David Bench: The force behind Cary Crime Stoppers

David Bench is Cary’s top civilian cop.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Buy Michael Kors, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!

That’s what he jokes, anyway, as he sits in a home office bedecked with replica cowboy revolvers, model cars and high-end radio systems.

This is Bench’s command center: He watches carefully through his wire-frame spectacles as cars roll down the cul-de-sac, and he monitors his scanners for incidents in his district. Perhaps most notably, he manages a crime-fighting network of financiers, volunteers and tipsters.

“I don’t wear a mask and a black cape and all that stuff,” said Bench, 70. “I’m a good speaker. I enjoy going to Rotary clubs and Kiwanis clubs.”

The native of Syracuse, N.Y., is chairman of Cary Crime Stoppers, a local nonprofit that has had a role in some of the town’s closest-watched investigations lately.

An anonymous call through the Crime Stoppers hot line helped Cary police nab a suspect in the March fire that caused $500,Michael Kors Outlet Store provides you 64% OFF Wholesale Michael Kors Messenger Bags.000 of damage to Cary Parkway.

A Crime Stoppers tip was part of the investigation of a 2010 murder.

And the group already has paid out $3,200 for information this year, putting it on track for a record-breaking year.

“Once Crime Stoppers tips come in, it’s kind of a snowball effect ,” said Bench, who lives in central Cary with his wife.

The son and grandson of police officers, he doesn’t credit himself for his group’s recent success. Crime Stoppers still runs much as it did when Bench took the helm a decade ago: Callers dial 919-226-CRIM and are routed to the Cary Police Department.

The tipsters don’t have to give their names, and they never appear in court, Bench said.Guarantee High quality replica watches supply, Thousands of luxury designer cheap replica watches that compliments your Style.

If the tip leads to an arrest or conviction, Bench and his board tally up a payout of anywhere from a few hundred bucks to $2,500, depending on factors such as the severity of the crime and the contraband seized – drugs, most often.

Bench traces his interest in police work to his childhood days, watching his father handle police duties in the Syracuse courthouse.

He’d spend afternoons at the radio, waiting to hear that his pa was heading home. Later he would become an expert in telephone systems, and he has always parked himself at the edge of police and civilian culture.

A 26-year resident of Cary, he remembers local Police Chief Pat Bazemore from her days as a DARE officer, and by now he knows Cary’s radio codes as well as most any officer. Between Crime Stoppers and his constant vigilance, Bench is pretty well known around Town Hall.

“Something goes down on the scanner that’s anywhere near his neighborhood, usually I get an email.The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products. He’s a little bit like a reporter,Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store.” said Capt. Don Hamilton, with the Cary Police Department.

It’s hard to say whether the force will hear more or less out of Bench after he leaves the chairmanship of Crime Stoppers in December. His schedule freed from fundraising and networking, he may just have more time to watch his window and listen to the scanner.

In his absence, Bench hopes the group pushes harder to get its name out. As the police department has tried to broaden its public face, so too might its civilian supporters. Cary’s Citizens Assisting Police group also has seen growing popularity in recent years.

“Everybody wants to be a cop or fireman,” Bench said. “You guys got the glory job. Nobody wants to be the telephone man.”

Louis Vuitton travel guides hit London

Luxury travellers looking to add to their collection of coffee table city guides may want to hit bookstores in London,I can't believe I ever shopped for Michael Kors Leather Handbags elsewhere. where shelves are now stocked with Louis Vuitton's latest, limited-edition travel books.

Illustrated by Japanese artist Natsko Seki, the London guide renders sites like the Tate Modern and Regent's Canal -- sites chosen because they express the "spirit of London," she said -- in her signature style, which super-imposes hand-drawn sketches and colors on top of still photographs.

Explaining the modus operandi behind her images, Seki said in a video: "In my mind it was as if I was creating a 3D city with everyday scenes like somebody walking their dog and the passers-by turning around to look."

Other editions of Louis Vuitton Travel Books released this month include Paris, illustrated by Congolese painter Cheri Samba, New York done by French illustrator Jean-Philippe Delhomme, and Easter Island, interpreted by American artist Daniel Arsham.

Meanwhile, Starwood-owned hotel chain The Luxury Collection also launched its own series of travel guides covering Italy, Argentina, India, Spain, Greece and the US for the well-heeled traveler.Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store.

In partnership with top-end publisher Assouline, the collection of guides features commentary from star chefs such as Mario Batali and Jose Andres and is illustrated by Vanity Fair and GQ photographer Francis Mallman.

Louis Vuitton Travel Books retail for a,45. The London edition is now available at the brand's New Bond Street location, while the four books been releasing via Amazon and elsewhere since early May.

As the old song might have it: Louie, Louie, oh baby, brands come and go.

It’s not quite that bad for Louis Vuitton, but the French vendor of swanky handbags, shoes, jewelry and other fashion items is losing some of its shine.

While LV remains the world’s number one luxury brand, Prada and Gucci are rapidly gaining ground, according to a new global brand report by Millward Brown Optimor as reported by Bloomberg.

Vuitton, part of the LMVH Group that peddles other highfalutin stuff like Moet & Chandon champagne, Dior perfume and TAGHeurer watches, now has a brand value of a mere $22.7 billion. That’s down 12 percent - bagloads for this sort of thing - from a year ago. It managed to keep ahead of number two Hermes, which held steady with a $19.1 billion brand value.

But the world’s fashion snobs are increasingly adorning themselves with Gucci and Prada wares. Gucci surged 48 percent to $12.7 billion, earning the number three spot, while Prada soared 63 percent to a brand value of $9.45 billion, ranking fourth.

It seems that Vuitton’s rivals “are better managing the trade-off between exclusivity and affordability,” Bloomberg writes, citing the report. Another factor:

“Prada’s brand awareness in China,Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Buy Michael Kors, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products. Russia, Brazil and the Middle East continues to rise,” said Anastasia Kourovskaia, vice-president of Millward Brown Optimor EMEA.With avant-garde design, best quality materials and the most subtle quality, replica hublot watches is the best alternative for expensive watches.

The rankings were part of Millward Brown’s broader set of global standings called BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand. Apple topped all at $185 billion, followed by Google, IBM, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, in that order.

Luis Vuitton ranked 29th overall, just ahead of Samsung, which surged 51 percent in brand value to $21.4 billion. Facebook tallied 31st, having plunged 36 percent in value to $21.2 billion (click here for a full set rankings).

Rolex, Chanel, Cartier, Burberry, Fendi and Coach rounded out the Top 10 luxury companies. For some reason Wal-Mart didn’t make the luxury cut (although they finished a solid 18th among all global brands, at $36.2 billion). I think I’ll still buy my classy socks there.

Dmitry Rogozin: Russian 'Robocop Cyborg' to kill terrorists

Russian experts are developing robots designed not only to minimize casualties in terrorist attacks but also to neutralize terrorists the Russian state finds to be potential threats, despite they haven’t yet done anything wrong.Watch enthusiasts are always satisfied with Breitling replica breitling watches at this site and we're sure you'll appreciate them, too.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin says the “Robocop” is being developed alongside other anti-terror technologies, including those that can see terrorists through obstacles. The Russian defense industry Rogozin oversees hasn’t yet revealed exactly what these robots will be capable of or when they will be deployed, only that it is building them and that they would be able to evacuate injured soldiers and police or civilians from the scenes or terrorist attacks. They will also be able to engage terrorists at a distance without harming any hostages they might have.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been criticizing the lethal two-legged weaponry since its November 2012 report called “Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots“. The report said such revolutionary weapons wouldn’t be consistent with international humanitarian law and would increase the risk of death or injury to civilians during armed conflict. A preemptive prohibition on their development and use is needed – there are five countries,With avant-garde design, best quality materials and the most subtle quality, replica hublot watches is the best alternative for expensive watches. however, already developing the so-called LAR (Lethal Autonomous Robotics), also known as “The Killer Robot”.

“These weapons would be incapable of meeting international humanitarian law standards, including the rules of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity. The weapons would not be constrained by the capacity for compassion, which can provide a key check on the killing of civilians. Fully autonomous weapons also raise serious questions of accountability because it is unclear who should be held responsible for any unlawful actions they commit,” HRW said.

Most of the similar military technologies existed now still require human to control it from afar, such as the famous drone aircraft, but the autonomous robots experts in Russia hope to develop will one day be able to make shoot-to-kill decisions on its own. Regardless of all the critics, it could become a fully fledged cyborg, says Forbes.Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store.

In civilian realm, Dmitry Itskov, 32-year-old tycoon, is another Russian who has a plan to save humanity from impending doom – as reported in Digital Trend’s “How one Russian millionaire wants to save the world with immortal cyborgs”. He seeks to transpose human consciousness into artificial bodies within the next 30 years – in other word: cyborg. He believes furthering human evolution by combining human consciousness with technology is not only possible; it is the only crucial way to solve the crises that will one day face us all.Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store.

