ile d'Orleans, before eveningsspent savouring the specialities of outstanding local restaurants. Down in our neighbourhood to the south, I once nearly sliced afinger off with a mandoline, a type of stainless-steel slicer, thefirst time I ever used one while learning to make a jicama salad atSalish Lodge above Snoqualmie Falls in Washington state. Further south, Portland is one of our favorite cookingdestinations. Transplanted Aussie Barbara Dawson owns the In GoodTaste Cooking School which capitalizes on fresh, locally-grownOregon bounty. On Sept. 11, Cory Schreiber (Wildwood Restaurant)will focus on my favorite fruit: the tomato, teaching students howto make heirloom tomato salad with arugala pesto and grilled sweetonions, cold red tomato soup with curried creme fraiche and localDungeness crab; whole braised fish in tomato sauce with fennel,green olives and orange, with a dessert of yellow tomato sorbetwith fresh melon and mint. A July 14 class is devoted to cooking from CSA (Community SupportedAgricultural) bounty -- to help folk who are suddenly faced withboxes loaded with wonderful produce, but who don't know what to dowith them. Foodies who put this class on their calendar, might wantto consider biking there on the famous July 12, 200-mile Seattle toPortland bike ride. Other Good Taste highlights include the wildgame class (Sept. 26) which coincides with the start of local gameseason and usually sells out each year. And then there are the guest chef authors: people like John Ash(from Napa) cooking from his book From Earth to Table, SusanHermann Loomis (an American living and teaching cooking classes ather school in France); Joanne Weil (another Napa PBS star), AndreaNguyen (who teaches Vietnamese cooking) and cheese maven PaulaLambert. Across the waters in Ireland, Darina Allen of whom the ObserverFood Monthly says "there's not much this gourmet grande damedoesn't know," runs the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School. Her book,just out, A Year at Ballymaloe Cookery School is for keen cheffieswho just can't make it to Ireland this year. Once again, season iskey, with my favourite fungi -- wild mushrooms -- turning up infall soups and venison stews. Hotels are magnets for fine chefs and educational cookingopportunities. A foodie colleague just returned from cookerylessons in Chang Mai, Thailand's Four Seasons Hotel where, duringan appetizer blitz, her highlight was learning how to make canapesof dragon fruit with stuffed with duck. In Italy, the Hotel Ancora in Cortina will, on request, teachguests how to make such delicacies as white asparagus pudding withtaleggio cheese fondue and balsamic syrup gratinated with smokedricotta cheese, ravioli with saffron, wild herbs, ricotta andtoasted pine-nuts cream and risotto with certosino cheese, beansand quail breast blanched with thyme and tiramisu. Just in fromFrance, A La Carte Cuisine put on three- seven-night cookingcourses in country Chateaux and Bijou Hotels, complete with visitsto plum orchards and duck farms. Meanwhile, Germany has always been one of my favourite gourmetdestinations, ever since a friend taught me how to cookpfifferlinger (chanterelles) and schweinshaxen (rotisserie cookedpork shank). Once again, in Germany's exciting capital of Berlin,hotels come up trumps. Although one can feel in Berlin that with1,500 events happening on any given day, it's hard to pick, if thekitchen stove beckons, there is always the option of joining one ofthe city's many hotel kitchen parties. Places like the Stuttgarter Hof have attracted the likes of ChefMarkus Semmler, who, every Wednesday evening from 6 to 10 p.m.invites passionate food lovers to a four-course After Work CookingEvent. First off, the dishes are discussed over a leisurely glassof prosecco. Guests then don aprons and gather around Chef Markus'sstove to cook (and eat) meals such as baked goat's cheese salad,braised leg of rabbit with creamy polenta and fruity mango mousse.Culinary Salons also happen in Charlottenburg where folk learn howto cook leek cannelloni with iced crab, mini squid and blackvinaigrette. In Toronto, another company has capitalized on many a traveller'slove affair with good food. Horizon & Company, one of Canada'sleading boutique travel companies, sends customers on EpicureanAdventures, a series of culinary journeys built around some of thehottest food destinations and emerging culinary trends -- this yeartaking tours to Hungary, India, Indochina, Morocco, Normandy,Tuscany and Spain. While my home continent is not yet firmly on the culinary map,visitors to its 54 countries often remark on the sheer tastiness oflocal produce, whether it is a fresh cob of East African maizeroasted over a "jiko" (charcoal burner), or a fresh pan ofquivering, orange halva from the narrow streets of Lamu Island inthe Indian Ocean. In Africa, we attribute this tastiness tomineral-rich soils, not yet degraded by artificial fertilizers andpesticides. As a result, "matoke" (hot, mashed plantain bananas)with groundnut sauce, the national dish of Uganda, is hard to beat. On a recent visit to Kampala, I teamed up with Chef Harriet.Together we visited the local market to source our produce, then,with assistant Chef Janet, learned how to peel the matoke bananasand ritually boil them swathed in banana leaves on a "jiko", beforeserving them with groundnut sauce. Ideal for vegetarians, matoke is the poutine of Uganda and, natch,tastes best on its home turf. But I've already got plans toreplicate it in our Vancouver kitchen, if only I could source a"jiko."

