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Furniture

Have A Piece Of History With A Resolute Desk Replica

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By Pamela Upshur

When President Barack Obama took office, one of the first things he did was to sit behind the famous Resolute Desk and read a letter left to him by President George W. Bush.

Now, thanks to well-done replicas, almost anyone can have an exact copy of this famous desk in their home or office because of the hard work of highly-skilled craftsmen who are able to duplicate this intricate desk. Anyone with a keen interest in Presidential history, or who simply would get a kick out of having the same desk as Barack Obama, can now purchase a replica of the Resolute Desk on-line.

Why spend thousands of dollars on a desk? Even without its rich history, the Resolute Desk is a beautiful example of Victorian design, complete with ornate carvings, gorgeous tooled leather table, and an impressive stance. Most presidents since 1880 have used this desk to sign some of the most important documents in United States history. The desk’s history is fascinating, which is why many people are putting replicas of the desk in their own office. Replicas of the ornate desk can be purchased for between $6,000 and $12,000 and materials typically used are mahogany or oak. In addition to private office, replicas of the desk can be found in five presidential libraries, as well as several privately-owned museums.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BatDn6TdI[/youtube]

The desk is so recognizable, that it also has been replicated for movies that require authenticity in their set design. In the movie National Treasure 2: Books of Secrets, the Resolute Desk played a key role.

Private buyers are getting a bit of prestige and a fascinating bit of American history.

The desk had its beginnings as timbers of the HMS Resolute, a ship that became stuck in Artic ice during an 1850 British expedition. The ship was abandoned, broke loose of the ice, and was found by an American fishing boat, which confiscated it.

As a sign of goodwill, the American government returned the ship to Queen Victoria, where it served the British Navy for another 23 years. When the Resolute was decommissioned in 1879, the British made a desk from its timbers and presented the desk as a gift to President Hayes. It was common practice to re-use parts of ships and create such tokens.

That desk has served presidents since then, and is one of the most highly photographed desks in the world. One of the most iconic pictures is of John F. Kennedy Jr. peeking out a door of the desk while his father worked. That panel was ordered put into the desk by President Roosevelt to hide the fact he was sitting in a wheelchair. Although the panel, containing the Presidential Seal, did not arrive until after President Roosevelt died, President Truman decided to install the panel.

Since the historic election of the country’s first African American President, interest in the desk has surged, and several furniture companies are recreating the desk. Most of the replicas are made from Mahogany, the preferred wood, but others are available in oak.

About the Author: Antique Replica Furniture specializes in hand-carved mahogany replicas of English Antiques in Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Regency, Queen Anne and english Victorian styles furniture. Resolute Desks

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Nine firefighters killed in South Carolina blaze

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Nine firefighters were killed on Monday while battling a massive fire at a furniture warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina.

Firefighters were called to the scene of a massive blaze at the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, S.C. at around 6:30 p.m. EST. At around 7 p.m., nine firefighters were sent inside the inferno to rescue people who were trapped inside the building. They rescued two before the ceiling collapsed on top of them. All nine firefighters who were inside the warehouse died. They are:

  • Capt. William Hutchinson, 48
  • Capt. Mike Benke, 49
  • Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34
  • FF Mark Kelsey, 40
  • FF Bradford Baity, 37
  • FF Michael French, 27
  • FF James “Earl” Drayton, 56
  • FF Brandon Thompson, 27
  • FF Melven Champaign, 46

The disaster recalls Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire that killed six firefighters on Dec. 3, 1999, in Worcester, Massachusetts. The chief of the Worcester Fire Department flew down to South Carolina for the memorial service.

Japanese survivor of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings dies, aged 93

Friday, January 8, 2010

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only Japanese civilian to be officially recognized as having survived both the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in August of 1945 at the conclusion of World War Two, has died this Monday at the age of ninety-three, due to stomach cancer—one of the numerous illnesses that he suffered throughout his lifetime as a direct result of his exposure to nuclear radiation.

