What price for loyalty?

LOYALTY card schemes seem like a no-brainer - who wouldn't want cashback, vouchers, discounts and other rewards?

But are we really getting something for nothing or are there hidden drawbacks?

The answer is not always as straightforward as it might seem.

Natalie Hagan, consumer expert at Which? magazine, says: "Loyalty cards are a good idea if you're a regular at a store that has a loyalty scheme. But if you're an occasional shopper you may gain very little."

Loyalty card users earn points which are typically turned into money-off vouchers.

In many ways they are a modern version of Green Shield and Pink trading stamps, which dominated British shopping in the 1960s and 1970s.

You received a stamp for every six old pence (2.4p) spent.

They were so popular that ferry companies laid on extra trips for French shoppers who crossed the Channel when, for example, it was double-stamps day in a coastal town such as Dover.

Runaway inflation led to petrol stations offering triple, quadruple and eventually 20-times stamps.

But disillusionment set in and the schemes collapsed in the Eighties.

Loyalty cards took off in the mid-Nineties, spearheaded by Tesco.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, said: "With each scheme offering its customers something unique, consumers need to work out which rewards suit them.An oil painting supplies of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby.

"If you don't use them regularly in the right place your card will turn into a pointless piece of plastic."

Daniel Smith, senior vice-president of marketing specialists ClickSquared, told me: "Every customer purchase is stored in a database. So retailers can now make offers customised to a customer's buying habits. Done well, it can be a valued service, not an annoyance."

Loyalty schemes are now so widespread that in the future the Government may scrap the national census and use store card data instead.The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling zentai suits ,

Here Captain Crunch examines the benefits of the most popular cards.
Tesco Clubcard

THE scheme that helped Tesco replace Sainsbury's in 1996 as Britain's largest grocer. It has more than 15million members - roughly one in four of the UK population.

Users get two points for every complete pound spent, so spending 16.99 will earn the same 32 points as spending 16.

The points are turned into money-off vouchers at the rate of a penny for each point.

Every time you swipe your Clubcard the firm learns what you buy. Such knowledge helps them to tailor marketing strategies.

Members receive free vouchers offering money off certain products as part of a newsletter. The aim is to get you to try products you don't normally buy.
Boots Advantage

shop and cards

PROBABLY the most generous High Street loyalty scheme, offering members four points worth a penny each for every pound spent.

That is equivalent to a four per cent discount. Points can be spent to buy almost any products in stores, with a few exceptions such as prescription medicines and, bizarrely, postage stamps.

Agree to receive mailings from Boots and you will also be sent vouchers offering discounts or free points.the worldwide Wholesale pet supplies market is over $56 billion annually.

These quickly add up - for example, a double-points voucher means you get 8p off for every pound spent.

The downside to shopping at Boots is that many products are available cheaper in other stores.

But if you take advantage of Boots' frequent offers, such as three for the price of two,Great Rubber offers promotional usb keychains, you can make big savings.
Nectar


BRITAIN'S biggest loyalty scheme - it overtook Tesco Clubcard last year - has more than 18million members.

Nectar is best known for being used at Sainsbury's but other firms in the scheme include BP, Ford, Hertz, Vision Express, Homebase and Argos.

Users usually receive two points for every complete pound spent. But as a point is worth 0.5p, it is the equivalent of one per cent off your shopping.

Some Nectar chains run extra points events. Laura Ashley and O2 are currently offering triple points,where he teaches oil painting reproduction in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Amazon, Halfords and Mothercare double points.

Not every company has found Nectar works well - among those to have joined but then left the scheme are Beefeater restaurants and Barclaycard.

What Comes First, the Chickens or the Farm?

In coops along the north end of Dan Muro's property, dozens of chickens cluck, waddle and hatch multi-colored eggs that health food buffs rave about. Strawberries, tomatoes, corn, pumpkin patches, bunny rabbits, ducks and pigs can also be found on the property, Muro says, standing beside a miniature cornfield. Beyond the corn sits large trailers and hefty construction equipment operated by day laborers.

It looks like a farm. It smells like a farm. And it sounds like a farm. And Dan Muro, his wife Melanie and their customers call the property at 456 Croton Ave. in Cortlandt the DanMel farm. However, most of their neighbors to the north call it illegal and say it is destroying their quality of life.

Town officials agree. The town opposes a preliminary recommendation to allow the property into the county's Agricultural (Ag) District from the County Board of Legislators Environment and Energy (E&E) Committee. If the county allows DanMel into the Ag District,Great Rubber offers promotional usb keychains, and the New York State Department of Agriculture approves it, that designation would afford Muro benefits and protections that promote farming and preservation.

"We are sympathetic to people who want to farm their property but this is in the middle of a residential neighborhood and we don't believe it meets the criteria of the Westchester County Agricultural District," Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said at last night's Town Board meeting.

Three supporters spoke in favor of DanMel at the meeting and two opponents spoke against DanMel. Of the supporters, two were egg customers who spoke on the importance of fresh, organic and local food. Another was a neighbor from Croton Avenue across from Muro's property, John Moriarty. Moriarty specifically spoke about construction equipment, explaining that he never sees it coming in and out of the property as other neighbors claim. The two opponents were neighbors from Mountain View Road,where he teaches oil painting reproduction in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. adjacent to the farm, who told the town board Muro's property is supposed to be residential and not a farm.

Muro also has hundreds of signatures from community members, customers and people from outside the county who signed a petition in favor of his application to join the Ag District.An oil painting supplies of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby.

At 6.3 acres, DanMel would become the smallest farm in the county if it were to join the District.

DanMel's opponents, nine neighbors on Mountain View Road and the Town of Cortlandt, say the property would not be eligible to become a farm if Muro had not been already breaking local laws.

That is because one of the six criteria the County E&E Committee must consider is that a parcel smaller than 7 acres is required to prove it can make $50,000 annually off the land in order to become part of the Ag district. Muro provided documentation that he reached that amount in 2010; the neighbors point out that any money he made was done so while he was violating town laws.