Organic Seeds NEW DELHI: Genetically modified crops do not help increase theproduction level and therefore are not an effective solution tocheck inflation that has been triggered by demand-supply mismatch,according to experts. "There is no concrete evidence that GM crops increase production.They only control insects, which can well be done by some otherorganic methods," Kerala Biodiversity Board Chairman V S Vijayansaid. Speaking at a meeting on biotechnology and biosafety here today,Vijayan said apart from having health hazards, the GM seeds arealso expensive. "While BT cotton seeds cost about Rs 1,500 a kg, the normal cottonseeds are available at Rs 450 per kg," he said. Demanding stricter laws on food and biosafety, experts asked thegovernment to be vigilant on claims made by companies as itconcerns the farming community. "The biosafety laws have also been diluted. While geneticengineering is a process, which impacts the metabolism andphysiology of the whole organism, the transgene has been defined asan event, separating it from its interactions with the organism inan amendment in June 2006," said Vandana Shiva of Navdanya, an NGOpromoting organic cultivation. She said, "In September 2007 the government had excludedgenetically engineered food from the ambit of biosafety laws." Shiva deplored a government's proposal to set up NationalBiotechnology Regulatory Authority saying the move is aimed atmarginalising the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, which isthe the nodal agency for regulating the safety of GM crops. GEACalso certifies GM seeds for commercialisation. Experts demanded that all steps at deregulating food and biosafetynorms be discouraged. They called for a ban on BT trials in theabsence of professional and credible supervision.

Fruit Pulps Guests are invited to eat the grape-sized berries and then sample aselection of food and drink, from chilli sauce to Irish stout, andrevel in the distorted flavours. Franz Aliquo, one party organiser, hands his customers a berry eachthen ushers them toward a table laden with citrus wedges, cheeses,Brussels sprouts, mustard, vinegars, pickles, dark beers,strawberries and cheap tequila. The 32-year-old, who holds the events in Long Island City, Queens,said: "You pop it in your mouth and scrape the pulp off the seed,swirl it around and hold it in your mouth for about a minute, thenyou're ready to go." One guest, Yuka Yoneda, claimed the fruit made Tabasco sauce tastelike "hot doughnut glaze", while another, Carrie Dashow, said aglass of Guinness became like a "chocolate shake". In Britain the demand has also begun to take off and the country'stwo main suppliers have warned customers that they will have towait weeks before getting any. Chris Barr, a former IT specialist from London, has been sellingthe berries from his website miraclefruit.co.uk for just a few months. He said: "I was lucky to make ￡5 a day at first, but in thepast couple of weeks it has gone nuts. I am selling thousands ofpounds worth in a week, literally kilos every day." The berries may also have significant health benefits. It ispossible they could be used as a natural sweetener in foods fordiabetics or as a supplement to help people lose weight withoutbeing tempted by sugary treats. Some fruit growers even claim the berries are popular with cancerpatients who undergo chemotherapy, because they can help diminishthe unpleasant aftertaste. However, these effects are yet to be backed up by scientificevidence.