Mr. Yamaguchi, although he was against his nation’s involvement in the War, worked as a engineer for Mitsubishi—a company that helped equip and supply the Japanese Imperial Army. He was on business in Hiroshima at the time of the first bombing on August sixth. His almost direct exposure to the atomic explosion temporarily blinded him, ruptured his ear drum (leaving him permanently deaf in his left ear), and severely burnt the top half of his body. Three days later, having gone back to work in Nagasaki, he was approximately three kilometers away from the site of the second bomb. Although he was exposed to significant radiation in this instance as well, Mr. Yamaguchi was left relatively unscathed.

Following Japan’s surrender and the end of the War days later, Mr. Yamaguchi worked as a translator for the occupying American forces and later as a local schoolmaster, before eventually returning to Mitsubishi—which had since then become an automobile manufacturer.

In his later years, Mr. Yamaguchi became a respected lecturer who gave talks about his experiences, and publicly spoke out against the stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

For instance, in 2006, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly. “Having been granted this miracle, it is my responsibility to pass on the truth to the people of the world,” Mr. Yamaguchi said to the Assembly. He went on to say, “My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die.”

When asked by the British Broadcasting Corporation what his reaction was to Mr. Yamaguchi’s death, the mayor of Nagasaki said that “a precious storyteller has been lost.”

Among the family and friends Mr. Yamaguchi left behind were his three adult children—who have also had health issues in their lifetimes thus far that they think may have be related to their father’s initial exposure.

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Massage Therapy

All About The Best Exercises For Belly Fat

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All About The Best Exercises For Belly Fat

by

Van Dat

It is only intelligent, most grouping requisite to looking their optimum, and sweat their stomach muscles is unremarkably a immense construct of most suitableness programs. If so some example and vim is exploit to be focussed on this yobbo gather, it is a sound intention to screw what the incomparable breadbasket exercises are. There are numerous resources open for discovery the incomparable viscus exercises, and plenteousness of people to say what they speculate the best exercises for employed their stomach muscles?

Low of all it is cardinal to billet that the superfine tum exercises are those that a individual is compliant to do. No affair how efficient the practise is, if a human isn’t deed to do them consistently the exertion module not aid that special individualistic. It is also significant to mention that the superfine viscus exercises do not necessarily tell equipment to execute them, although both machines and equipment may manipulate quite excavation for whatever fill.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXyYBCniBL4[/youtube]

When a human decides on a fitness idea that includes stomach exercises, it is optimal to include tummy exercises that convert the assorted parts of the tum. If a being but concentrates on one atlantic of their breadbasket, there workout present not be as competent. The individual breadbasket exercises, add employed the diverging, which are the select muscles, the alter abdominals, the mid cut and also the speed segment.

Both of the most favourite stomach exercises are crunches. These are a really telling exercise and very favorable since they can be performed anywhere without any equipment. The next viscus exertion that is also rattling hot and goes along with the radical compressing is the lateral compaction, which entirety out the convergent.

Any people deal the unexceeded tum exercises to be included in a Pilate’s workout. The cogitate for this is because in Pilates, the integral accent is on the set of the embody which is the abdominal, or viscus muscles. Every laxation in a Pilate’s workout module occupation the tum muscles either direct or indirectly. These exercises can be institute on the internet, either the recitation itself or video’s that can be purchased.

Another healthful recitation that both suitableness experts considers to be one of the first tum exercises involves parturition thin on your stomach, leg vertical and then upbringing your body up using your heraldry as your guardianship are clasped unitedly and possession your body section as if doing a pushup. Book this lieu as longitudinal as you can booth.

Retrieve again tho’ that right because one organism may ponder a particular exercising to be the someone viscus training that does not necessarily link it is the incomparable for everyone. Each cause’s embody is distinguishable and leave respond differently to sure movements. Any one sobering virtually employed on the abdominal muscles instrument reason it most kind to try several opposite tummy exercises and then mold which one they can both look and see result

right, or does not sense equal it has finished anything for the tough forgather worked, that apply is clearly not the prizewinning and the being should maturate what entirety prizewinning for them.