DanMel is currently not a legally sanctioned farm because Muro does not have the necessary permits or assessments to have more than 24 animals on the property (a walk around the property shows he clearly has more), heavy construction equipment or large accessory structures, according to Town Code Enforcement Officer Ken Hoch.

Hoch has issued Muro seven violations, citing Muro's excessive number of animals, trailers and construction equipment, since 2009. Muro has not been convicted of those violations, as they have continuously been pushed back in town court.

"How can you become legal when you are breaking the law?" Tara and Kevin Kouril of Mountain View Road ask with exasperation. The Kourils share a property line with the Muros.

County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz (D-4), chair of the board's Environment and Energy (E&E) Committee, explained the committee is only required to evaluate Muro's property as it relates to six criteria set forth by the County Farm and Agricultural Board (which denied Muro's original application in April).

"The protection he gets is a right to farm protection—this is not a get out of jail free card," Kaplowitz said. However, the town's zoning citations are not legally relevant to the county process.

Muro has been, is currently and would still be required to follow town laws, but with Ag status the state would be able to step in if it felt the Town's codes were too restrictive to his farming operation.

Although Muro has had chickens on his property since he moved there in 1998, an injury that has left him disabled and the foreclosure of his contractor's yard in 2008,The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling zentai suits , led him to more seriously farm his property in the last year, he said. He sells produce, eggs, landscaping trees and fruit to food co-ops, restaurants and families.

He also has plans to put a petting zoo on the property.

Neighbors say they were sympathetic to Muro when they heard he lost his construction yard in 2008 and they did not complain to the town until September 2009 about the construction equipment he moved onto his property.

Two years later, they oppose the farm and also fear that Muro has no intention of becoming a full-time farmer but is hoping to receive the Ag protection to use his backyard as a contractor's yard.

"This is not a contractor's yard,the worldwide Wholesale pet supplies market is over $56 billion annually. it is a farm," Muro said.

Attaching censors

If MPs think they can beat the system by coming with their friends' cards plus PINs,there's a lovely winter landscape oil paintings by William Zorach. then that will not work.

This is because, unless one is registered as being in Parliament, that is logged-in, then their cards will not be able to work,For the last five years Ripcurl , even if they're sneaked into the House.

And there's also the possibility of attaching censors on the seats so that the card on a console will only work if that seat is occupied. So one can't come, log in and hand over the card to a colleague to vote.

No doubt, the system will cut down on the cost of paper,ceramic Injection mold for the medical, now that even the MPs will be expected to carry IPads and laptops to the House and access the parliamentary business without printing anything. Currently House uses 700 reams of paper every week.

But MPs will need to be trained to accommodate the digital life. It will take time and Mr Gichohi knows this.

That's why he has his eyes focused on making a timetable and having one room at Continental House, where MPs' offices are housed, used for this job.
Relevant Links

It will be a tall order, given that even though all the 222 MPs were invited for the Open Day on June 30, only four showed up Mr Francis Nyammo (Tetu), Mr Nicolas Gumbo (Rarieda), Mr Maina Kamau (Kandara) and Mr Rege.

Come 2013, it's going to be a silent,Traditional Air purifier claim to clean all the air in a room. digital Parliament and not the noisy, disorganised,There is good integration with PayPal and most third party merchant account providers, kindergarten look-alike that made Gichugu MP Martha Karua dub the august House "the greatest auction house in Africa".

Speaker Kenneth Marende will also no longer have to remember the names of MPs or keep tabs on who stood first to "catch his eye" for them to be allowed to contribute.

It will no longer be possible for MPs to shoot up and interrupt debate on "points of order" to signal a breach in procedure. All they'll do is press a button to alert the Speaker.

For now, as MPs continue using the Old Chambers, the noise what they call loud consultations continues.

Red Wiggler Farm Grows Organic Crops and an Inclusive Community

Red Wiggler Community Farm is a USDA Organic certified farm and much, much more. Located on 14 acres in Ovid Hazen Wells Park in Germantown, Red Wiggler Farm, a nonprofit organization, provides employment for adults with development disabilities.

Adults with developmental disabilities work as growers to plant, care for and harvest crops for the farm's Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Supervised by a small staff and assisted by volunteers, Red Wiggler's CSA yields 120 shares for local families as well as 10 shares for local group homes during the summer and early fall. Growers work five days a week from morning to late afternoon.

Patch recently had the chance to tour Red Wiggler during one of the farm's Field Walks. Named for the Red Wiggler worm that is the ¡®unsung hero' of the garden with a remarkable ability to turn compost into fertile soil, we invite everyone to learn about Red Wiggler and see what they are achieving on their community farm.

A Desire to Build an Inclusive Community
Red Wiggler's founder, Woody Woodruff, conceived the idea for Red Wiggler while working at group homes for adults with developmental disabilities.Traditional Air purifier claim to clean all the air in a room. "Being with adults in group homes, Woody saw a potential and desire for people to be a part of the community," explained Liz Phelan, outreach and special events coordinator as we toured the farm.

With an interest in healthy eating and organic farming, Woody thought a CSA would be a great place for adults with developmental disabilities to use their abilities. Woody also thought that a CSA would offer more chances to interact with the community. Woody established four tenets for Red Wiggler ¨C offer meaningful employment to adults with developmental disabilities, create educational opportunities through ¡®service learning' for area youth, environmental stewardship, and a CSA program as the backbone of the farm's operation.For the last five years Ripcurl ,

Fifteen years later, Red Wiggler is renting land from Montgomery County, farming seven fenced acres at the Ovid Hazen Wells Park location, and is actively achieving their mission.

A Joy for Hard Work and a Love of the Outdoors Makes for a Successful Grower at Red Wiggler
Many of the growers at Red Wiggler have been there since the beginning of the CSA program. "We have a high retention rate that we're really proud of," said Phelan. "To be a grower, you have to have three qualities ¨C you have to enjoy working outdoors, be happy to work hard, and want to be with and interact with other people."