True to old world design, this claw foot bathtub has been created using enamel-coated cast iron, which has beenproperly finished to prevent chipping, dents and scratches. Castiron is known for its ability to decrease vibrations and noisewhile insulating the temperature, helping water to stay warmlonger. Some old world ways, for cast bathtub at least, are still the best! One modern improvement that has beenmade is that this cast iron tub has a very thick coat ofspecialized enamel, which ensures that this top of the line antiquebathtub will provide beauty and strength for many years to come.With its high heat fire-polished enamel finish, cast ironconstruction, and claw feet available in a variety of finishes,this nostalgic old world style bathtub is still an eye-catchingbeauty in the modern home. This fantastic claw foot slipper bathtub is one of many uniquebathtubs available on the Simply Bathtubs website:simplybathtubs.com. Simply Bathtubs is proud to have thisbeautifully and charming conversation piece of bathroom furniturein their wide collection of classic bathtubs, claw foot tubs,whirlpool tubs, and walk in bathtubs . As the demand for bathtubs with nostalgic styles and modernupgrades increases, the selection available by bathtub specialistsshould commensurately increase. About Simply Bathtubs: Simply Bathtubs is the leading online source for everythingbathtubs! They offer quality traditional bathtubs, walk inbathtubs, whirlpool bathtubs, and claw foot tubs for your bathroomremodeling project. Their bathtubs come in several different stylesand sizes so that customers can find just the right bathtub fortheir space and unique interior design. If floor space is limitedin a bathroom, then a corner bathtub or modern bathtub is a greatsolution, but if there is a lot of floor space for the bathtub tobe the centerpiece, then a claw foot bathtub or cast iron bathtubmay work better. Simply Bathtubs offers quality bathtubs at lowprices, with FREE SHIPPING in the continental U.S., and a greatcustomer service experience.

As New York Teacher went to press, the state Commission on PropertyTax Relief, chaired by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, was dueto release its recommendations. In addition to a school propertytax cap, the commission was expected to recommend initiatives tolower costs to school districts, as well as a "circuit breaker"proposal. Visit www.nysut.org for details. UPDATE: NYSUT responds to tax cap report "At a time when we are just beginning to address some of thefunding and achievement gaps that exist in schools throughout thestate, a property tax cap would Lock Panel in disparities and deny localcommunities the ability to invest in their schools at levels theydeem appropriate," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi. "A tax capmakes no sense if we are serious about our efforts to maintain ahigh-quality education system and close the achievement gap." At its formation, the commission was charged with recommending acap on school property taxes, a move NYSUT opposes as the wrongdirection for a state making gains in ending the achievement gap.The statewide union favors measures like the "circuit-breaker"proposal which would tie property taxes to income levels,protecting those on low and fixed incomes. In testimony to the commission in April, NYSUT Executive VicePresident Alan Lubin recounted disastrous results of tax caps inCalifornia, Illinois and Massachusetts. He pointed out that taxcaps will not contain the rising costs districts face to coverhealth care or fuel, for example. Tax caps introduce aone-size-fits-all budget mentality, eroding the local control thatNew Yorkers exercise every May when they vote on their schoolbudgets. "It is clear that if New York state imposes a mandatory tax cap onlevy increases, our students will suffer," Lubin said.