Referring to the article, Mashable says Itskov’s basic idea is to be able to transfer a person's mind or consciousness from a living brain into a machine with that person's personality and memories intact. Freed of physical form, the person would exist in a network similar to the Internet and be able to travel at the speed of light all over the planet, or even into space.The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products. His first stage called Avatar A involves a person controlling a robotic human replica via a brain-machine interface (BMI), a technology that already exists today. He set 2020 as the deadline.

La Center high losing patron of the arts

The halls of La Center High School are like wings of an eclectic museum, where artwork from various periods, of different styles and motifs, mingle.

There are presidential photos shot by Pulitzer Prize winner David Hume Kennerly in a hallway. There's a sarcophagus mask from Egypt behind a Plexiglas case in the library. And, hanging atop the school's front entrance, a massive sculpture representing the solar system expands across the ceiling.

Art and drama teacher Don Landes-McCullough is the school's archivist, its curator and its biggest cheerleader.

But after a 30-year teaching career, he's calling it quits.Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. Landes-McCullough will retire at the end of the school year.

Looking closely at a model of the HMS Victory — the oldest naval vessel still in commission, the replica of which is displayed in the school's library — Landes-McCullough reflected on a decades-spanning career spent bringing students closer to art.

"There's so much detail in here," he said, referencing the art displays in the library, and elsewhere in the school, "because everything here was chosen for a reason."

For decades, Landes-McCullough was the point person for making those decisions. In 2005, he contributed $13,500 worth of art to the school. A lifelong art lover, self-taught in various media, those who know him say he isn't above spending his own time or money on artistic pursuits.

He's twice traveled to Italy to study marble carving. He regularly writes his own plays — including his latest, "Prairie Matinee," melding improv, scripted theater and videotaped segments. And he's taken students to glass sculpture conventions in Seattle.

That's plenty of balls to have in the air — and Landes-McCullough doesn't even teach juggling.

Teaching both drama and art, Landes-McCullough rarely has had time to sit still,Watch enthusiasts are always satisfied with Breitling replica breitling watches at this site and we're sure you'll appreciate them, too. but he concedes, "They can cross paths."

"If I ever have a moment, though, I'm very ADHD. I cannot stop; I cannot sit,The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products." he said. "So even though I was in the middle of just intense work on ("Prairie Matinee"), I had no time at all. But I still fit it in, because I can't sit still."

Landes-McCullough's retirement will be spent at his art business, Splendid Season, and traveling to Italy,Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. where he made friends during his previous art-based adventures there.

The retirement has reverberated outside the walls of the high school, with community members trying to start a scholarship endowment in his name.

La Center City Councilor Elizabeth Cervany is one of the community members pushing for the scholarship to take shape. However, before that happens, she and others will have to raise $10,000.

Cervany has known Landes-McCullough since she moved to La Center in 1992.

During the early 2000s, Landes-McCullough and Cervany helped organize the La Center Arts Festival, which brought various artists and craftsmen to the city, along with an estimated 2,500 visitors. Some of the artists were big names in their fields, including glass artists Dale Chihuly and Fritz Dreisbach, along with contemporary artist David Garcia.

"His passion is one of those contagious things that instills other people with excitement," Cervany said. "He's done some amazing things for such a small district. Even bigger schools don't have what it has."

The scholarship, $1,000 or $2,000 a year, would be awarded to students interested in pursuing the arts later in life.In comparison with other high heels,christian louboutin sandals,louboutin shoes,christian louboutin men,cheap christian louboutin will bring unique feeling to you. So far, Cervany and La Center resident Barbara Barnhart are the sole contributors to the fund.

Landes-McCullough said he didn't know about the scholarship endowment, but was flattered nonetheless. But it fits his goal: inspiring students to pursue creative lives outside of school.

His final project is intended to do just that. It will meld photography, costume design and theater.

Students are designing paper costumes centered on fairy tale themes. Actors will wear the costumes and be photographed in front of a backdrop as they act out a scene.

As part of the project, Landes-McCullough is teaching the students how to make prosthetics, so they can transform actors into strange-looking creatures. The end results — photographed scenes of wonder — will go into the students' professional portfolio.

With retirement looming, Landes-McCullough vows not to forget about art. For the guy who can't sit still, that's not in his nature.

"I think I was born doing art," he said. "It was just something I always did."

Israel's Yair Lapid Seeks Interim Deal With Palestine

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior coalition partner says that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is unrealistic at the current time and the sides should instead pursue an interim arrangement.There are numerous diversified high heels at christian louboutin boots for sale.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid's assessment, delivered in a published interview Sunday just days before the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, throws a contentious idea into the mix as the U.S. searches for ways to restart peace talks.

It remains unclear whether the idea of a temporary arrangement will be raised during Kerry's visit later this week. In March, American officials confirmed that an interim arrangement, while not their preference, was one of the ideas being explored.

With the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians on many key issues seemingly unbridgeable, pursuing a Palestinian state with temporary borders has emerged as an option in recent months, particularly among Israelis searching for a way out of the status quo. The Palestinians have repeatedly rejected this option, fearing an interim deal that falls short of their hopes will become permanent.

In order to allay Palestinian concerns, Lapid told the Yediot Ahronot daily that President Barack Obama should set a three-year timeline for determining the final borders of a Palestinian state. As a gesture to the Israelis, he also called on Obama to endorse the position laid out by President George W. Bush in 2004, allowing Israel to keep some of the Jewish settlements it has built on occupied lands.

The issue of Jewish settlements has been at the heart of the current 4 1/2-year impasse in peace talks. The Palestinians have refused to negotiate, saying that continued Israeli construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is a sign of bad faith. The Palestinians claim both areas and the Gaza Strip, all captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for their future state.

Most Israelis, including Netanyahu, think that the continued control over millions of Palestinians would spell demographic suicide for Israel, and that creation of an independent Palestinian state is essential to preserving Israel's identity as a democracy with a Jewish majority.

"I believe in the two-state solution,In comparison with other high heels,christian louboutin sandals,louboutin shoes,christian louboutin men,cheap christian louboutin will bring unique feeling to you." Lapid told Yediot.Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. "In my opinion, there is nothing more dangerous than the idea of a bi-national state."

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Lapid favors a broad pullout from the West Bank, including the dismantling of many settlements, but believes Israel should hold on to major "blocs" along the Israeli frontier where the majority of settlers live.

Lapid also believes that Israel should keep control of east Jerusalem, home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital.

Nimr Hamad, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, gave Lapid's proposal a cool reception.

"We have heard this idea before and rejected it simply because we know the intention of Israel is to continue building on Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank," he said. "The most important thing for us" is to agree on the final borders between Israel and a future Palestine, he added.

The issues of Jerusalem and final borders are just some of the explosive core issues that must be resolved. The Palestinians demand the "right of return" of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, whose families lost property in what is now Israel. Israel rejects this out of hand, saying a mass influx would spell the end of the country.

Lapid said the disputes over Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees would "torpedo any Israeli-Palestinian dialogue" and it is preferable to set them aside and pursue an interim arrangement.

Further clouding the picture is the status of Gaza. Israel withdrew from the area in 2005, but two years later, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which opposes peace with Israel, seized control from Abbas' forces. The internal Palestinian division, with Hamas in Gaza and Abbas governing in the West Bank, is a major obstacle to implementing any peace deal.

Lapid burst onto the Israeli political scene in January's parliamentary election, turning his new Yesh Atid party into the second-largest faction in parliament. While focused largely on domestic and economic matters, he criticized Netanyahu's hard line toward the Palestinians and said he would not sit in a government that is not serious about pursuing peace.

In the Israeli coalition system,Discover the largest collection of gucci handbags for women. Lapid is both a key ally and potent rival of Netanyahu, capable of robbing the prime minister of his parliamentary majority at any time.

Netanyahu has never clearly spelled out his vision for Israel's final borders, but appears to be far more reluctant than Lapid to pull out from large parts of the West Bank.

Lapid told Yediot that he believes that Netanyahu, concerned about his political legacy, is serious about pursuing a peace agreement. He also believes there is enough support in the government, despite the presence of many pro-settler hard-liners, to approve a withdrawal from much of the West Bank.

Netanyahu's office declined comment.

Lapid also tossed criticism at the Palestinians, saying Abbas "is still not psychologically ready for an agreement with Israel, either partial or full." He accused the Palestinian leader of focusing too heavily on Palestinian victimhood, which he called "the main obstacle to reconciliation."

Kerry has been shuttling between the Israelis and Palestinians in recent months in search of a formula for restarting negotiations.