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All About The Best Exercises For Belly Fat

As the Eurovision entrants return home, the home crowds weigh in

Monday, May 18, 2009

Most of the Eurovision entrants have returned home from their sojourn in Moscow, Russia, and the newspapers across Europe have varied opinions. Most national newspapers congratulated their entrants on a job well done, while others trash-talked other entrants, and still others called for their countries to pull out of the Contest.

Here are some interviews, articles and opinions that made it to the front pages of newspapers and to their sanctioned blogs.

Norway’s mass media was filled with stories revolving around the winner, Alexander Rybak, but a secondary story that received press coverage was outcry against NRK‘s Eurovision commentator, Synnøve Svabø, who was criticized for talking incessantly during the event, making leering comments regarding the contents inside the male entrants’ tight pants, and making a joke about stuffing sweatsocks in her own bra. When asked for a statement by Aftenposten, Svabø said, “I guess people think I should have put the socks in my throat.” NRK did not comment on Svabø’s commentating or whether she will be returning next year.

Sweden’s newspaper Aftonbladet wrote that the “Swede of the evening” was not Sweden’s entrant Malena Ernman, but Malmö-raised Arash Labaf, one of the two singers placing third for Azerbaijan. Markus Larsson wrote, “21st place? Well, this is our second-worst result ever…Malena Ernman fell so far and deep that she almost ended up in Finland. That is to say, almost last.” When asked if she was disappointed, Ernman responded, “No, but I am sorry if the Swedes are disappointed.” She went on to quip, “Europe is simply not ready for my high notes.”

Finland, despite placing last, wrote upbeat stories; Helsingin Sanomat published an interview with Waldo and Karoliina from the Finnish act, Waldo’s People, who announced how happy they were to have participated and will be going right back to work with performances and recordings as soon as they return to Finland.

Most British newspapers in past years published lengthy screeds regarding their bad luck in the Contest and whether they should send an entrant at all. This year all that talk subsided, and newspapers published articles congratulating Jade Ewen on her fifth place ranking. Sir Terry Wogan, former Eurovision commentator for the BBC, said to the Daily Express about this year’s voting overhaul, “I think my protest about the voting was totally vindicated by the changes that were made to the scoring this year. It made a real difference. It was the change that Eurovision needed.” One of the headlines in Monday’s Daily Mail reads: “She did us proud.” Andrew Lloyd Webber, who worked with Ewen, said, “Jade performed brilliantly. After years of disappointing results, the UK can finally hold its head high.”

Spain’s newspaper El Mundo published an article entitled “Soraya’s fiasco,” outlining Soraya Arnelas‘s failure to receive points from 37 of the 41 other voting nations, with the writer remarking, “After a whole year trying to forget [Rodolfo Chikilicuatre, Spain’s “joke entrant” from 2008], Soraya jumped on-stage with strength…Spain’s experiment ended with longing [for] Rodolfo Chikilicuatre.” When asked about her performance and the result, Arnelas said, “I’ll hang on to the experiences I had, the great friends that I made and I’m happy because now I’m known in Europe.”

French newspapers and blogs were muted compared to other countries, but the overall feeling was still very supportive of Patricia Kaas, who placed eighth. In an interview with Le Figaro, Kaas said, “Eighth place, that’s not so bad. It was a great moment for France, we held our head high.” France Soir noted, “[Kaas’s] emotion does not seem to have found a place with competitors that have relied on heavy artillery choreography worthy of those like Shakira, and glamorous outfits, to ensure a place on the podium.”

German newspapers published lengthy stories analyzing why Germany was in the bottom quartile for the third straight year. Die Welt wrote, “The Germans have become accustomed to it: winning the Eurovision Song Contest just does not work [for us]. [Compared] to the total failure of last place with No Angels last year, [this] result is almost a sensational success.” Bild commented, “For years we have had little success. Germany’s placement, despite all efforts, will not be better. Why are we still participating in the Eurovision Song Contest?”

Ireland, who failed to make it to the final, led the cry to pull out of Eurovision. In the Irish Independent, Ian O’Doherty wrote, “Ireland managed something quite rare and rather gratifying last week — we actually managed to produce a Eurovision song that didn’t make you want to rip off your own eyelids so you could stuff them in your ears to stop the horrible sounds…[Sinéad] Mulvey’s elimination is proof of one thing: we need to pull out of this pile of rubbish as soon as possible.”