American soldiers have long scrawled messages to the enemy on thebombs they were about to deliver. In The Making of the Atomic Bomb , Richard Rhodes reminds us, for instance, that "Little Boy," thebomb that would inaugurate a new age over Hiroshima, "was inscribedwith autographs and messages, some of them obscene. 'Greetings tothe Emperor from the men of the Indianapolis ,' one challenged." (The Indianapolis , a cruiser which had transported parts of Little Boy to the islandof Tinian for assembly, had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarineonly a week earlier and most of its crew had died at sea undergruesome circumstances.) Recently, my eye was caught by a report on just such "autographsand messages" from our most recent war. A Washington Post piece discussing the air war over Baghdad and the Hellfiremissiles the U.S. military has been regularly firing into the vastShiite slum, Sadr City, these last months included this passage: "At a sprawling air base on the outskirts of Baghdad, Edens,Katzenberger and their colleagues live in small trailers surroundedby blast walls, play volleyball on sand courts and eat at Armored Security Door  .Many of the pilots are in their 20s. The pilotssometimes scrawl messages on the five-foot-long missiles strappedto their 'birds.' During a recent visit to the base, a reporter sawa missile addressed to 'Haji,' an honorific for people who havemade the pilgrimage to Mecca. Many U.S. soldiers use it to referdismissively to Iraqis and Arabs in general. Someone wrote 'rockthis thang' on another." "To refer dismissively&": This is the Post's polite way of describing the bedrock racism – the demeaningof the enemy (and hardening of the self) – that is essentiallybound to go with any counterinsurgency-cum-neocolonial war likethose in Iraq and Afghanistan. Few know this better than PulitzerPrize-winning former war reporter Chris Hedges who, along withLaila al-Arian, has produced a remarkable new book, Collateral Damage, America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (officially published on this very day). Based on hundreds ofhours of interviews with veterans of the Iraq war and occupation,it lays out graphically indeed and in their own words the Americansystem of patrols, convoys, home raids, detentions, and militarycheckpoints that became a living nightmare for civilians in Iraq.Think of their book as a two-person version of the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier Investigation , this time for a war in which Americans have seemed especiallyuneager to know much about what their troops, many thousands ofmiles from home, are really doing to the "hajis." Troops, when they battle insurgent forces, as in Iraq, or Gaza orVietnam, are placed in "atrocity producing situations." Beingsurrounded by a hostile population makes simple acts, such as goingto a store to buy a can of Coke, dangerous. The fear and stresspush troops to view everyone around them as the enemy. Thehostility is compounded when the enemy, as in Iraq, is elusive,shadowy and hard to find. The rage soldiers feel after a roadsidebomb explodes, killing or maiming their comrades, is one that iseasily directed, over time, to innocent civilians who are seen tosupport the insurgents. Civilians and combatants, in the eyes of the beleaguered troops,merge into one entity. These civilians, who rarely interact withsoldiers or Marines, are to most of the occupation troops in Iraqnameless, faceless, and easily turned into abstractions of hate.They are dismissed as less than human. It is a short psychologicalleap, but a massive moral leap. It is a leap from killing –the shooting of someone who has the capacity to do you harm –to murder – the deadly assault against someone who cannot harmyou. The war in Iraq is now primarily about murder. There is very littlekilling. The savagery and brutality of the occupation is tearingapart those who have been deployed to Iraq. As news reports havejust informed us, 115 American soldiers committed suicide in 2007.This is a 13% increase in suicides over 2006. And the suicides, asthey did in the Vietnam War years, will only rise as distraughtveterans come home, unwrap the self-protective layers of cottonwool that keep them from feeling, and face the awful reality ofwhat they did to innocents in Iraq American Marines and soldiers have become socialized to atrocity.The killing project is not described in these terms to a distantpublic. The politicians still speak in the abstract terms of glory,honor, and heroism, in the necessity of improving the world, inlofty phrases of political and spiritual renewal. Those who killlarge numbers of people always claim it as a virtue. The campaignto rid the world of terror is expressed within the confines of thisrhetoric, as if once all terrorists are destroyed evil itself willvanish. The reality behind the myth, however, is very different. Thereality and the ideal tragically clash when soldiers and Marinesreturn home. These combat veterans are often alienated from theworld around them, a world that still believes in the myth of warand the virtues of the nation. They confront the grave, existentialcrisis of all who go through combat and understand that we have nomonopoly on virtue, that in war we become as barbaric and savage asthose we oppose. This is a profound crisis of faith. It shatters the myths, nationaland religious, that these young men and women were fed before theyleft for Iraq. In short, they uncover the lie they have been told.Their relationship with the nation will never be the same. Theseveterans give us a true narrative