For now, he is focused on setting up a framework for a final peace deal. Recently, he won support from Arab leaders for a comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines. To entice Israel, the Arab leaders said the final borders could be modified as part of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

6 Women Scientists Who Were Snubbed Due to Sexism

Several people posted comments about our story that noted one name was missing from the Nobel roster: Rosalind Franklin, a British biophysicist who also studied DNA. Her data were critical to Crick and Watson's work,Discover the largest collection of gucci handbags for women. but as several commenters noted, Franklin was robbed of recognition. (See her section below for details.)

She was not the first woman to have endured indignities in the male-dominated world of science,Buy Michael Kors Bags with big discount and free shipping! but Franklin's case is especially egregious, said Ruth Lewin Sime, a retired chemistry professor at Sacramento City College who has written on women in science.

Over the centuries, female researchers have had to work as "volunteer" faculty members, seen credit for significant discoveries they've made assigned to male colleagues, and been written out of textbooks.

They typically had paltry resources and fought uphill battles to achieve what they did, only "to have the credit attributed to their husbands or male colleagues," said Anne Lincoln, a sociologist at Southern Methodist University in Texas, who studies biases against women in the sciences.

Today's women scientists believe that attitudes have changed, said Laura Hoopes at Pomona College in California, who has written extensively on women in the sciences—"until it hits them in the face." Bias against female scientists is less overt, but it has not gone away.

Here are six female researchers who did groundbreaking work—and whose names are likely unfamiliar for one reason: because they are women.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1943, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsars in 1967 while still a graduate student in radio astronomy at Cambridge University in England.

Pulsars are the remnants of massive stars that went supernova. Their very existence demonstrates that these giants didn't blow themselves into oblivion—instead, they left behind small, incredibly dense, rotating stars.

Bell Burnell discovered the recurring signals given off by their rotation while analyzing data printed out on three miles of paper from a radio telescope she helped assemble.

The finding resulted in a Nobel Prize, but the 1974 award in physics went to Anthony Hewish—Bell Burnell's supervisor—and Martin Ryle, also a radio astronomer at Cambridge University.

The snub generated a "wave of sympathy" for Bell Burnell. But in an interview with National Geographic News this month, the astronomer was fairly matter-of-fact.

"The picture people had at the time of the way that science was done was that there was a senior man—and it was always a man—who had under him a whole load of minions, junior staff, who weren't expected to think, who were only expected to do as he said," explained Bell Burnell,Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. now a visiting astronomy professor at the University of Oxford.

But despite the sympathy, and her groundbreaking work, Bell Burnell said she was still subject to the prevailing attitudes toward women in academia.The Michael Kors Hamilton Handbags blends fashion and function, providing a great stylish way to carry around your MacBook Pro.

"I didn't always have research jobs," she said. Many of the positions the astrophysicist was offered in her career were focused on teaching or administrative and management duties.

"[And] it was extremely hard combining family and career," Bell Burnell said, partly because the university where she worked while pregnant had no provisions for maternity leave.

She has since become quite "protective" of women in academia. Some individual schools may give them support, but Bell Burnell wants a systemic approach to boost the numbers of female researchers.

She recently chaired a working group for the Royal Society of Edinburgh, tasked with finding a strategy to boost the number of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math in Scotland.Choosing a killer ensemble and Michael Kors Tote Bags each day should never be a cause of stress. (Learn more about Bell Burnell.)

Woman robbed by motorbike pair in Queens Road in Buckhurst Hill

A woman had her mobile phone and Rolex watch stolen when two men on a motorbike threatened her with a knife and a handgun in the street.

The 38-year-old was walking along Queens Road in Buckhurst Hill when the duo pulled up alongside her.

They then pulled out the weapons and grabbed the items and her keys.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Buy Michael Kors, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!

The woman suffered a broken finger when the pair snatched her watch.

The duo then sped off.

It happened at around 11pm on Thursday, but Essex Police has only released information about the attack today.

Investigating Officer, DC Nina Fletcher, said in a statement: "We’re looking to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the actual robbery, heard the woman screaming or saw a motorcycle being ridden at high speed, the wrong way up Queens Road between 11pm and midnight on Thursday night.”

A police spokesman added: "The rider and his passenger are both described as white and were wearing helmets and dark clothing, with one being taller than the other.

The Colorado River’s winter whisper in the Kawuneeche Valley was becoming a quiet spring roar last week as the stream hinted at the beginnings of the snowmelt’s pell-mell tumble off the mountains.

But not a drop of that snowmelt cascading into the Colorado River will reach the Pacific Ocean. The last time the Colorado River reached its delta at the Sea of Cortez was in 1998.

The Colorado River — the carver of the Grand Canyon and the chaotic stage for river runners in Glenwood, Westwater, Cataract and numerous other canyons — is bridled by urban growth from its headwaters at La Poudre Pass at the Larimer-Grand county border all the way to its dry delta in Mexico.

More than 35 million people rely on the Colorado River for drinking water and lawn care. More than 5.5 million acres of farmland depend on the river for irrigation. In Fort Collins, the Colorado River fills bathtubs, Horsetooth Reservoir, and bottles of Fat Tire and 90 Shilling.

As an avid fly-fisherman and Roaring Fork Valley river activist,Welcome to Michael Kors Handbags Outlet online now. Ken Neubecker knows the Colorado River well. In April, the group he works for, American Rivers, named the Colorado the group’s most endangered river of 2013.

“It’s been one of the most endangered rivers for a long time,” he said last week while watching trout jump in the muddy Colorado River as it raced, swollen with silty spring runoff, through Glenwood Springs. “It’s good to see that the entire river is getting attention now because the entire river is pretty much worked to death. It has been plumbed from top to bottom.”

All the people who rely on the river every day are projected to double to up to 76 million in the next 50 years. New industries, such as thirsty oil shale development in northwest Colorado,Discover the largest collection of gucci handbags for women. are expected to use more water from the river. Climate change is expected to make the flows in the river less and less regular and less and less certain.

“We’re putting very intensive demands on very limited resources, somehow hoping that we won’t push the river to its breaking point,” said Dave Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited.Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store.

The challenge for the river’s caretakers is daunting, he said: “It’s really trying to keep it as a viable living river in the face of diversions.”

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced in December that it expects flows in the Colorado River to decrease at the northern end of the Grand Canyon by about 9 percent in the next 50 years because of regular periods of drought in the river’s headwaters. That is expected to create a large gap between how much Colorado River water is needed for cities, farmers and wildlife, and how much water the river can actually provide.

When the future of the Colorado River is uncertain, the future of Northern Colorado is uncertain, too.

“If you’re here in Fort Collins, half of the water that comes out of your tap is Colorado River water,” said Reagan Waskom, director of the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State University. “We are part of the reason that the upper part of the river gets de-watered. We have to take responsibility for that.The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products.”

Leaked report points to LVMH secret operation on Hermes

LVMH, the luxury goods company headed by Bernard Arnault, undertook a secret operation to build its controversial stake in Hermes, its smaller French rival, according to a leaked report from France’s stock market regulator.

The report, “vigorously contested” by LVMH, added an incendiary new twist to an acrimonious battle between the two companies.

The dispute erupted when LVMH announced in October 2010 that it held 17.1 per cent of family-controlled Hermes, which floated in 1993, in apparent breach of regulatory thresholds to declare stakes of 5, 10 and 15 per cent.

It triggered an inquiry by the regulator AMF and the filing of separate lawsuits by 176-year-old Hermes, famous for its scarves and bags, as it fought to fend off the unwelcome intrusion by LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Dom Pérignon champagne.

LVMH, which now owns 22.6 per cent of Hermes, has always maintained that its intentions were friendly and that it had not intended to acquire the stake,Discover the largest collection of gucci handbags for women. saying it opted to take shares instead of cash to avoid paying a big capital gains tax bill on Hermes equity swap derivatives that it held.

Mr Arnault, chairman and chief executive, told shareholders at LVMH’s annual meeting last month that the group had ended up with the stake “in an unexpected manner”.

But according to a report prepared for the AMF’s sanctions committee, leaked to Le Monde newspaper,Welcome to buy christian louboutin shoes from our online store. LVMH first considered acquiring shares from Hermes family members and on the open market. Instead, it mounted an operation from 2007 under which it used a series of subsidiaries and banks to acquire equity swaps in tranches adding up to 12.2 per cent of Hermes but which did not individually exceed 5 per cent and which were “undetectable by the public”. These were later converted into shares.

The report said the earlier acquisition by LVMH of a 4.9 per cent stake in Hermes in 2001-02 was completed via vehicles in Luxembourg, the US state of Delaware and Panama that were not detailed in the group’s consolidated accounts.