Red Wiggler's CSA is a ¡®pickup CSA' and share owners come to the farm to pick up their crop share each week. "This is an opportunity for community building," said Phelan. "Our share holders come to the farm on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and there's a chance to interact with our growers."

School groups visit as well, fulfilling Red Wiggler's tenet of education through "service learning."

Heirloom Chickens and Roosters Help To Maintain Healthy Crops and Soil
Red Wiggler also has another team working at the farm ¨C 47 chickens and three roosters.there's a lovely winter landscape oil paintings by William Zorach. The group is housed every night in a chicken coop on wheels called a mobile chicken tractor, and they spend their days in whatever area of the field that needs their attention, protected from predators by a movable electric fence.ceramic Injection mold for the medical,

Phelan talked excitedly about the farm's chickens and roosters, and Red Wiggler's efficient use of this labor source on the farm. "We can close the chicken tractor up and move it as the chickens work a field. They clean out live, active and hibernating insects. The chickens find just about everything.There is good integration with PayPal and most third party merchant account providers, Their scratching helps the soil, and they lay eggs. You can't ask for anything more."

The chickens are certainly a great feature of the field walk. Eggs laid by these very same chickens are offered through the farm's CSA.

Pride in Each Crop as the Season Changes
A large table inside the Red Wiggler barn was filled with harvested cherry tomatoes, ranging from yellow to orange to deep red, and boxes of potatoes were also lined up on a nearby table.

"We just harvested 800 pounds of Adirondack Reds last week ¨C our first crop of potatoes," said Phelan.

Android and App Performance

The 4G Slide's HSPA+ 21 modem, combined with its fast processor, makes for blazing Internet speeds. During tests, I got more than 5Mbps down with Ookla's Speedtest.net app. The phone also offers 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, and leverages that for Wi-Fi calling. Call quality over Wi-Fi isn't as good as cellular; I heard a noticeable background hiss, and voices sounded computerized at times. But it's a terrific backup for when you have no signal, and the feature isn't offered by any other carrier. The 4G slide also works as a tethered modem or a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 5 devices, with the right T-Mobile service plan.
 

The 4G Slide runs Android 2.3.4 with HTC's Sense 3.0 extensions, on a Qualcomm dual-core,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their impact socket . 1.2GHz processor. This is roughly the same platform as in our other T-Mobile Editor's Choice, the HTC Sensation 4G ($199.99, 4 stars), and it offers similarly excellent performance. The 4G Slide did very well on our benchmarks, and Web pages, including Flash content, loaded quickly.

HTC's Sense is the best of the manufacturer Android skins,a hypodermic needle cannula on the rear floor. perfectly balancing extra features such as Facebook and Twitter integration in the contact book with a relatively non-bothersome visual identity. I didn't experience any slowdowns or stalls on my test phone during the review period.

T-Mobile has added several apps. KidZone creates a custom, locked screen with only certain applications on it, so your children have limited access to your phone. T-Mobile TV offers streaming television channels for $12.99 per month; TeleNav gives you GPS with live traffic, and Qik gives you video chat, that, well, doesn't work very well.

Multimedia
T-Mobile makes big promises for the 4G Slide's camera, calling it the "most advanced camera of any smartphone." It's an excellent camera, but some of the company's heavily touted features are just smoke and mirrors.

Let's start with the good news: When you hit the dedicated camera button, you'll get sharp 8-megapixel photos and clear, smooth 1080p high-def video at 24 frames per second. The video gets wobbly; it could use some image stabilization. But HTC has worked out the kinks that caused hiccups on our HTC Sensation phone. Still photos captured on the phone are as clear as any camera phone I've ever seen, and low-light photos are sharp,This patent infringement case relates to retractable syringe needle , with no shutter-speed blur. There's also a VGA front-facing camera for self shots.

T-Mobile advertises "zero shutter lag," but what it really means is that you can take photos before the autofocus has locked in. The trade-off, of course, is that sometimes these shots are out of focus. "ClearShot HDR" takes several photographs and combines them to prevent bright areas from washing out. But if subjects are moving, you'll get a weird ghosting effect. The phone also has a burst mode and panorama mode, which work as advertised.

This is a stellar media playback phone, as well. The phone has about 880MB of free memory, but it also comes with an 8GB MicroSD card under the back cover; our 32GB card worked fine.

The 4G Slide plays all the usual music formats through its 3.5mm headset jack, through its tinny speakers or over a Bluetooth headset. For video, it handled my 1080p HD-quality H.264 files without a problem. T-Mobile's streaming TV service is expensive at $12.99 per month, but it offers a wide range of live channels that play smoothly in full screen. I'd subscribe to Netflix instead,It's hard to beat the versatility of Plastic molding on a production line. which comes preloaded on the phone and also had no problem with clear, full-screen video over a T-Mobile 4G connection in my tests. There's only one missing piece: no way to connect an HDMI cable to view the content of your phone on your HDTV. T-Mobile promotes wireless DLNA streaming to get video onto TVs, but the TV side of that equation is often totally unusable. The phone also has an FM radio, which works when you have headphones plugged in.

Conclusions
The T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide takes most of the things we liked from the HTC Sensation and throws in a faster Internet connection and a hardware keyboard. Yes, it's a brick, but we like power, speed, and flexibility, and we're willing to weigh down our pockets for them.

Our previous Editor's Choice for keyboarded smartphones on T-Mobile was the T-Mobile G2 (4 stars, $99), which is slimmer and lighter, but slower and less powerful all around. We also quite like the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G,Do not use cleaners with Coated Abrasives , steel wool or thinners. but the Sidekick's youth-oriented Android skin can be very divisive. The MyTouch 4G Slide is state-of-the-art Android , and T-Mobile customers looking for a true pocket computer should pick one up immediately.