of the war – one thatexposes the vast enterprise of industrial slaughter unleashed inIraq. They expose the lie. War as Betrayal "This unit sets up this traffic control point, and this 18-year-oldkid is on top of an armored Humvee with a .50-caliber machine gun,"remembered Sgt. Geoffrey Millard, who served in Tikrit with the42nd Infantry Division. "And this car speeds at him pretty quickand he makes a split-second decision that that's a suicide bomber,and he presses the butterfly trigger and puts two hundred rounds inless than a minute into this vehicle. It killed the mother, afather, and two kids. The boy was aged four and the daughter wasaged three. "And they briefed this to the general," Millard said, "and theybriefed it gruesome. I mean, they had pictures. They briefed it tohim. And this colonel turns around to this full division staff andsays, 'If these f---ing hajis learned to drive, this sh-t wouldn'thappen.'" Millard and tens of thousands of other veterans suffer not onlydelayed reactions to stress but this crisis of faith. The God theyknew, or thought they knew, failed them. The church or thesynagogue or the mosque, which promised redemption by serving Godand country, did not prepare them for the awful betrayal of thiscivic religion, for the capacity we all have for human atrocity,for the stories of heroism used to mask the reality of war. War is always about betrayal: betrayal of the young by the old, ofidealists by cynics, and of troops by politicians. This bitterknowledge of betrayal has seeped into the ranks of America's IraqWar veterans. It has unleashed a new wave of disillusioned veteransnot seen since the Vietnam War. It has made it possible for us tobegin, again, to see war's death mask and understand our complicityin evil. "And then, you know, my sort of sentiment of, 'What the f--- are wedoing, that I felt that way in Iraq,'" said Sgt. Ben Flanders, whoestimated that he ran hundreds of military convoys in Iraq. "It'sthe sort of insanity of it and the fact that it reduces it. Well, Ithink war does anyway, but I felt like there was this enormousreduction in my compassion for people. The only thing that wound upmattering is myself and the guys that I was with. And everybodyelse be damned, whether you are an Iraqi – I'm sorry, I'msorry you live here, I'm sorry this is a terrible situation, andI'm sorry that you have to deal with all of, you know, armyvehicles running around and shooting, and these insurgents and allthis stuff." The Hobbesian world of Iraq described by Flanders is one where theethic is kill or be killed. All nuance and distinction vanished forhim. He fell, like most of the occupation troops, into a binaryworld of us and them, the good and the bad, those worthy of lifeand those unworthy of life. The vast majority of Iraqi civilians,caught in the middle of the clash among militias, death squads,criminal gangs, foreign fighters, kidnapping rings, terrorists, andheavily armed occupation troops, were just one more impedimentthat, if they happened to get in the way, had to be eradicated.These Iraqis were no longer human. They were abstractions in humanform. "The first briefing you get when you get off the plane in Kuwait,and you get off the plane and you're holding a duffel bag in eachhand," Millard remembered. "You've got your weapon slung. You'vegot a web sack on your back. You're dying of heat. You're tired.You're jet-lagged. Your mind is just full of goop. And then you'rescared on top of that, because, you know, you're in Kuwait, you'renot in the States anymore... So fear sets in, too. And they sit youinto this little briefing room and you get this briefing about how,you know, you can't trust any of these f---ing hajis, because allthese f – -king hajis are going to kill you. And 'haji' isalways used as a term of disrespect and usually with the F-word infront of it." The press coverage of the war in Iraq rarely exposes the twistedpathology of this war. We see the war from the perspective of thetroops or from the equally skewed perspective of the foreignreporters, holed up in hotels, hemmed in by drivers and translatorsand official security and military escorts. There are moments whenwar's face appears to these voyeurs and professional killers,perhaps from the back seat of a car where a small child, her brainsoozing out of her head, lies dying, but mostly it remains hidden.And all our knowledge of the war in Iraq has to be viewed aslacking the sweep and depth that will come one day, perhaps yearsfrom now, when a small Iraqi boy reaches adulthood and unfolds forus the sad and tragic story of the invasion and bloody occupationof his nation. As the war sours, as it no longer fits into the mythical narrativeof us as liberators and victors, it fades from view. The cable newsshows that packaged and sold us the war have stopped covering it,trading the awful carnage of bomb blasts in Baghdad for thesoap-opera sagas of Roger Clemens, Miley Cyrus, and Britney Spearsin her eternal meltdown. Average monthly coverage of the war inIraq on the ABC, NBC, and CBS newscasts combined has been cut inhalf, falling from 388 minutes in 2003, to 274 in 2004, to 166 in2005. And newspapers, including papers like the Boston Globe , have shut down their Baghdad bureaus. Deprived of a clear, heroicnarrative, restricted and hemmed in by security concerns, they havewalked away. Most reporters know that the invasion and the occupation have beena catastrophe. They know the Iraqis do not want us. They know aboutthe cooked intelligence, spoon-fed to a compliant press by theOffice of Special Plans and Lewis Libby's White House Iraq Group.They know about Curveball, the forged documents out of Niger, theouted CIA operatives, and the bogus British intelligence dossiersthat were taken from old magazine articles. They know the weaponsof mass destruction were destroyed long before we arrived. Theyknow that our military as well as our National Guard and reserveunits are being degraded and decimated. They know this war is notabout bringing democracy to Iraq, that all the clich