In a statement, LVMH, which has always maintained that it acted within the law in its use of equity swaps,Welcome to Michael Kors Handbags Outlet online now. said it intended “to vigorously contest the conclusions contained in this report” when the group appears before the AMF’s sanctions committee on May 31 to defend its actions. It insisted it would prove “the absence of any wrongdoing by LVMH towards the law and [AMF] rules”.

The AMF said in October last year that it had found evidence of “wrongdoing” and asked the sanctions committee to decide whether to impose penalties on LVMH. On Sunday, it said it had “no comment on a file which will shortly be examined by the sanctions committee”. Hermes also declined to comment.

Patrick Thomas, Hermes’ chief executive, said last month that the company had discovered “damning” evidence, leading it to take legal action against LVMH. It filed two suits last year that are independent of the AMF inquiry.

LVMH filed a countersuit alleging “slander, blackmail and unfair competition”.

The Hermes legal action suggests that it does not believe the AMF’s final decision will go far enough in forcing LVMH to give up or slash its shareholding.The Cheap Michael Kors Bags will provide you cheap but high-quality products.

The AMF has said that France’s rules on stakebuilding were “badly formulated”, and its recommendation to include equity swaps among instruments that count towards shares had been ignored when France tightened its disclosure rules in 2008.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Buy Michael Kors, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!

The LVMH stake has left a free float of less than 7 per cent in Hermes, since the Hermes family controls the company with a 72 per cent share and a corporate structure that makes it virtually impervious to take over – unless the family itself were to disunite.

Bring it to the party

The last time we saw so many blossoms in fashion, we thought wearing floral smocks was appropriate attire for adult women. This time around, thankfully, florals come in a sexier, more sophisticated fashion.

Think big and bold, vivid colours and form-fitting silhouettes. The prettiest way to wear florals is in a dress, but why not be daring and try a floral pantsuit? Too much for you? Then just add a floral accent like a blouse, shoes or a handbag.

"Floral denim is a great way to go," Zahra Mamdani, president of Wear Else says. "Pair it with a simple lightweight sweater for spring and swap out for a tank or tee in the warmer months. Botanical-print dresses are also an option, balanced with a simple nude shoe and clutch."

Red floral top, $85, pants, $85, earrings, $20, yellow cuff bracelet, $22, bangle bracelets (set of 12), $18, orange square bangle, $20, all available at Laura stores, www.laura.ca.

HOT HUES

As Plum Clothing's Kate O'Brien says, "It always takes some good weather to get people in colour again." So put away the dark, sombre hues and deck yourself in sun-drenched ones instead.

Think refreshing citrus or tropical colours like lemon, lime,Find a great selection of christian louboutin shoes deals ! tangerine, mango, pineapple, coral and hibiscus blossom. Or look to the myriad aspects of the sea, from celadon to indigo, turquoise, aquamarine and every imaginable shade of blue and green in between.

Wear your bright pastels on their own, pair them with neutrals,Welcome to Michael Kors Handbags Outlet online now. or mix and match. This is definitely the season to brighten up.

It's been a few years since the maxi-dress came back into style, and this is an easy, breezy summer trend that shows no sign of going away. It's a look that's almost effortless - and can hide a few sins if you're feeling lazy, too.

"The floor length is really great for women who want to bare their legs," Plum Clothing's Kate O'Brien says. "It's just so nice and breezy to have a long dress with a pair of strappy sandals or even a flat sandal."

If you really, really like to show off your gams, though, the mini is just as hot a trend as the maxi. This one requires a bit more maintenance, though - be sure to groom and moisturize your legs before showing them off to the world.

Love prints, but florals are too girlie for you? Not to worry, because there is a whole world of graphic fashion out there.

Tribal prints, whether they hail from Africa or the South Pacific, are having a moment, either in simple two-tone patterns or multiple hues. Paisley, too, is back, but forget the ditsy little amoebas of the 1980s, today's paisley patterns are big, bold and dramatic. Geometric shapes are also huge this season, be they stripes, lozenges, swirls or other repetitive shapes.

"There are all kinds of different graphics," says Plum Clothing's Kate O'Brien. "And I love the fact that the prints can be played up with almost any colour in shoes and handbags."

"It's all about the summer pant," says Zahra Mamdani,We have high quality replica breitling watches, you can not miss the best Tag Heuer Replica Watches online. president of Wear Else.

"White pants or a pair of white jeans are a must, as are a pair of printed denim." Sleek, skinny and cropped trousers are an absolute must-have this summer.

Try them in bright colours and bold floral or graphic patterns. Pair them with a simple tank, flowing blouse and pretty cardigan or jacket. Or be bold and pair a vibrantly patterned pant with a matching jacket.

Dress them up or dress them down, this season's stylish trousers are a staple that will carry you everywhere this summer.

This is a fantastic season for accessories, especially for bags and shoes. They're a great way to add a pop of colour to a neutral outfit or to highlight one hue in a multicoloured array.Looking for cheap rolex watches? If so, why not come to this store! But if you're likely to be outdoors, make sure your accessories are practical, too, especially when it comes to footwear.

"When I'm going to a garden party I wear wedges because you don't know if you're going to be on grass or a patio. And there are gorgeous wedges out," says Vancouver designer Nicole Bridger.

If not a wedge, then a low-heeled slingback, pretty ballerina flat or chunky sandal is a must. So is a brightly coloured handbag, a shawl for cool evenings and statement jewelry, including bracelets, earrings and especially necklaces.

"You have to play up the big,Discover the largest collection of prada bags for women. bold jewelry," O'Brien says. "If you put a little money into your accessories, you can change it up completely."

Summer celebrations call for special beauty routines. Make sure to moisturize arms and legs, and apply plenty of sunscreen. A hat and sunglasses are both sun-safe and stylish. Invest in a pedicure and have fun with the season's bright, poppy nail shades.

Keep makeup light and to a minimum, and use products that can withstand heat, so your face doesn't melt into a puddle of foundation and mascara. There are also plenty of hair-care products to fight frizz and humidity, and others that offer extra hold for summer's pretty updos.

Travelling Overseas??

The British Virgin Islands. Prague. Paris. London. Ireland. Spain. So many fabulous places to go…. So little time! I want to see and learn as much as I can. But I’ve learned some valuable lessons on our travels, and want to offer you some thoughts to consider before you take your trip out of this country.

Call your bank and credit card companies: Let them know what your travel itinerary is – where you going and which dates you’ll be there. I learned this one the hard way. Larry and I travelled to the Bahamas and I didn’t have the first problem – until I returned to St. Louis! I was trying to purchase a birthday gift when I returned, and my card was declined. I stepped aside and immediately called my bank, and found out that my activity was deemed “suspicious” because of my recent purchases overseas.Find a great selection of christian louboutin shoes deals ! Needless to say, I told them to lift the restriction on my card and that I would inform them of future travel plans. I’ve never since had a problem.

Find out what the currency exchange is for the country you are visiting – and consider getting Traveler’s Cheques before you go: Theft happens; getting Traveler’s Cheques before you go can give you great peace of mind! You can get these at your bank or any bank institution or credit union. American Express, AAA and MasterCard now offer a pre-paid card,We have high quality replica breitling watches, you can not miss the best Tag Heuer Replica Watches online. which is accepted anywhere Visa or MasterCard are accepted. They offer a “zero liability” card which allows you to get your money back if your card is lost or stolen. You can usually get this back within 24 hours – but be sure to keep the verification number they give you separate from your card.Looking for cheap rolex watches? If so, why not come to this store!

Consider Travel Insurance: Check your medical insurance to find out if overseas medical coverage is provided. If not, consider getting supplemental travel insurance. When my husband and I took an independent sailing trip around the British Virgin Islands two years ago, I purchased travel insurance.why christian louboutin sandals so popular in uk? I realized that if a serious injury occurred while we were on board our Catamaran, we would likely need to be airlifted to a local hospital. Our travel insurance covered airlift and hospital costs until we could get back to the United States. It wasn’t expensive, and thankfully, we didn’t need it; but it gave me great peace of mind to know it was there for us if necessary. If you don’t know where to get travel insurance, call or email me and I will help you.

When it comes to safety, don’t be cheap: It’s true – you get what you pay for. Hostels can be “adventurous” (I guess; but then, I think camping is staying at a hotel without room service…), but you should always thoroughly check reviews. My recommendation? Don’t take risks when it comes to money or your personal safety. A more expensive, American hotel is usually a better alternative. Be sure you also check online for reviews regarding the area in which you are staying. No one wants to be mugged in the street en route to even the safest hotel.

Don’t assume everyone is your friend: Always expect that people are “casing” you. Even the most modest of us appear very rich in other countries. I had a good friend whose husband bought her a gorgeous Prada purse overseas – and it was stolen right off her chair as they sat enjoying lunch. Her brave husband got it back, but it was a hard lesson learned; never let your guard down. Watch your phones, iPods and cameras. Also – don’t leave your luggage unattended and never accept a package from a stranger. Leave the fabulous jewelry – rings, watches, etc. – at home. I leave my wedding ring with our jeweler and wear a very simple band. None of it is worth losing life or limb.