Revolutions Medical to Exhibit in the 141st American Correctional Association Conference

Revolutions Medical Corporation ("Revolutions Medical" or the "Company") (otcqb:RMCP) will exhibit at the 141st American Correctional Association Conference (the "ACA Conference"), August 5-10th in Kissimmee Florida. The 141st Congress of Correction Conference is one of the largest mediums for engaging high-level decision makers at the federal, state, and local levels of corrections. The annual ACA Conference showcases the latest innovations in corrections technology, healthcare, probation and parole, transportation and training to these thousands of decision makers in the correctional industry.

Exposure to blood and other body fluids occurs across a wide variety of occupations, however correctional personnel are at a greater exposure risk each and every day. Corrections personnel come to work with additional concerns relating to life-altering events such as accidental needle stick injuries. More than 22,000 inmates in federal and state prisons have HIV (almost four times the general population). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is much higher among inmates than in the community. Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the prevalence of Tuberculosis (TB) is up to 100 times higher in prison than in the community.

"The RevVac auto retractable vacuum safety syringe can provide a valuable solution to what appears to be frightening statistics related to not only providing safer injections but also a safer overall medical environment in our correctional institutions,The application can provide Parking guidance system to visitors," stated Ron Wheet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited to be participating at the ACA conference and to demonstrate our innovative safety syringe."

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks,It's hard to beat the versatility of Plastic molding on a production line. uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their impact socket . performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.Graphene is not a semiconductor, not an Insulator , and not a metal, You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.If so, you may have a kidney stone . Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Design,Phone Calls, and Internet Connectivity

A huge, powerful truck of a cell phone, the T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide ($199) roars onto store shelves ready to take on any mobile challenge. With its dual-core processor, Google Android Gingerbread OS, fast Web access, gorgeous UI,Whilst Hemroids are not deadly, and high-quality camera, the 4G Slide is T-Mobile's luxury phone, and it brooks no compromises. That makes it our Editors' Choice for keyboarded smartphones on T-Mobile.

There's no way around it: The MyTouch 4G Slide is a brick. While it's similar in size to many other smartphones (4.8 by 2.4 by .52 inches¡ªHWD), at 6.5 ounces, it's unusually heavy. But it feels well-built from good materials; the front is black glass with physical action buttons and a little optical touchpad below the 3.7-inch, 800-by-480 screen.These girls have never had a Cold Sore in their lives!The Piles were so big that the scrap yard was separating them for us. On the soft-touch black back, an 8-megapixel camera with a dual LED flash sticks out slightly, highlighted by a grooved silver plastic strip.

In my tests, the 4G Slide got acceptable reception, and phone call quality was decent.the TMJ pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs. It was a little harsh at high volumes, a bit too trebly at times, but utterly adequate. In any case, this isn't a phone you're buying for nonstop calling. Built-in noise cancellation blocks some background noise at the cost of making your voice sound compressed when it's working hard. The speakerphone is nice and loud, usable indoors and out, and transmissions through the speakerphone had a slight echo, but were clear.By Alex Lippa Close-up of solar panel in Massachusetts. Talk time, at 5 hours 22 minutes, was fine.

T-Mobile's Genius Button enhances traditional voice dialing with network-based software that lets you run Web searches and dictate text messages by voice. While the voice dialing worked fine over my Plantronics Voyager Pro+ headset (4 stars, $99), I couldn't get it to connect to the network service to dictate text messages; the phone repeatedly timed out.

Post-9/11, biggest terror threat is underground

It's the morning rush in the Times Square subway station, a routine convergence of humanity and mass transit that makes New York City hum. Mixing seamlessly with subway riders are New York Police Department officers with heavy body armor and high-powered rifles, commanders in blue NYPD polo shirts carrying smart phone-size radiation detectors and a panting police dog named Sabu.

"This is the new normal," Inspector Scott Shanley of the NYPD's Counterterrorism Division says. "The only people who sometimes get raised up are tourists."

Since terrorists brought down the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, subways have been bombed in terror attacks across the world, including in Madrid, London and this spring in Minsk, Belarus. The possibility that New York's sprawling, porous and famously gritty subway system could be next has become a constant worry leading to a new normal of suspicious package alerts, bomb-sniffing dogs, cameras trained on commuters and passengers listening to the missive,Whilst Hemroids are not deadly, "if you see something,By Alex Lippa Close-up of solar panel in Massachusetts. say something."

The campaigns encouraging residents to report suspicious activity strike Manhattan writer Anne Nelson, 57, as Orwellian.

"New York is about expression and life and vibrancy," she said, walking through Times Square. "It's not about living in an atmosphere of fear."

But authorities here believe a serious attack on the 24-hour subway system with more than 400 stations, would potentially cripple the city in ways worse than the Sept. 11,The Piles were so big that the scrap yard was separating them for us. 2001 attack a concern shared by U.S. cities and countries reliant on mass transit and viewed as enemies by terrorists.

The human toll going back to Aum Shinrikyo cult's 1995 nerve gas attack that killed 12 people and injured thousands in Tokyo's subways has already been devastating. In Madrid, Islamic militants set off 10 backpack bombs on the commuter rail network in 2004, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800; in London, another suicide bomb strike killed 52 commuters and injured 700 in the city's deadliest attack since World War II; and earlier this year in Minsk, a remote-controlled bomb killed 12 people and wounded 200 in the city's main subway station.

In New York, no one has pulled off an attack, but there have been plenty of scares.

Last year, a homegrown al-Qaida operative, Najibullah Zazi, pleaded guilty to plotting a suicide bomb attack timed for rush hour to cause the most bloodshed. The former airport shuttle driver told a judge his plan was "to conduct a martyrdom operation on the subway lines in Manhattan." The NYPD also foiled a 2004 plot to bomb Manhattan's Herald Square subway station. And there were reports in that al-Qaida considered a cyanide attack on the subway system in 2003.