As we slip into soft, fluffy robes and rubber sandals, one of my two spa companions whispers that this will be her first massage. Ever.Oh my . . . what?!We are at the Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, one of the top resort spas in Arizona, if not the United States. Given the location, she is probably about to have the best spa treatment of her life."OK, I need to know," she leans in. "Will they see me naked?"I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing -- on the one hand, it will be a great "first time."On the other hand, she is setting the bar pretty high.She may leave here believing that all massages come with an optional sage "smudging" ceremony to purify the space for healing, complimentary fresh-squeezed juices, change rooms outfitted with everything from plush towels to high-end toiletries, and treatment rooms that could be on the cover of Architectural Digest -- not to mention some of the best practitioners in the industry.There is a reason so many people come to Arizona for spa treatments. There is a sense of wellness here, a sense of calm, that is worth seeking out.And Scottsdale has honed the spa treatment to a fine art.We make our way to the elegant waiting area, where three masseuses await. Two women, one man. His hands look like they could pound the knots out of a waterlogged rope. He steps forward for my friend.Oh, this is going to be good.We whisper hushed farewells as we are ushered into separate treatment rooms -- my "virgin" friend for a Desert Aromatherapy massage, my experienced friend (who makes regular pilgrimages to Arizona and this spa, in particular) for a Jet-Lag Recovery massage, and myself for the Desert Purification body treatment.I'm ready to relax and detoxify.My masseuse has the skilled hands of a much larger person, and quickly sets to putting my body into a state of relaxation.She applies a body mask of "native grains", a sticky mixture of cornmeal, oats, and clays (in keeping with the organic theme of these treatments, the mix is free of preservatives, artificial colourings or synthetic fragrances).The mask sits on my skin like a poultice, soothing and warm.The next step, having it exfoliated off with a natural-fibre cloth made from the Ayate cactus plant, feels wonderful. Almost as wonderful as the aromatherapy oil massage, featuring organic juniper, sage and rosemary essential oils, that follows.As my treatment winds up, I'm given the gift of my very own cactus loofah for exfoliation at home. Somehow, I know the ritual just won't be the same.Every element of this treatment is derived from the desert and Native American traditions.It's the kind of thing you would, quite literally, only find in the southwest, and one of the reasons so many people continue to flock to the desert for treatment.You could say that Scottsdale is known as something of a mecca for spa-goers.It's not just the use of adobe clay, pure aloe vera, ground jojoba seeds, sage and juniper, or Sonoran desert honey, though that is what gives Arizona spas their desert flavour.It's also the impeccable service and the spectacular settings -- many of the best spas are destinations in themselves, from their desert oasis locations to their architecture and decor.There is also the matter of sheer volume. Scottsdale has more spas per capita than any U.S. city. With roughly 130 spas here, and a population of 232,000, it's clear this is an industry geared toward servicing those who flock to the desert for both body and soul.At the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, the setting is spectacular; a 44,000 square-foot luxury spa that occupies its own wing of the elegant Fairmont resort, with many of the rooms open to nature -- the sunny rooftop pool flanked by elegant cabanas, the glass-walled restaurant, the waterfall that connects all three levels of the facility.It's apparent from the many hushed, blissed-out patrons padding softly around, that the setting works to put you into a state of relaxation before desert-inspired treatments even begin.But desert-inspired means more than just using a cactus loofah. You can take it one step further -- there's a spiritual element to the spa treatments here in Arizona.The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician, for example, offers private sessions in astrology, hypnotherapy and guided meditation.Eurasia Spa at Scottsdale Resort and Athletic Club starts every spa session with a Cosanti Bell ritual.At the Boulders Resort, the Golden Door Spa offers an experience called equilibrium bottle interpretation, designed to give you a picture of your true self.You can have your toes read at the Mandala Tea Room and Apothecary.There's something to all this good-for-the-soul stuff. When I finally emerge from my treatment, scrubbed, massaged, exfoliated and little lightheaded, clutching my very own cactus loofah, I wander out to the spa plunge pools.There lie my travelling companions, limp and smiling, one of them weeping quietly under a cool, cucumber-scented face cloth."I am having a moment," comes her muffled voice. "I am just so, so happy right now."Now that's a spa experience.