The Netherlands, another nation that did not make it past the semi-final round, has been very apathetic toward the Contest in recent years, and this year was no different. De Telegraaf conducted an opinion poll of Dutch television viewers, and 90% of them believed the Netherlands should not enter the Contest anymore. Despite the stated apathy, 2.5 million Dutch viewers watched De Toppers compete in the second semi-final, an improvement of 800,000 from last year’s semi-final, where Dutch entrant Hind also failed to advance. De Toppers singer Gordon, in an interview with De Telegraaf, said that the Netherlands should continue to compete: “One time, we will succeed.”

UK company “seriously considering” GPS tracking devices in school uniforms

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The leading supplier of school uniforms in the United Kingdom, Lancashire-based manufacturer Trutex, has announced it is “seriously considering” including GPS tracking devices in future ranges of its uniform products after conducting an online survey of both parents and children.

“As a direct result of the survey, we are now seriously considering incorporating a [tracking] device into future ranges” said Trutex marketing director Clare Rix.

The survey questioned 809 parents and 444 children aged nine to 16. It showed that 44% of parents were worried about the safety of pre-teen children, and 59% wanted tracking devices installed in school apparel. 39% of children aged nine to 12 were prepared to wear clothing with tracking devices in them, while teenagers were notably less enthusiastic and more wary of what Trutex has admitted they see as a “big brother” concept.

However, Trutex has claimed the tracking devices would bring about worthwhile benefits, including being a valuable resource for parents who wanted to keep a close eye on where their children were at all times.

“As well as being a safety net for parents, there could be real benefits for schools who could keep a closer track on the whereabouts of their pupils, potentially reducing truancy levels” says Rix.

Each year, Trutex supplies 1 million blouses, 1.1 million shirts, 250,000 pairs of trousers, 20,000 blazers, 60,000 skirts and 110,000 pieces of knitwear to the UK.

It is not the first company to manufacture school uniforms with a central focus on child safety; last week Essex firm BladeRunner revealed it was selling stab-proof school blazers to parents concerned about violence against their children. The blazers were outfitted with Kevlar, a synthetic fibre used in body armour. It has already received orders internationally, including Australia.

If the Trutex tracking devices go ahead, it is unclear where in the uniform they will be located.

Electronic voting disputed in France

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

In France, voting has traditionally been a low-tech experience: voters isolate themselves in a booth, put a pre-printed sheet of paper indicating their candidate of choice into an envelope. After officials verify the voter’s identity, the voter drops the envelope into the ballot box and signs the voting roll. French electoral law rather strictly codifies the proceedings. Since 1988, ballot boxes must be transparent so that voters and observers can witness that no envelopes are present at the start of the vote and that no envelopes are added except those of the duly counted and authorized voters. Candidates can send representatives to witness every part of the process. In the evening, votes are counted by volunteers under heavy supervision, following specific procedures.

In the past, voting machines, though authorized by law, were scarce. But this year, during presidential elections (the first round was April 22, the second is on May 6), the country is shaken by controversy about the machines intended to count about 1.5 million votes.

As in the United States, there is a group of academic computer scientists that oppose voting machines. They argue that voting machines replace a public, easily understandable counting process, where large-scale fraud would entail large-scale corruption, by an opaque process where votes are counted by machines that voters have to blindly trust. Voting machines have to be approved by the Ministry of the Interior, but this approval is based on confidential reports by private companies. Opponents to the machines point out that the Ministry was long held by Nicolas Sarkozy, who happens to be the leading candidate. Opponents also list a number of weaknesses and discrepancies that have occurred in other countries using voting machines.

All main political parties except UMP, Mr Sarkozy’s ruling party, oppose the voting machines. Some citizens have filed for court injunctions against the voting machines. Opponents have given detailed instructions that voting witnesses should check whether the machines correspond exactly to an approved type, including software versions, and fulfill all legal conditions. In a sign of the frenzy over the issue, on April 12 the Ministry of the Interior issued a last-minute authorization for a specific model (hardware, firmware). The stakes are high: votes on unapproved machines should be canceled by the Constitutional Council for the official count.