Stop posting your every vacation move on FB, already! Exercise restraint and post those fabulous vacay pictures when you get home. I know, it’s so fun to share those pictures and good times with your friends. But if you don’t have exceptional Facebook security, you should assume that your posts are reaching friends of friends of friends – people you may not know, who now know you – and may know how to find where you live. So wait until you’re safely home to share those great memories.

Leave copies of your itinerary and passport: Be sure your family and/ or friends you trust have your itinerary and passport information. I have several friends who endured hardship when their passport was stolen.Welcome to Michael Kors Handbags Outlet online now. You’ll be so glad to have someone you can reach for this information if you ever need it.

Be sure you have an Advance Directive (aka Living Will): Travelling with a significant other? Be sure you have an Advance Directive. Even if you don’t have a significant other, this is an important way to ensure your wishes are carried out regarding your medical care if you are unable to understand or communicate your wishes.

Royal HaskoningDHV Bags Tanjung Priok Expansion Deal (Indonesia)

The contract is part of the North Kalibaru Terminal Development and the first phase includes the development of a new 4.5 million TEUs container terminal allowing the economic development of Indonesia to continue.

Construction of one of the world’s largest port developments has begun in Indonesia. When it completes in 2023, Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok port, which currently handles the lion’s share of Indonesia’s exports and imports, will more than triple its annual capacity to 18 million TUEs of container traffic.

The creation of North Kalibaru Port, a new terminal within the port complex,We have high quality replica breitling watches, you can not miss the best Tag Heuer Replica Watches online. will play an essential role in the development of Indonesia, strengthening the national logistics chain, increasing global competitiveness and functioning as an international hub for seaborne trade. One of Indonesia’s most prestigious public projects, the North Kalibaru Port extension was opened by Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 23 March 2013.

State owned port operator IPC (Indonesian Port Corporation) assigned Royal HaskoningDHV as lead consultant for the supervision of the construction of Stage 1 of the port extension with local sub-consultant PT Atrya Swascipta Rekayasa. The first new container terminal is scheduled to be operational in 2014; Stage 1 will be completed in 2018.

Port development

Royal HaskoningDHV will supervise construction works including land reclamation,Find a great selection of christian louboutin shoes deals ! revetments, an access bridge, a container yard and quay structures. Herman Pals, Project Director said: “This is one of the biggest port developments at this time. It is a strategic project in terms of infrastructure development in Indonesia, so for both the port and terminal operators the stakes are high. The schedule is tight and the quality requirements are high again. At the peak of the construction period, we will mobilise a team of over 50 staff to provide the multidisciplinary expertise required to deliver the complete supervision works and to resolve any issues arising from the construction works.”

Soft soil construction

“We have some interesting challenges, as the port is being constructed on very soft soils. Standard reclamation by landfill is not possible for the first terminal, because of large ground settlements and the time required allowing the ground to settle.In our Michael Kors handbags shop, cheap Michael Kors outlet hot sale at an affordable price. This means that the first terminal, including the complete container yard, will consist of a concrete deck on foundation piles, which is rather unusual,” Herman Pals continued.

With sustainability a crucial factor in today’s world, a large part of the reclamation and landfill work for the other, future terminals will be carried out re-using material dredged from the port and from deepening the access channel. Seawater and nearby intakes will be protected from contamination with silts from the dredging,Looking for cheap rolex watches? If so, why not come to this store! achieved by applying so called silt curtains.

Royal HaskoningDHV won the project after delivering the most competitive financial proposal with the best proposed methodology and team composition.

Other Jakarta Bay projects by Royal HaskoningDHV

Besides the extension of Jakarta’s main port Tanjung Priok in Jakarta Bay,Find a great selection of christian louboutin shoes deals ! Royal HaskoningDHV is involved in several other large and ambitious port related and coastal projects in Jakarta Bay:

For the development of another new port, east of Tanjung Priok, Royal HaskoningDHV is providing the design and project management.

For the Pluit City Land Development Project Royal HaskoningDHV is designing two climate change proof islands (160ha and 195 ha) with world class commercial and residential areas.

For the new residential Golf Island (300 ha) Royal HaskoningDHV is supervising the land reclamation offshore Pantai Indah Kapuk, which is the first privately owned island appearing above the water level in Jakarta Bay.

For the Jakarta Coastal Sea Defence Project, Royal HaskoningDHV is developing the institutional and financial framework to allow the Indonesian Government to manage this ambitious project to protect Jakarta against the threat from flooding.

Edward Lam, 54, brought art to interior spaces

When the W Hotel opened in New York’s Union Square, its restaurant, Blue Fin, became one of the coolest in New York. It was 2001, and the metropolis’ young and powerful flocked to this grand space for sushi and cocktails – overseen by its grand feature, a two-storey wall washed with plaster waves that curved like the surf.

Soon, other designers were copying the idea, and even manufacturing wall panels that copied this three-dimensional sculptural design. But the original was a work of art: the work of Deborah Moss and Edward Lam,Find a great selection of christian louboutin shoes deals ! artists who brought a fine-art sensibility into the designs of some of the world’s most beautiful interiors.Looking for cheap rolex watches? If so, why not come to this store!

It helped launch a global career that spanned art, interiors and furniture design for Ms. Moss and her husband, Mr. Lam, who died of an undiagnosed brain aneurysm last month. The father of two girls, he was 54.

In a 2011 interview at Moss & Lam’s Toronto studio, surrounded by a riot of models, sketches and paintings, Mr. Lam spoke of his work at Blue Fin with quiet pride. “That wave wall has become our signature,” he said. “Somebody called to ask us how to do that treatment.Find a great selection of christian louboutin shoes deals ! And I said, ‘Well, you get some cement and some plaster, and the question is: How good is your hand?’ There are no secrets. That’s the secret.”

In another sense, Mr. Lam and Ms. Moss were themselves the secret: the hidden hands behind spectacular rooms and works around the world, from a Mexico City hotel to an exclusive department store in Seoul. They collaborated constantly with Yabu Pushelberg, the Toronto interior designers, as they rose to global prominence.

As the art and design worlds have drawn closer over the past 20 years, Moss & Lam has been a pioneer – combining digital fabrication, globe-spanning collaborations, crystal, rubber, rope – and always Mr. Lam’s sensitive hand.

Sensitive is a word that many of Mr. Lam’s friends and associates used to describe him, both in his work and his life. “You could never do what he did without the training and the sensibility of an artist,” said Judith Tatar, an art consultant who was his colleague and close friend,We have high quality replica breitling watches, you can not miss the best Tag Heuer Replica Watches online. but “it went far beyond what anyone could teach.”

“He knew intuitively what to bring to a client, which they never would have thought of. That was the beauty of working with Edward. He was selfless,” Ms. Tatar added.

Sometimes this meant taking the vaguest idea and translating it into an apt,In our Michael Kors handbags shop, cheap Michael Kors outlet hot sale at an affordable price. sculptural work. “When presented with a germ of an idea or a problem to solve creatively, they keep pushing until they find a fresh solution,” said Glenn Pushelberg, a close friend and collaborator for a quarter-century.

Sometimes, he said, this means a form or material, and often a conceptual leap, like that wave wall in New York, “which was all him,” Mr. Pushelberg recalls. “They transcend from being applied artists to fine artists. They’re creative people who aren’t easily categorized.”

Mr. Lam grew up in Kingston, Ont., in a large family – he was the middle child of seven. His creative journey began in earnest at Toronto’s Ontario College of Art at the end of the 1970s, at the height of conceptual art.

Christian Morrison, a fellow student, became a good friend and roommate in a loft in Toronto’s quiet, post-industrial downtown. “It was an ad hoc exhibition space as well as workspace for the three of us: art students who wanted to work rather than eat or sleep,” Mr. Morrison recalls. “Edward was our leader. Disciplined as he was, he led our tiny band’s scheduled use of video equipment signed out of OCA, and healthy eating: His mom’s rice cooker was a kitchen institution. … He wasn’t the overseer in any way. We merely intuited what was the right thing to do from him. His moral compass never wavered.”

He met Ms. Moss, another OCA student, and the two began a relationship that would stretch into marriage, parenthood and constant collaboration. The birth of their two daughters only deepened his basic character, his friends say – warm, witty, a bit mischievous, and earnest. “In all the time I knew him, he was never one to talk about this incredible career he’d had,” Ms. Tatar recalls. “Mostly he would talk about his kids, and about funny stories that happened along the way.”