HV Vest HILLSBORO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TriQuint Semiconductor? (Nasdaq:TQNT), a leading RF semiconductor manufacturer and foundry services provider, today announced the completion of its acquisition of WJ Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:WJCI). WJ is a leading supplier of radio frequency (RF) solutions for wireless infrastructure. Its devices complement TriQuint’s existing portfolio, broadening the networks market product line while adding RF design expertise to TriQuint’s global facilities through a Silicon Valley (USA) site.WJ Communications stockholders yesterday approved the merger agreement dated March 9, 2008. Following Thursday’s stockholder approval, TriQuint and WJ closed the merger pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement. WJ Communications stock has ceased to be publicly traded and is no longer listed on NASDAQ.“Completing the acquisition strengthens an already powerful line-up of TriQuint products designed around the needs of our customers,” remarked Ralph Quinsey, TriQuint President and CEO. “TriQuint is the only company serving diverse yet synergistic markets that include mobile handsets, networks infrastructure, military and commercial foundry with such a broadly balanced product portfolio. Our strategy has long been to build a company focused on the RF needs of wireless applications, and the WJ portfolio adds important components for network infrastructure.”“TriQuint’s acquisition of WJ Communications will complement the company’s successful merger strategy that has added to its technology and IP portfolio,” said Asif Anwar, Director, GaAs and Semiconductor Technologies, Strategy Analytics. “TriQuint can now target a wider range of markets with an even more balanced portfolio focused on networks RF systems. Strategy Analytics projects strength in network infrastructure and base station expansion to continue, reaching $776 million by 2011.”Acquiring WJ Communications builds on TriQuint’s long-standing strategy to offer complete RF front-end solutions that add value and lower overall system costs. This strategy led TriQuint to acquire SAWTEK in 2001 for its surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter expertise, followed by other portfolio-expanding acquisitions including bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter technology from TFR Technologies in 2005. RF LDMOS and wideband RF transistor technologies were acquired in 2007 from Peak Devices. Adding WJ Communications’ products in 2008 completes the RF front-end portfolio for cellular base stations including next-generation technology like WCDMA, LTE and emerging 3G standards such as China’s TD-SCDMA.WJ Communications has a growing portfolio of TD-SCDMA products, including multi-chip integrated modules successfully marketed to a major Chinese base station radio manufacturer. Industry researcher In-Stat projected in a May 20071 report that the TD-SCDMA market could reach 52 million subscribers by 2011 and that rapid growth was expected in 2009 and beyond. The development of highly-efficient integrated modules for base stations is a key aspect of TriQuint’s networks market strategy, according to Brian P. Balut, TriQuint Vice President, Networks.“WJ’s gain block portfolio complements our base station line-up with very little overlap,” said Mr. Balut. “For example: there are three functionally-related areas in a base station RF amplifier circuit comprised of predriver, driver and output stages. WJ’s lower-power, high-voltage HBT products are well suited as predrivers and drivers, while our high-power devices serve the driver and output stages.”“WJ’s development of highly-integrated modules for network infrastructure parallels our own. It’s a perfect match,” Mr. Balut added. “The success WJ has achieved with a major TD-SCDMA base station manufacturer in China is testament to their strong technology. We expect continued growth in this segment tied to increasing 3G and 4G applications in the US and Europe, and major mobile phone network build-outs in China, India and other regions.”In conjunction with this transaction, TriQuint has issued 870,219 stock options to 132 former WJ employees under the 2008 Inducement Award Program, which TriQuint's board of directors adopted to facilitate granting equity awards as an inducement