New York's subway system, the largest in the U.S.,the TMJ pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs. has more than 465 far-flung stations, most with multiple entrances,These girls have never had a Cold Sore in their lives! and 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) of track. Last year, it carried 5.2 million riders on the average weekday more than double the number of travelers who pass through U.S. airports each day.


Another state-owned company, Adif, which manages Spain's long-distance train stations, said it has assigned more guards at train stations and broadened use of closed-circuit security cameras.

The heightened security in subways has become second nature in New York.

But after walking through Grand Central Terminal last week, 54-year-old consultant Robin Gant said the threat of terrorism still weighs on her 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks. But she wondered about how one can fairly point out who's a threat.

"I look at people and who's to judge? You just never know who might be the one," she said. "No matter how safe you feel, you're always on yellow alert."

SMALL TALK

If stuck for conversation, you could do worse than to admire the Landseer paintings of hunting scenes and stags that adorn the walls.

Guests may also comment on the beauty of their surroundings, the exquisite landscape and the crystal clean air.

But on no account praise the food or drink this would be a vulgar breach of an etiquette system engrained in the royals from birth, because it suggests they would serve anything but the best.


Organic bacon and kidneys are contenders, kedgeree often appears and there will be plenty of toast and marmalade.

Then, guests are taken shooting (in season), fishing with a ghillie (or gamekeeper), mushroom picking or a hike across the hills.Whilst Hemroids are not deadly, Usually, the royals will have a picnic lunch delivered to one of the hunting lodges scattered around the estate. After the day's adventures, afternoon tea is served beside a roaring log fire.

This is a homely affair, with the Queen brewing and pouring the tea (leaf, of course, not teabags).

Tiny cucumber sandwiches are served alongside brown bread, home-made jams, Balmoral honey and thin slices of Dundee cake.

Guests are expected to amuse themselves with another walk or parlour games until cocktail hour.

That's when the royals gather for drinks in the drawing room, with its stately furniture and rose and thistle curtains.

'The blessing was the stiff drink you could get before dinner,' says Tony Blair.

'It hit the spot.The Piles were so big that the scrap yard was separating them for us. It was true rocket fuel. The burden and the head got lighter. The courage returned.'

Or, as the diarist William Deedes recorded after a 1962 visit: 'Fires not lit. Sherry in the drawing room. Splendid Landseers.

'Roast potatoes and chicken a la king. Very rich. Slightly difficult conversation with Princess Anne and the Queen.'

SATURDAY BARBECUE

Each Saturday in the summer, the Queen puts on a BBQ. This is a truly extraordinary affair, with the royals doing all the work, down to the washing-up.
Pink rubber gloves and sponge

The monarch is never happier than at this informal scene, held in a hunting lodge lit by candlelight ¡ªthere is no electricity.

Each royal pitches in, with Prince Edward usually doing a starter of prawns.

Prince Philip is in charge of the venison and grouse stuffed with haggis, which he cooks on a BBQ he designed himself (of which he is inordinately proud). Kate may find she is assigned a job.

Plates, cutlery, and salads in plastic containers arrive in a massive hamper on wheels, towed by a Range Rover.

The Queen lays the table and afterwards stacks the dishes and even dons a pair of rubber gloves to do the washing-up. Reportedly,These girls have never had a Cold Sore in their lives! this stuns her visitors.

But please note: only married couples are allowed to join in this family ritual.

Political adviser Jonathan Powell recalls that when he stayed at Balmoral in 2001, he found his invitation to the BBQ suddenly but discreetly rescinded after aides learned he had yet to make an honest woman of Sarah, the mother of two of his children.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a chicken coop .the TMJ pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs.

A WORD OF THANKS

Above all, guests must remember to send a thank-you note after their visit.

Kate should write her thanks in fountain pen on a card from an upmarket outlet such as Smythson.

The tone should be respectful and gracious. A mild joke is acceptable if it refers to an amusing event during the stay, and the letter should be peppered with Sloaney adjectives such as 'splendid' or 'simply marvellous'.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

If Kate passes this summer holiday test, then an even greater challenge lies ahead: if the etiquette of a Balmoral weekend is hard to grasp, then Christmas at Sandringham is an even grander (and more peculiar) occasion.

Industry welcomes lifting of B-Nine re-entry restrictions

Bedding and other ornamental plant growers have welcomed an official label change to horticultural plant growth regulator B-Nine SG.
Click here to find out more!

The change means that it can now be used without observing a re-entry restriction introduced 18 months ago.I have never solved a Rubik's magic cube . The restriction ranged up to eight days,There are RUBBER MATS underneath mattresses, depending on the crop.As many processors back away from offshore merchant account ,

Alan Horgan, technical officer at crop protection company Certis, said: "The change has been wholeheartedly welcomed by bedding plant producers and other ornamental growers and marks a major step forward for the functional use of this important product."

The change was achieved following studies to demonstrate there were no adverse effects on workers re-entering the crop.Justin probierte ein Paar von schwarzen billabong boardshorts , "B-Nine SG is currently the only formulation of daminozide that offers growers a zero day re-entry solution for growth regulation," said Horgan.

"What this means is that growers can go about day-to-day nursery operations after treating with B-Nine.then used cut pieces of rubber hose garden hose to get through the electric fence."

John Orr: Novel casts a charming spell

It's about Sunny Nwazue, an Igbo girl born in New York who now lives in Nigeria, land of her heritage. She is an albino.

"I have West African features, like my mother," Sunny narrates in a prologue, "but while the rest of my family is dark brown, I've got light yellow hair, skin the color of 'sour milk' (or so stupid people like to tell me), and hazel eyes that look like God ran out of the right color."

Sunny has a trouble with some other children at school because of having been born in America, and because of her albino coloring. She loves to play soccer,There are RUBBER MATS underneath mattresses, but can only do so at night, with her brothers, because "my skin burned so easily that I felt nearly flammable."