Mr. Moss and Ms. Lam set up shop formally in 1989, as a pair of 20-something artists painting fashionable faux finishes and frescoes. But that was only the start. As George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg pushed the bounds of Canadian taste and of interior design, inspired by the ideas and forms of contemporary fine art, Moss & Lam worked along with them. “We evolved together,” says Mr. Pushelberg. “They have been constantly evolving and trying new processes and ideas.”

Over 25 years, they worked with others among the world’s most prominent designers, including Peter Marino and Tony Chi. The work spanned a wild variety of materials and effects: fish made from bamboo and porcelain, silk branches sewn onto an oak background, coral reefs sculpted of plaster, walls made with gold leaf and with burlap.

Some were destined for the heights of wealth and consumption, like a Louis Vuitton shop in Milan. But each began in their studio, a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood (where they moved long before it began to gentrify). Working with a staff of eight artists, they would paint, sculpt and assemble works by hand, then break them down to be shipped, reassembled and finished on site, in Miami or Hong Kong. Mr. Lam was a master of all manner of details, Ms. Tatar says, from the engineering of large sculptures to the logistics of clearing customs in China.

Marvelling at the temples of Myanmar

On the road in front of us, a line of people are walking behind a hot pink coffin decorated with gold trimmings as part of a Buddhist funeral procession.

Before we have time to digest the sight, a procession for a monk initiation ceremony passes in the other direction.

The lead jeep is decorated in tinsel, with a tray of bananas and a small Buddhist statue on the hood.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Michael Kors Bags, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!

Young girls and boys dressed like princes and princesses in elaborate costumes with bejewelled crowns sit on plastic chairs in the back of the utes, surrounded by family members.

As we step aboard the side cars of the waiting tri-shaws and ride through the small town of Magwe, children with big smiles and their parents and grandparents stand alongside the road outside houses and shops waving and calling "mingalaba", which means hello.Shop our selection of designer shoes, including Manolo Blahnik, christian louboutin shoes.

In a country such as Myanmar, which was closed off to the world for many years, foreigners are still a novelty in many places.Shop the latest from Michael Kors Handbags. Totally free shipping and returns. Some children hold their hands over their mouths and giggle at the sight of us.

We suddenly realise we are part of our own "tourist procession" and I feel like the Queen waving back.

When we arrive at Myat-thalon temple, built of solid gold bricks, San asks us each our birth date and works out what day of the week we were born using a special calendar to find our animal sign in the Burmese zodiac.

I discover I was born on a Monday, meaning I am a tiger, so in the temple I pour water over a Buddha statue above a tiger.

It is a surprisingly pleasant and calming experience.

The monk initiation lasts for two days. We spot the young novices again in the temple, with the celebration continuing in a marquee near our boat afterwards.

After dinner on board we stroll up to watch. Locals sit cross-legged on bamboo mats while two comedians and a band entertain.

Other than one comedian repeatedly hitting the other over the head with a cymbal we don't understand what is happening, but it is great to hear the intermittent raucous laughter from the crowd.Shop the latest from Michael Kors Handbags. Totally free shipping and returns.

Suddenly the lights go out - a common occurrence in Myanmar - and we Westerners become the entertainment while a new generator is sourced.

After a while we head back and find we are being escorted by three military police, there to protect us.

The new generator arrives after we leave and music continues until the early hours of the morning. At the break of dawn the next day we hear a gong, signifying the day's celebrations are to begin.

We wander back up after breakfast and find several young boys crouched outside the marquee having their heads shaved by their mums and aunties, flowers in their hair, with disposable razors.Welcome to replica louis vuitton outlet online store and buy latest Cheap Louis Vuitton handbags. Siblings tip water from silver buckets over the boys' heads.

The women's faces are painted with a yellow-ish cosmetic paste known as thanaka, which is the ground-up root of a tree and is used to lighten their skin, protect them from the sun and as perfume.

One boy sits, eyes closed, as locks of black hair fall on to his knees and the ground.

It's a rare moment in travel when I am moved to tears, but I find myself welling up to be witnessing such a momentous moment in a young Burmese boy's life.

The wide, shallow Irrawaddy River starts in the Himalayas and flows south for more than 2000km to the Indian Ocean.

We travel north along what Rudyard Kipling dubbed the "road to Mandalay" aboard the 60-passenger teak riverboat, the Orient Pandaw, a replica of one of the flotilla of steamers that plied the river in the 1920s and '30s, before being sunk in World War II to stop the Japanese getting their hands on them.

The river is the lifeblood for millions of Burmese and travelling by boat is a great way to witness traditional life and visit small villages which see few foreigners.

We sit in cane chairs on the deck and watch the sun set behind gold, pink and white Buddhist temples, known as pagodas.

We watch as men bring ox-drawn carts down to river to wash the animals while families bathe together in river at sunset.

It is the height of the dry season and the temperature is over 40C, and I am tempted to jump in with them.

We have another fortunate encounter on the way to the small town of Thaket-Myo, which is not even in our Lonely Planet guide book.

As we ride down the dusty street on a horse-drawn cart, we come across a Nat (spirit) ritual taking place in a tent by the roadside.

We are warmly welcomed inside and offered chairs and shade.

Ladyboys who are spirit mediums dressed like palace courtiers with gold crowns dance in a circle while wide-eyed children sit cross-legged in the front row. Money is pinned to the mediums and they sniff trays of fruit being used as offerings.

Afterwards we explore the markets where people selling dried fish, chillies, eggs, fish paste and coconuts smile and greet us as we pass.

China is a learning lab for Lincoln

For Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln luxury brand, what happens in China won't necessarily stay in China.

The brand is studying the habits of luxury shoppers here at Shanghai's luxury malls for new ideas in customer service that eventually could find their way back to U.S. Lincoln dealerships.

"In many ways, China will be a listening post for Lincoln in the United States," Jim Farley,Shop the latest from Michael Kors Handbags. Totally free shipping and returns. global head of Lincoln and the automaker's top marketing executive, said in an interview at the Shanghai auto show. "Soon China will be the largest luxury market in the world."

Farley met the first group of Chinese Lincoln dealers over dinner before the auto show. Farley compares the Lincoln experience in China to what he went through when Toyota developed the Lexus and Scion brands from scratch.

"It felt like 1988 to me with Lexus," said Farley, who was a young product planner with Toyota Motor Corp. when Toyota launched its luxury brand.

Lincoln's first dealerships in China will open in 2014.Welcome to replica louis vuitton outlet online store and buy latest Cheap Louis Vuitton handbags. "Because we're building the Chinese Lincoln business from the ground up, we can take more chances here because the dealer network is brand new," Farley said. "We can give them large trading areas. They will have large throughputs and they can make upfront investments and differentiate the service."

Farley declined to say how many dealers Lincoln will have initially in China except to say it was a "small group.Shop the latest from Michael Kors Handbags. Totally free shipping and returns." Lincoln has not announced volume targets.

Ford already is busy trying to reinvent Lincoln for a new generation of U.S. luxury customers. Lincoln has been trying to improve the shopping experience at U.S. dealerships. Lincoln has contracted with Le Clefs d'Or, an organization of hotel concierges, to develop an academy to train dealers to provide the kind of luxury service consumers would experience at boutique hotels.

In the United States, Lincoln has a history -- both good and bad -- going back to 1922, with years of experience working with American consumers.Welcome to our michael kors outlet online shop! Here we sale Michael Kors Bags, bags, purses, wallets with very low price. Join us quickly!

Not so in China. Brett Wheatley, Ford's vice president of marketing for Asia-Pacific, said Lincoln representatives have been visiting luxury auto dealerships of other brands and also are studying shopping patterns at nonautomotive shops.

Wheatley spent portions of several days with two female shoppers, observing their spending and browsing behavior at central Shanghai's swanky IFC Mall.

"These women started at the Salvatore Ferragamo store with a $1,900 handbag purchase. They then tried on sunglasses at Prada, bought a watch at Van Cleef & Arpels, and finished with some small jewelry purchases which I assumed were gifts," he wrote in an e-mail. Each of those brands, along with numerous others such as Louis Vuitton and Hermes, has a store in the mall.

"It was fascinating to watch the luxury shopping experiences firsthand," Wheatley wrote. "Some of the retailers did an excellent job with attention to detail on branding from the moment you approach the entrance to the store, to the attire of the staff, and the way the product is displayed. In China, food and beverage service play an important role in the shopping experience."

Many U.S. Lincoln dealers have set up coffee bars, a U.S. version of the tearooms that Lincoln has looked at in China.

For many shoppers, the preferred pace of the sales process was much different than in the United States, Wheatley said. "Many customers savor the experience of shopping for luxury products and genuinely seem to enjoy the interaction with the sales professionals," many of whom wear branded apparel, he said.