to join the company. TriQuint has today announced these new employee inducement grants, as required by NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 4350(i)(1)(a)(iv), which were made outside TriQuint’s stockholder-approved stock incentive plans.The stock options granted as part of the award program have a 10-year life, vest 25% on the first quarterly vest date following twelve months from the date of grant, with the remaining 75% of the option vesting in equal quarterly installments of 6.25% over the next twelve quarterly vesting dates. They have an exercise price of $6.81, which is the closing price of TriQuint’s common stock on the date of the grants.1 In-Stat Report: May, 2007. ?In-Stat Market Research, “TD-SCDMA Market: Handsets Will Not Be the Bottleneck”
 

Dehydrated Tomato Normally, the thought of dried food does not bring to mind a gourmet meal. However, a relatively small amount of sun-dried tomatoes gives a gourmet touch and a burst of flavor to a variety of recipes. Easy to make, store, and use at home, this is an item you may wish to consider a staple in your pantry.Homemade sun-dried tomatoes basic recipeAlthough prices have come down in recent years, it's still worthwhile to make your own at home, particularly if you have a tomato garden. The basic process is easy enough. Most prefer to begin with Roma tomatoes, as there are less seeds and a higher ratio of flesh, but you can use any type of tomato, including cherry varieties. Choose tomatoes of a uniform size so they dry at the same rate. Simply slice tomatoes in half, place on a raised screen, lightly sprinkle with salt and optional herbs, and place in the hot sun until dry. Depending on your weather conditions, this could take anywhere from four days to two weeks. You'll want to cover them with cheesecloth, raised so it does not touch the tomatoes, to keep out any critters and provide proper ventilation. You will also need to bring them in during the night, lest the evening dew undo your drying process. Plan on 10 standard tomatoes to get one ounce of dried tomatoes. If the old-fashioned method sounds too time-consuming, you'll be happy to know you can achieve the same lusty results with an oven-method or a dehydrator in a fraction of the time. You'll find more detailed recipe instructions in the sun-dried tomatoes recipe collection.

carrot powder The chopping takes a little attention. Start with two "fingers" of firm, nonfibrous ginger root. Peel them and cut lengthwise in half before cutting them into narrower lengthwise sticks. Do the same with the carrots. There's great depth of flavor from the small amount of pork that flavors the cooking oil, and plenty of sauce to spoon onto your rice. Sichuan peppercorns can be found in Asian markets and specialty stores. ? 2 tbsp. peanut oil or lard ? 1 tbsp. minced garlic ? 1/3lb. boneless pork butt, shoulder or loin, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2- by 11/2-inch strips ? 2 whole green cayenne chiles or 3 dried red chiles ? About 2/3 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks (13/4 cups) ? About 1/3 lb. fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into matchsticks (1 cup) ? 1/2 tsp. salt ? 1 c. water ? 10 to 12 Sichuan peppercorns, lightly crushed or coarsely ground ? 2 tbsp. soy sauce, or to taste Directions Heat a wok or wide heavy skillet over high heat. Add the oil or lard and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Toss in the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds or so, then toss in the pork and chiles. Stir-fry, separating the pieces of meat so all get exposed to the hot pan, until they have started to change color all over, less than 2 minutes. Toss in the carrots and ginger and stir-fry for about a minute. Add the salt and stir-fry for another minute. Add the water, cover and boil vigorously for about 3 minutes, then remove the lid and let the liquid boil down for a minute or two. Add the Sichuan peppercorns and soy sauce. Stir-fry for another minute, or until the carrots and ginger are tender but still firm. Serve hot or warm. Nutrition information per serving: Calories 215 Fat 13 g Sodium 816 mg Carbohydrates 16 g Saturated fat 3 g Calcium 46 mg Protein 10 g Cholesterol 26 g Dietary fiber 3 g Diabetic exchanges per serving: 1 bread/starch, 1 med. fat meat, 11/2 fat.