The opposition has crystallized on the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Issy’s mayor, André Santini is a well-known technophile; his city organizes a “World E-Gov Forum”. Here too, last minute fixes are at work. The machines delivered to the city are of a yet-to-be-approved type. The manufacturer, the American company ES&S voting systems, is now delivering older 2005 machines. Le Monde reports that other municipalities have already replaced their recent machines by an older, approved, model.

Proponents of the machines, such as the French company France Élection, claim they are being defamed and dispute the competence of their critics. Elected officials supporting the machines claim the machines save on paper, time, and the need to find volunteers to count votes.

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Earthmoving Equipment

Difference Between Java And .Net}

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Difference between JAVA and .Net

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Jems KonaryJava is a creation of Sun Microsystems while .Net is a product from the stable of Microsoft. Both Java and .Net are used to build a comprehensive web services system and enterprise applications. The Enterprise Edition of Java 2 Platform was created to ease the process of development, design and deployment of complex enterprise solutions and the J2EE architecture is based on Java. .Net is a product suite that allows an organization to create enterprise-class web services. The difference between both is that that .Net is a product strategy while J2EE is an industry standard that gives a developer the option to choose vendor products and tools. .NET is based on the language C# and while Java runs on any platform with the help of Java VM, C# can only work on Windows currently. J2EE includes a number of features that help in boosting time-to-market and is not typically found in .NET. For instance, in many ways the developers do not need to concentrate on writing too much code due the state management services and therefore this accelerates the application development. This feature is not found in .NET, however, there are other features that .NET may possess but not Java. For example, ASP.Net does not require a client device and without rewriting the code, it can render user interfaces to alternate user interfaces. The support for existing systems offered by J2EE and .Net is quite different and in some ways, J2EE is much more superior to the support offered by .Net. Most organizations will have code that can be written in a number of different languages and it is important to integrate them so that they can be reused in the future. J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) helps in adding resource adapters that can communicate with existing systems. Though .Net also offers integration through the Host Integration Server 2000, however, it is not as superior or flexible as J2EE platform

Author has wide experience in

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Java development

. He would like to share information about various java applications tools. Also, provides information about

J2ME application development

for various mobile applications

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World’s most expensive hotel-casino opens in Las Vegas

Friday, April 29, 2005

The world’s most expensive hotel-casino ever has opened in Las Vegas, Nevada. The casino, which was designed and built over a period of five years, cost US$2.7 billion to construct. The hotel stands nearly fifty stories above the Las Vegas valley, with a 180-foot tall mountain in front of the main entrance.

Numerous lavish touches contributed to the high expense of the development. The sign in front of the Wynn property has an unusual mechanical design, with a large piece containing the Wynn logo, which can move vertically up or down as different announcements are presented.

“I think it’s going to start a shift of power. It’s been the south for a long time. Things will start moving to the north because of Wynn Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson with the expansion of the Venetian, the New Frontier — that whole area will become the new hot area of Las Vegas for the next decade or so,” gaming expert Anthony Curtis told Las Vegas KLAS TV.

As the property opened to the public, developer Steve Wynn greeted visitors at the front entrance.

“It’s always fascinating to watch people enter the thing and get their first moment after we open the doors,” Wynn told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

File:WynnSign.JPG

Analysts are not too concerned about the cost of the Wynn development. Wynn paid off the cost of The Mirage hotel-casino in 18 months, much earlier than the planned seven years for which the debt had been scheduled for repayment.

“If you remember the opening of The Mirage in 1989, Wynn needed to make a nut of $1 million a day. Everyone thought he was nuts; ‘couldn’t be done,’ they all said,” Las Vegas history department Chairman Hal Rothman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Wynn sold his interest in Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand (which became MGM Mirage and is now run by Kirk Kerkorian) for US$6.4 billion back in 2000, then turned around and purchased the property for the Wynn hotel-casino for US$275 million. The property was previously the home of the Desert Inn.