We meet her right as she is having some kind of terrible vision when staring into a candle flame, which rewards her attention by setting her hair on fire. When she goes to school the next day, her once "wooly blonde hair, whose length so many had envied, was gone. Now she had a puffy medium-length Afro." As her schoolmates point and laughed,Justin probierte ein Paar von schwarzen billabong boardshorts , "She cut her eyes at her friends and sucked her teeth loudly."

This day another couple of kids start Sunny on the path of understanding that there is something more special about her than just being an albino of having been born in New York. She begins to learn that she is a "Leopard Person," a human being of pronounced mystical ability.

Sunny is a "Free Agent" -- someone who does not come from a known lineage of Leopard People. As the guide she is given explains, "You are a Leopard Person only by the will of the Supreme Creator, and as we all know, She isn't very concerned with Her own creations."

With the help of a couple of other Leopard People children, she enters a magical world that is a delightful creation by Okorafor, who is an actual Ph.D. who teaches at Chicago State University. And, yes, I was astounded that someone could make it so far through the academic world and still be creative.the oil paintings for sale by special invited artist for 2011,

Okorafor, who like Sunny was born in the United States of Igbo heritage, writes knowingly and charmingly of regular Nigerian people, and amusingly of the Leopard People.

There is great drama and lots of scary stuff, because there is a bad person going around kidnapping children and hurting them, and that bad person turns out to be a very bad mystical being whose goal is to destroy the world.

Sunny and her friends will have to rise to the challenge.

It's fair to compare this book to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Instead of witches and wizards, there are Leopard People. Instead of muggles there are Lambs. And Leopard People stay secret, because thousands of years ago, the Lambs tried to murder them all.

And, like Rowling's books, this book is fun, involving and charming.

SPEAKING OF POTTER DEPT.: Yes, I am aware that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," is opening tonight, a minute after midnight at movie theaters all over the Peninsula. At the Mountain View Century 16, for instance, it will occupy 12 screens.

No, I don't plan to see it tonight. Maybe a matinee this weekend. Or maybe I will wait for the DVD.

I will see it, eventually. But, I've never been all that pleased with the Harry Potter movies,then used cut pieces of rubber hose garden hose to get through the electric fence. which mostly seem like opportunities lost, and I am no longer a fan of the Century Theaters -- the last time I was at Century 16, I was served stale popcorn, at highly inflated prices, and a lukewarm hot dog. Very disappointing. There was a time when I really liked the Century 16.

If I wait for the DVD, I can make my own popcorn.

FUN WITH MAGIC DEPT.: My son Riley and I have been having fun with Top Trumps' "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" card game. Despite having already lost three of the 30 playing cards.

(Spoiler alert. If you haven't read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," but plan to do so, don't read this. Carefully cut out this column and save it for future reference.)

The game works something like the classic card game "War." The cards are dealt, face down, and the first player pulls up a card and is given options, to play for levels of magic, cunning, courage, wisdom or temper.

Ginny Weasley, according to this game, would beat Kreacher for wisdom, 38 to 24. But Kreacher would beat Ginny on magic, 70 to 45.

If a player drew Ginny and chose wisdom, in that match-up, the player would win, and get to keep both cards.

The game is over when one player has all the cards.

The game is fun and it made Riley and me both laugh, as we took turns beating each other.

Harry Potter fans can certainly quibble about some of the ratings. Most egregious,I have never solved a Rubik's magic cube . among the cards actually in my possession, is that Severus Snape is rated at only 50 for courage. He is outranked by Ronald Weasley and Luna Lovegood at 53, Dobby at 55, Hermione Granger at 70 and Harry Potter at 75.

Rufus Scrimgeour, who died under torture rather than give away the location of the hidden Harry Potter, is rated at only 30 for courage.

But only a 50 for Snape? Didn't the game makers read the book? After all, as Harry tells one of his sons, Snape was "probably the bravest man I ever knew."

2011 Summer Fancy Food Show Recap

While foot traffic was strong, the switch from the Javits Center in New York City (undergoing a major renovation), to Washington, D.C. continued the downward trend of exhibiting beverage companies relative to last summer's show,I have never solved a Rubik's magic cube . which also yielded very low numbers. It's possible this dismissal had to do with the venue and/or the smaller number of corner and specialty stores in D.then used cut pieces of rubber hose garden hose to get through the electric fence.C. relative to the major market of New York City. Budgetary constraints have also forced smaller entrepreneurs to focus on the larger product introduction shows,There are RUBBER MATS underneath mattresses, such as Natural Products Expo West and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show both of which are fairly proximate to the summer show.

However, those companies that did decide to exhibit had optimistic expectations prior to the show's start and maintained a positive and upbeat vibe throughout the three days perhaps partly because of the slightly improved economy, and also because of the surprising amount of new signed orders at the show.

While many of the usual Fancy Food stalwarts were present, trending at the show were Aloe-Vera based brands although many were not RTD importers with brands that use either concentrated Aloe juice or reconstituted powder-based formulations. San Fransisco based SPI Westport, marketer of ALO and formulated with all-natural ingredients,Justin probierte ein Paar von schwarzen billabong boardshorts , said it has gained traction particularly in the natural channel aAs many processors back away from offshore merchant account ,nd expressed that the show was a success for them.

The other category that garnered some buzz at the show was that of upscale and super-premium cocktail mixers particularly with the recent acquisition of Skinnygirl brands by Beam Global. Powell & Mahoney showcased a low-calorie Margarita mix along with Peach Bellini and Lemon Sour with Bitters, while The Skinny Cocktail Company introduced their Scales line of 0 Carbs 0 Sugar mixers and Wine-A-Rita showcased their frozen Skinny Senorita and Berry Pom-A-Rita mix.

Of note and unlike prior shows, Kombucha companies were non-existent except for Ex Drinks' Pure Energy and Slim Energy, powered by Kombucha.