Lincoln hopes to cultivate one-on-one relationships with customers in the United States, too.Shop our selection of designer shoes, including Manolo Blahnik, christian louboutin shoes. Ford has not said what practices it learns in China might migrate to the United States.

Hamilton Gayden, managing director of Urban Science Applications, an automotive retailing consulting firm with offices in China, said Lincoln will face challenges getting established in China, where many luxury brands already are jostling for customers. "They have some work to do with Lincoln. Other premium marques that have come late to China have struggled, but you've got to start sometime. You can't afford mistakes in finding the right dealer partners or the right dealership locations," he said.

"Ford has a great opportunity to grab and hold investors' attention by bringing to the table global tools and experience that help Lincoln dealers find profit opportunities."

Coach Approached Tory Burch About a Deal

The handbag and accessory maker's style has been to expand organically. But amid increasing competition,Our Michael Kors handbags outlet supply cheap designer and new Michael Kors handbags outlet for you. Coach is weighing the purchase of an accessories brand, according to people familiar with the company's thinking. The goal would be to jump-start growth and leverage its supply-chain expertise, said one of the people.

Coach became serious about doing a deal last year, approaching luxury handbag and clothing maker Tory Burch LLC, some of the people said. Coach spoke to Tory about paying in the $2 billion to $3 billion range, which was close to valuations based on investments from General Atlantic LLC and BDT Capital Partners LLC, said one of the people. But closely held Tory didn't bite, the people said.

Still, Coach continues to be on the lookout, people familiar with its thinking said.

New York-based Coach, founded in 1941, once dominated the U.Shop our selection of designer shoes, including Manolo Blahnik, christian louboutin shoes.S. handbag market and has been a go-to brand for women in the aspirational luxury segment. But it has lost some of its luster as its target audience defected to flashier labels from outfits such as Michael Kors Holdings Ltd., Kate Spade, owned by Fifth & Pacific Cos., and Tory Burch. Increasing competition from these and other brands in recent quarters has cut into Coach's growth, especially in North America compared with competitors.

Coach, with a market capitalization of about $16.7 billion, has seen its stock decline 13% over the past year, while shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. with a market value of $12.3 billion, have risen about 51% in that period.

Coach has benefited from success overseas as growing consumer economies such China clamor for Western luxury brands. For the quarter ended March 30, Coach reported sales of $1.2 billion, up 7.1% over the year-earlier period. North American sales rose 7% during the period to $792 million,Buy Cheap Michael Kors Bags with big discount and free shipping! while sales in China grew by 40%. Meanwhile, Michael Kors posted a 70% increase in sales during its fiscal third quarter, with sales in North America growing 67%.

Coach has a strong balance sheet, with $928 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 30. In April, it said it is considering strategic alternatives for its Reed Krakoff brand, including a sale.

The company's last acquisition was two decades ago, when it acquired Mark Cross, a small leather-goods company. The brand faltered, and the company closed it in 1998.

The Simon Property Group has announced the addition of three more stores to the Quaker Bridge Mall. The Art of Shaving, White House Black Market and Soma Intimates will open this summer.

Soma Intimates sells women’s lingerie, loungewear and beauty products. White House Black Market sells women’s clothing. The Art of Shaving specializes in high-end shaving supplies and grooming products.Take a look at these imitation wrist watches for sale online, which are one of the best cheap replica watches in USA.

Teen retailer Aeropostale is also slated to re-open its Quaker Bridge location with a new prototype store on the upper level between Lord & Taylor and Macy’s this month. The new store design will feature iPods in fitting rooms so shoppers can personalize the music while trying on items. Apple desktops and iPads will be available throughout the store for customers to scan products, read reviews and utilize the retailer’s build-your-own-outfit guide. There will also be a jukebox for customers to vote on the music that plays in the store.

The Quaker Bridge Mall renovation project began in the spring of 2012. By the end of this year, the mall will have welcomed more than 50 new retail and dining options including The Cheesecake Factory, bebe, Bachrach, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Michael Kors, and Sur La Table.

“The Quaker Bridge Mall is dedicated to providing an exceptional shopping experience,” Mall Manager Lynda Benedetto said. “With more than 50 new tenants and a renovated interior and exterior, we feel we can truly launch Quaker Bridge to the next level and become the premier shopping destination in our area.”

Many residents hope that Apple is opening a store at the mall. Apple recently advertised for positions in the Princeton area. There has been speculation that an Apple store will opened near Lord & Taylor,Welcome to Buy Michael Kors Outlet online now. but mall management has not confirmed those rumors.

Frames Announces the Details

Frames Bowling Lounge has recently been attracting corporate leagues from industries ranging from Oprah and Cosmopolitan Magazine to retailers like Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren. The reason these companies love hosting bowling events after work? The ease of built-in entertainment, gourmet service and opportunities for co-workers to bond.

The Bowling Lounge in Midtown has become the perfect after work attraction for companies seeking to host networking events in a relaxed atmosphere where coworkers can connect with each other after 5pm. They provide a unique blend of interactive entertainment, on-staff event planners and flawless laneside service.

This summer, Frames announces the details of its Summer Corporate Challenge. Companies can invite as many employees as they'd like to compete weekly, or have rotating teams from different offices compete on behalf of the company. Each team can play at a rate of $149 per night, for an 8 week commitment from July 9th though September 10th. Best scoring teams will enjoy free Playoff games sponsored by Frames in September, with the winning team scoring a $3,000 Open Bar Company Holiday Party fully paid for by Frames. Early sign-ups are encouraged, as only a limited number of lanes are available per company.

Frames Bowling Lounge is known for entertaining businesses all over the city,Shop our selection of designer shoes, including Manolo Blahnik, christian louboutin shoes. with avid fans in every industry. From Banking to Bridal, companies are signing up staff members for the Bowling Showdown this summer. Corporations realize that healthy competition is good for their employees!!

Angelique Deng's early memories are marred by sadness and uncertainty. However, things turned around for the beauty when her family immigrated to Australia under refugee status in 2005. She signed with Chic Management in Australia and caused attendees to look twice. After modeling for Australia Fashion Week in 2009,Buy Cheap Michael Kors Bags with big discount and free shipping! newspaper The Age gave her a profile, where she was catapulted fashion's spotlight. She adopted the moniker Ajak and signed with commercial talent management powerhouse IMG Models in New York City that same year.

Ajak Deng modeled on the runways of major fashion shows during New York Fashion Week's Spring 2010 Collections in September 2009. She debuted at the Michael Angel show, and strut on the catwalks of shows such as Arise Africa, Brian Reyes, Dennis Basso, and Sophie Theallet. Ajak Deng's show roster at Paris Fashion Week for the Fall 2010 Collections was decidedly high-profile - was a breakout star at the FW10 Paris shows. She booked Chloé, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Lanvin.

Ajak Deng caught the eye of casting directors of United Colors of Benetton and subsequently became one of the brand's faces for their Fall 2010 ad campaign. The same season,Take a look at these imitation wrist watches for sale online, which are one of the best cheap replica watches in USA. she starred in the ad campaign for British fashion magnate Topshop. The next couple of years would see Ajak Deng working for clients such as cKOne, Kenzo, Louis Vuitton, and (most recently) Kate Spade - proving her viability both commercially and in high-end fashion.

Ajak Deng has been on the cover of international fashion magazines like i-D Magazine, French Revue des Modes (twice), Modern Weekly China, and Flaunt Magazine (alongside famous singer Bruno Mars.) She has been featured in editorials for Love, Italian Vogue, and Vogue US.

While Ajak Deng was launching her prolific modeling career, she finished school to provide a good example for her siblings. Her younger siblings are her driving force; since 16 years old Deng has been financially responsible for them.Welcome to Buy Michael Kors Outlet online now. In interviews,Our Michael Kors handbags outlet supply cheap designer and new Michael Kors handbags outlet for you. when asked about why she wanted to model, she has said "to give my brothers and sisters everything they want."

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Pelican Bay to ask for share of sand in planned Collier beach project

NORTH NAPLES — Pelican Bay plans to push Collier County leaders to use tourist tax money to add sand to the North Naples community’s beaches as part of a larger renourishment project this year.

Questions about whether Pelican Bay’s beaches are accessible enough to qualify for public money have arisen as recently as this winter’s rush to dredge sand-choked Clam Pass on the neighborhood’s southern end.

Talk of tapping the tourist tax on short-term rentals and hotel stays for Pelican Bay’s beaches also could complicate an ongoing debate over how much sand the county can afford and where it should go.The Michael Kors Jet Set Tote blends fashion and function, providing a great stylish way to carry around your MacBook Pro.

Two Pelican Bay advisory boards met in a joint session Wednesday to hash out the beach funding strategy, a week before Collier County commissioners are set to discuss rebidding the job of beefing up central Naples, Park Shore and Vanderbilt beaches in the wake of a flare-up over trucking sand to the coast.