The hotel has 2,359 rooms, and a few hundred deluxe suites and “parlors” for high rollers. The casino has 1,960 slot machines and 137 table games on a 111,000 square foot casino floor. A Ferrari–Maserati dealership and the Le Reve stage show, featuring a million gallon water tank, round out the expensive offerings.

A round of golf will go for US$500 on the elaborate golf course located behind the main building.

All of these specifications add up to a record construction cost of over one million US dollars per room. Other expensive Las Vegas properties cost a fraction of the price, such as the Bellagio, which cost half the price at US$533,000 per room. The most expensive hotel property in the world was previously the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui, Hawaii, which cost US$775,000 per room.

“Yes, (Wynn) may be in over his head, but then he has found ways to survive before,” Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Several of Wynn’s largest competitors spoke with admiration of the property and looked forward to its impact on Las Vegas.

“I’ve never understood the hand-wringing about something new, especially in Las Vegas and Atlantic City,” Harrah’s Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Other casino bosses from the Mandalay and the MGM Mirage had positive comments as well, hoping to pick up some new business from the development.

“It’s a positive in terms of bringing more visitors,” Mandalay Resort Group President and CEO Glenn Schaeffer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“Steve will build a great property and bring new people to town. If we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, then we’ll pick up some of that business also,” MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Thousands of visitors gathered for hours in front of the property before it opened. Security guards had to monitor the number of visitors entering the building.

“I think it’s spectacular,” David Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas told Reuters.

“People were pushing and shoving,” Las Vegan Kathie Anderson told Associated Press.

“There is nobody in the world who creates such entertaining and beautiful casinos,” British billionaire Richard Branson told Associated Press from the casino floor. “I would say every other casino must be nervous. He’s lifted the bar dramatically,” Branson said.

“This would be hard to top,” Las Vegan Marlene DeMarco told Reuters.

UN summit results in pledge to mitigate food crisis

Friday, June 6, 2008

A three-day United Nations (UN) summit, bringing together leaders from 181 countries, has wrapped up with a pledge by all attending countries to address the global food shortage crisis. Key actions cited include doubling the world’s food production by 2030, providing resources for farmers in poor countries and increasing humanitarian aid in times of crisis.

Protests and violent riots have resulted in parts of the world in recent months due to increasing unaffordability, and sometimes unavailability, of food. It is estimated that 862 million people, or just over one eighth of the world’s population, are malnourished.

According to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, up to US$20 billion will be required annually to avert crises in the most hard-hit areas. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has put the figure closer to US$30 billion. Pledges made just at the summit amounted to more than US$5 billion, according to the UN.

Despite the largely positively-received outcome of the summit, held in Rome, Italy, there were some who felt that the proceedings could have gone better. Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) pointed to the fact that they were not invited to partake in the discussions. Food and hunger policy adviser Magda Kropiwnicka of ActionAid commented on the strength of the final pledge: “There were no quantifiable financial commitments. Apart from the existing UN Food and Agriculture Organisation funds, no money has been given to address the key problem of boosting capacity.”

While most delegates agreed that biofuels have been one of the causes of the food crisis, no actions were agreed upon to address this hot topic. Biofuels have been increasingly in demand in recent years, meaning that many crops that would have previously been used for food are now being used as fuel.

The impact that biofuels has goes further than simply increasing the demand of food crops. As fuel prices increase, so do the costs of fertilisers, farm vehicle use and the transport of foods. All of this adds up to a large increase in the cost of food.

Some UN officials say that biofuel use has caused up to 30% of the global food price inflation of late. The United States estimates that figure to be closer to just 3%. The Globe and Mail newspaper indicates that some estimates go as high as 60%. The only consensus that could be reached on biofuels is that they provide both “challenges and opportunities”, and need to be looked into further for a conclusive analysis on their impact on food production.

Other factors increasing food prices are increased consumption of meat and dairy products in developing nations like China and India. Argentina noted that subsidies granted to farmers from the US, the European Union and other Western countries have also been a major player in the increase.