How Samuel Morse Telegraphed a New Direction for American Art

When you hear the name Samuel F. B. Morse you most likely think about Morse code or the telegraph. In reality, Morse only co-invented the code that bears his name and simply contributed to the already developing technology of the telegraph. But nobody can take any credit away from Morse for his first love of and forgotten gift for painting. In A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre, which runs at the National Gallery of Art,I have never solved a Rubik's magic cube . Washington, DC, through July 8, 2012, Morse's talents as painter and teacher of painting are fully on display with the newly restored painting Gallery of the Louvre (shown above). In this exhibit we see just how Morse telegraphed a new direction for American art away from the unappealing alternatives of slavish devotion to the Western canon or awkward backwoods folk art and towards an appropriation of the best in art history tailored to fit the newly rising American nation.

Morse visited the Louvre briefly in 1830 during his three-year Grand Tour of Europe. Enthralled by the grand space of the Louvre's Salon Carre, Morse decided to paint a portrait of the room as both a tribute to the masters collected there and as an educational tool for his fellow Americans back home. Returning a year later, Morse found the Salon Carre stripped of Old Masters and, instead, filled with contemporary French painters. Undaunted, Morse created the fiction that is the Gallery of the Louvre and curated an exhibition to suit his taste and that of his mentor, Washington Allston. Titian, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Van Dyck, Correggio, and Watteau, among others, all make the cut in miniature reproductions by Morse. Play a little "Where's Waldo?" and you'll find Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa lurking among the masterpieces—an acknowledged wonder already by the early 19th century, but not yet the megastar it would become. Morse published Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures...from the Most Celebrated Masters, Copied into the "Gallery of the Louvre" in 1833 as a written key to his crash course in the Western tradition, emphasizing the educational goals of the painting itself.

In addition to flooding the walls of his fictional, personal salon with his art heroes, Morse peopled the floor with his circle of closest friends and family. In the center, Morse paints himself looking over the shoulder of his daughter Susan as she copies from the masters. In the rear, almost directly behind Morse and Susan, American sculptor Horatio Greenough, one of Morse's Parisian roommates, appears beside an unidentified woman and daughter roaming the galleries. Richard W. Habersham, Morse's other roommate in Paris, sits in the left foreground copying an unidentified landscape. The three roommates certainly debated who would hang in their dream galleries from the Louvre and those discussions helped shape Morse's painting, so Morse put them there physically as well as in spirit.

Perhaps even more importantly, Morse places his friend, American novelist James Fenimore Cooper in the far, left corner with his wife and daughter. Cooper and his wife stand behind their daughter at the easel. In his Leatherstocking Tales, Cooper took the noble savage of European romanticism and fashioned a uniquely American equivalent in Natty Bumppo. Cooper and Washington Irving took European models and forged the earliest American literature up to the 1830s. After the 1830s, during the American Renaissance, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and others took up the challenge further,There are RUBBER MATS underneath mattresses, extending and transforming the Western tradition in literature into an American idiom. Although Thomas Cole had begun a nascent American art movement that would become the Hudson River School, Morse hoped to do for painting what Cooper had done for American literature, namely not shy away from the European tradition, but to embrace it fully and make it their own, make it American. Cooper's presence in the painting serves as a reminder of (and a challenge to match) what could be accomplished.

The final figure, the woman painting at the right, remains a mystery. Some scholars believe her to be a "Miss Joreter," a young woman whom Morse taught in the Louvre. More romantically minded critics, however, entertain the possibility that it is Lucretia, Morse's dearly departed wife brought back from the dead. In 1825, Lucretia fell gravely ill while Morse was away in New York painting the Marquis de Lafayette. By the time Morse received word and rushed to her side, Lucretia had already been buried. Frustrated by the limited communications of the time, Morse vowed to pursue new technology to save others from the agony of never getting to say goodbye. I like to think of Morse's Gallery of the Louvre as his way of saying goodbye to Lucretia—a grand gesture to show her the great things she still inspired him to pursue. It's entirely possible that we're looking at Miss Joreter, but in the fantasy world of the Gallery of the Louvre built by Morse, I doubt it. Gallery of the Louvre is a love letter to art itself, so why can't it also be a last love letter to the love of Morse's life?When you hear the name Samuel F. B. Morse you most likely think about Morse code or the telegraph. In reality, Morse only co-invented the code that bears his name and simply contributed to the already developing technology of the telegraph. But nobody can take any credit away from Morse for his first love of and forgotten gift for painting. In A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre, which runs at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, through July 8, 2012, Morse's talents as painter and teacher of painting are fully on display with the newly restored painting Gallery of the Louvre (shown above). In this exhibit we see just how Morse telegraphed a new direction for American art away from the unappealing alternatives of slavish devotion to the Western canon or awkward backwoods folk art and towards an appropriation of the best in art history tailored to fit the newly rising American nation.

Morse visited the Louvre briefly in 1830 during his three-year Grand Tour of Europe. Enthralled by the grand space of the Louvre's Salon Carre, Morse decided to paint a portrait of the room as both a tribute to the masters collected there and as an educational tool for his fellow Americans back home. Returning a year later, Morse found the Salon Carre stripped of Old Masters and, instead, filled with contemporary French painters. Undaunted, Morse created the fiction that is the Gallery of the Louvre and curated an exhibition to suit his taste and that of his mentor,As many processors back away from offshore merchant account , Washington Allston. Titian, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Van Dyck, Correggio, and Watteau, among others, all make the cut in miniature reproductions by Morse. Play a little "Where's Waldo?" and you'll find Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa lurking among the masterpieces—an acknowledged wonder already by the early 19th century, but not yet the megastar it would become. Morse published Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures...from the Most Celebrated Masters, Copied into the "Gallery of the Louvre" in 1833 as a written key to his crash course in the Western tradition, emphasizing the educational goals of the painting itself.