The boards debated the strategy for three hours before adopting a plan that puts Pelican Bay on the hook for any beach renourishment money that the county doesn’t put up.

One Pelican Bay Services Division taxing district board member opposed the plan, citing the private ownership of some of the beaches Pelican Bay wants to renourish.

“I think this is outside the jurisdiction of the Pelican Bay Services Division,” taxing district board member Susan O’Brien said.

The 2013 beach project so far hasn’t included Pelican Bay’s beaches,Find great deals on hotmkbags for Michael Kors purses in Women's Clothing, Handbags and Purses. but beach project managers have raised the possibility of adding sand to Pelican Bay beaches as long as that North Naples community pays for it.

Pelican Bay plans to ask for county money to renourish the beach from south of the Ritz-Carlton, Naples to the community’s private beach club, a stretch that includes beaches owned by Bay Colony, owners at The Strand, the Pelican Bay Foundation and Collier County government.

That’s the stretch where the county added sand to Pelican Bay’s beaches during a beach project in 2006 and agreed to put up about $700,000 in tourist tax dollars to help pay for the $1.7 million project.

The Pelican Bay Foundation, a master community association, agreed Wednesday to pay for sand along its stretch of beach in front of the beach club.

Even within Pelican Bay, how to divvy up the rest of the beach was a point of contention for much of Wednesday’s joint session.Find What She Wants at Michael Kors Tote Bags Free Shipping on orders over $100.

Representatives of beachfront condominiums urged the advisory boards not to stick condos with the tab of renourishing their privately owned beaches.

“There’s a public interest in this,” Bay Colony Community Association President Kim Rosenberg said. “The beach is a community asset.”

He said beach walkers, many of them from the Vanderbilt Beach public access point, stroll up and down the privately owned beaches all day.

Pelican Bay resident Ted Raia said residents who crowd onto the Pelican Bay Foundation’s beaches might not like the idea of using their taxing district money to pay to add sand to Bay Colony’s private beach.It's certainly no secret that I have a tendency to totally stay away from the replica handbags.Choosing a killer ensemble and Michael Kors Wallets each day should never be a cause of stress.

“I don’t think it’s prudent to pay out of our tax dollars for a private beach someplace,” Raia said.

Eagan: Where’s the fund for these victims?

You could call Tina Chery the surrogate mother to dozens of Boston mothers who’ve buried murdered children since her own son Louis, 15, was gunned down nearly 20 years ago.

Chery, whose Louis D. Brown Peace Institute helps murder victims’ families,Looking for replica breitling watches? If so, why not come to this store! does not expect those Boston mothers to get what will soon be given to mothers of the murdered and maimed from the Boston Marathon. But here’s what she would like: “A Homicide Victims’ Burial Fund.” Not to cover funeral costs or medical needs or even to help mothers move from the apartment above the sidewalk where their child bled to death.

No, her dreamed-of fund is practical and desperately needed. It would cover upfront costs required by cemeteries before they accept a body. Such costs begin at about $1,000, climb quickly, and amount to far more than most mothers in her neighborhood have or can borrow.Take a look at these imitation wrist watches for sale online, which are one of the best cheap replica watches in USA. So Chery watches mothers scramble, within hours of their child’s murder, to scrape together cash to bury their child. Some are still scrambling the morning of the funeral.

But Chery’s gotten nowhere with her fund. That’s because she insists it help both families of the innocent, like her son, and families of victims who are “gang involved.” Translation in many minds: They deserved what they got.

“But why punish families who didn’t do anything wrong?” she said. “We’re so hypocritical. We give (gang members) free lawyers. In prison we feed and clothe them. We invest in prevention programs, but when shooters wind up dead we tell families, ‘Too bad. Nobody cares about you.’”

As the One Fund Boston nears $30 million, it’s become impossible to miss the disparity between the treatment of those killed and injured by terrorists on Boylston Street and the treatment of those killed and injured by terrorists living among them in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. Three have been killed and more than 20 shot in those neighborhoods just since the bombings.

Two weeks ago I asked Kenneth Feinberg, the One Fund Boston’s administrator, how he reconciles such a disparity. He said he couldn’t, though no life should be valued more than another.

But obviously,We have high quality replica tag heuer watches, you can not miss the best Tag Heuer Replica Watches online. some lives are. If the life of my child were the one less valued, I don’t think I could bear it. I certainly could not speak with the calm and dignity of Tina Chery, who’s not even asking to make all this right. But she is asking for money to help poor mothers bury their murdered children. And she should get it.

Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at age 122, never let her age get in the way of doing whatever she wanted. She took up fencing at 85, rode her bike until she was 100, and didn't even quit smoking until she was 117, The New York Times reported. When she turned 121, she reportedly walked all over her hometown of Arles, France, to thank the people who had wished her well. But staying active and lighting up weren't the things she says kept her young; she gives credit to olive oil, which she poured on her food and used on her skin, drinking port wine, and eating about two pounds of chocolate every week.Find great deals on hotmkbags for Michael Kors purses in Women's Clothing, Handbags and Purses. "I've never had but one wrinkle," she used to tell her friends, "and I'm sitting on it."

Helen Reichert, 109,It's certainly no secret that I have a tendency to totally stay away from the replica handbags. chalks her advanced age up to stress — or, rather, on knowing how to bounce back from it. "You don't get to be 109 without life hurling a few curve balls at you, and Reichert has had more than her share. And after each, she dusts herself off and moves on," her doctor, Dr. Mark Lachs, told NPR in 2011. "A few years back, she had a modest stroke that affected her language abilities. I don't think I've seen a patient of any age tackle rehabilitation and speech therapy the way she did." She also knows how to indulge: She eats chocolate truffles, and her favorite beverage is Budweiser. "She once announced to me that she was thinking about smoking again," Lachs said. "When I protested, she reminded me that she has outlived several other physicians and told me to mind my own business."

Paramus organization to send goody bags to Boston

Operation Goody Bag (OGB) has continued honoring those are there in times of emergency, and is collecting goody bags for first responders and hospital workers who helped in the aftermath of the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon.

OGB has a table set up at Hackensack Supply on Route 17, where volunteers can visit and pick up free custom printed goody bags to take home, according to OGB founder and former Paramus school teacher Jane Cosco. From there they can decorate their bags as they see fit,Looking for replica breitling watches? If so, why not come to this store! then bring them back to be filled at the goody bag stuffing event in June.

"We would love people to pick up goody bags, take them home, take them to work or wherever," Cosco said, "have people color them, write little notes on the outside, whatever they want to say to Boston. Those are the bags we want to fill in June."

Volunteers can also write personal letters to Boston first responders using a template that can be downloaded from the OGB website at operationgoodybag.org. The notes will be stuffed in the goody bags along with the treats, and completed notes can be dropped off at Hackensack Supply.

"People are looking for things to do,Shop the latest from Michael Kors Handbags. Totally free shipping and returns. and this is a very easy thing that can be done," Cosco said. "They can download the template, write a personal letter,Shop our selection of designer shoes, including Manolo Blahnik, christian louboutin shoes. and we're going to get it in the hands of someone who was in there, who actually responded. I think it's a good way, very personalized."

To help offset the cost of $5 per goody bag, which covers the filling, boxing and shipping, volunteers have been encouraged to hold fundraisers. Cosco has also asked the community to show its support by wearing blue and yellow, the colors of the Boston Marathon, on May 10.

OGB began the day after 9/11 as a way of helping founder Jane Cosco's class deal with their grief over the attacks. Seeking to give back to first responders, they filled bags with heartfelt letters of thanks and candy. The program has continued to grow, and volunteers pack thousands of bags every year to give to first responders, military personnel and others.

"It began as a way for children to express grief at the time and get through that disaster," Cosco said. "As the year progressed, the children were seeing pictures of first responders at Ground Zero responding every day and not giving up, and it really gave them peace of mind.

"Here we have another disaster, not the same magnitude but certainly it's going to be psychological to the children of the area and the people," Cosco continued. "We want to say thanks to those first responders.We have high quality replica tag heuer watches, you can not miss the best Tag Heuer Replica Watches online. That's what we do."

The group's goody bags have been sent to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, and to soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The CBI is contemplating to make the inspector witness in the case to nail the senior RPF official.

Sources in CBI said that the inspector in his statement said that his senior had asked him to accompany Kumar’s wife and help her out. It was after this the inspector went with Kumar’s wife who was also accompanied by the senior RPF official’s wife.

The inspector picked up the two bags from Kumar’s official residence in Mumbai and took the same to his relative’s house in Bhayandar.From the Bhayandar house, CBI recovered the bags which contained documents related to Kumar’s enormous properties and investments.The inspector told CBI that he was not aware about the contents of the bags and only acted on the instruction of his senior.