In addition to flooding the walls of his fictional, personal salon with his art heroes, Morse peopled the floor with his circle of closest friends and family. In the center, Morse paints himself looking over the shoulder of his daughter Susan as she copies from the masters. In the rear, almost directly behind Morse and Susan, American sculptor Horatio Greenough, one of Morse's Parisian roommates, appears beside an unidentified woman and daughter roaming the galleries. Richard W. Habersham, Morse's other roommate in Paris, sits in the left foreground copying an unidentified landscape. The three roommates certainly debated who would hang in their dream galleries from the Louvre and those discussions helped shape Morse's painting, so Morse put them there physically as well as in spirit.

Perhaps even more importantly, Morse places his friend, American novelist James Fenimore Cooper in the far, left corner with his wife and daughter. Cooper and his wife stand behind their daughter at the easel. In his Leatherstocking Tales, Cooper took the noble savage of European romanticism and fashioned a uniquely American equivalent in Natty Bumppo. Cooper and Washington Irving took European models and forged the earliest American literature up to the 1830s. After the 1830s,then used cut pieces of rubber hose garden hose to get through the electric fence. during the American Renaissance, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and others took up the challenge further, extending and transforming the Western tradition in literature into an American idiom. Although Thomas Cole had begun a nascent American art movement that would become the Hudson River School, Morse hoped to do for painting what Cooper had done for American literature, namely not shy away from the European tradition, but to embrace it fully and make it their own, make it American. Cooper's presence in the painting serves as a reminder of (and a challenge to match) what could be accomplished.

The final figure,Justin probierte ein Paar von schwarzen billabong boardshorts , the woman painting at the right, remains a mystery. Some scholars believe her to be a "Miss Joreter," a young woman whom Morse taught in the Louvre. More romantically minded critics, however, entertain the possibility that it is Lucretia, Morse's dearly departed wife brought back from the dead. In 1825, Lucretia fell gravely ill while Morse was away in New York painting the Marquis de Lafayette. By the time Morse received word and rushed to her side, Lucretia had already been buried. Frustrated by the limited communications of the time, Morse vowed to pursue new technology to save others from the agony of never getting to say goodbye. I like to think of Morse's Gallery of the Louvre as his way of saying goodbye to Lucretia—a grand gesture to show her the great things she still inspired him to pursue. It's entirely possible that we're looking at Miss Joreter, but in the fantasy world of the Gallery of the Louvre built by Morse, I doubt it. Gallery of the Louvre is a love letter to art itself, so why can't it also be a last love letter to the love of Morse's life?

Salvation Army Closes Flood Disaster Center

After months of helping flood victims with food and bedding, the Salvation Army closed their disaster center in Vicksburg.

Sunday night the charity hosted a healing ceremony for the community.

With floodwaters behind them, the community of Vicksburg gathered in prayer trying to get life back to normal.

"We're getting back on our feet physically and getting repantried and houses are being rebuilt, but we need to rebuild our spirit, said Captain Ken Chapman, of the Salvation Army.

"Two feet and better went inside of it and there's twelve feet on the ground," said flood victim Willie Jordan.

Jordan was one victim whose home in the Ford subdivision was submerged for three months. He said the Salvation Army helped him stay afloat.

"Fine fine fine fine, couldn't be no better. Feeding us and everything," said Jordan.

A far cry from what it was like the first time he saw his washed out home.

"I walked in I could have been crying. Everything, all my carpet, all the cabinets. All the walls were black," said Jordan.

He's been in that neighborhood for 42 years. He said he's too old to start over and too old to move.

"I hope I can get some help," said Jordan.

"We had to rip the walls and drywall, new insulation and spiders and snakes and rats, went... everything," said flood victim Bobbie Lowe.

Lowe said the Salvation Army gave her food and medicine while she was out of her home, but what she needs the most now is money. She's already used what she got from FEMA.

"We brought them the estimate like they said, we did the receipts and everything, and they said we can't have no more," said Lowe.

The Salvation Army said the disaster center may be closed but their work to help flood victims is not over. Their prayer is that one day soon, it will be.

Putting Worms to Work to Help Your Garden Grow

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

What can you do with earthworms? Some people use the creepy crawlers to catch fish. But others put worms to work making compost. Compost looks and feels like good soil. Gardeners and farmers add it to soil to make plants grow better.

You can make compost from food waste at home with or without the help of worms. How the worms help is by first eating and processing the food. It comes out the other end of the worm as rich compost.


Kim Gabel from the University of Florida Extension service in Key West suggests using red worms known as red wigglers.

KIM GABEL: "The red wigglers are the best varieties for doing it because they are more of a surface feeder. Because different worms live in different strata, or portions of the earth."

You need a container to hold the waste and the worms. The size of the composting bin depends on how much compost you want to make. You need about a kilogram of worms for each half a kilogram of daily food waste that you add.

Kim Gabel says the bin needs holes so the worms can get air.

KIM GABEL: "The worms do breathe. So that is a very important factor, along with they also like to be in the dark."

So cover the bin to keep out the light.

One thing worms do not like is very high temperatures. Kim Gabel lives in the warm climate of southern Florida. She keeps her worm bin indoors. Unpleasant smells can be prevented by controlling the amount of food waste added to the bin and avoiding meat or bones.

For composting with worms, you need bedding that is moist but not too wet. The amount of water you add will depend on the bedding material you use. Kim Gabel uses newspaper cut into strips about two and a half centimeters wide. Add two handfuls of soil for every half square meter of bedding material and mix well.

Spread the worms over the bedding. The worms will start to wiggle their way down. Remove any worms that remain on top of the bedding after two hours.

When you feed the worms, place the food about two and a half centimeters below the surface of the bedding and cover it.

The worm's waste, or castings, should be ready to use as compost within two to six months.

To remove the compost, you can push it all to one side of the bin. Place new bedding and food on the other side. Within a few weeks the worms will move to the new bedding. Now you can remove the compost and fill the empty space with new bedding.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Have you ever made compost with worms? Tell us your story at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Jim Tedder.