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McCain meets, greets at Racine coffee sh...

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:37:45 +0200

McCain meets, greets at Racine coffee shop

Coffee SI know I have an uphill battle here,he said.

Racine County is the fifth-largest county in Wisconsin and isconsidered a must-win region for McCain in November. The countyvoted for President Bush four years ago by a narrow margin, butDemocratic candidate John Kerry won the state by 11,300 votes.

Also Thursday, McCain called Debra Bartoshevich, the Racine Countyresident who lost her delegate seat at the Democratic NationalConvention for endorsing McCain, a Sperson of great courage.

SPerhaps your reward will be in heaven not here on earth,McCain told Bartoshevich as he addressed the Racine Civic Centrecrowd.

Before the town hall meeting, McCain met with Bartoshevich, her16-year-old daughter, Mariah, and Bartoshevich"s father, GeneBrittain, of Waukesha, at the Dunn Bros. Coffee shop in Racine.

AG wants end to 'Meth Coffee' in state

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:36:38 +0200

AG wants end to 'Meth Coffee' in state

CHICAGO - The Illinois attorney general wants a San Franciscocompany to stop marketing a beverage branded as Meth Coffee toIllinois consumers.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan

has sent a letter to Doll God LLC insisting that the coffeeblatantly glorifies drug culture.

The beverage doesn't actually contain methamphetamine. But Madigansays the product's comparison to illicit drugs violates state lawsregarding fraudulent and deceptive business practices.

She also cited what she calls the devastating impact that meth hashad in communities statewide.

Take Bliss as it is for coffee, wine, go...

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:35:44 +0200

Take Bliss as it is for coffee, wine, good food

Coffee If you feel like shrimp, they come prepared two different ways asan entree, or you can have three fat ones as an appetizer with anexcellent sweet-sour cucumber salad. The appetizer shrimp areswimming in a Grand Marnier barbecue sauce, although it could justas well have had a splash of Mountain Dew as liqueur. The sauce issimply too fiery to taste of anything but heat.

The kitchen had its ups and downs. A shrimp bisque, smooth as cream- probably because it contained so much cream - had just the rightdelicate texture (so you can pretend it's lighter than it reallyis) and was filled with chopped shrimp. It was a minor tour deforce. But the halibut decorated with big lumps of crab meat, aspecial that night, had a lime butter sauce that tasted of nothingmuch. It arrived with mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the day,cauliflower. Even adding a wedge of lime and a pink orchid didn'tmake the all-white plate look any less bland than it tasted. Muchas I like cauliflower, and I do, it isn't a good vegetable of theday to serve with potatoes.

Minor improvements could make a big difference. The "vegetarianrose," a sort of pasta primavera, is made with cappellini, a creamytomato sauce and grilled vegetables. The flavors are wonderful;it's the proportions that are off. More vegetables and less pastaand sauce, please.

The cheese plate, really for two, has port wine cheddar, sharpcheddar and smoked Gouda. It's supposed to come with strawberries,grapes and kiwi slices; but bing cherries were substituted for kiwislices. That was fine - more than fine, really. But the red grapeshad been taken off their stems so there was just an unattractivepile of loose grapes. Also, the kitchen had added slices of salamiand a blob of spicy mustard to the plate, which was a little odd.

The dessert made in-house was the weakest of the ones we tried. Thechef, who brought it out (the place was so busy the poor guy washelping out the servers when he wasn't cooking), apologized becausethe chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup was too stiff and hadlittle lumps. Good flavor, though. The Key lime pie and berry tart,made by someone local, were both excellent.

Bliss' wine list is filled with familiar names and easy-drinkingbottles. The list isn't extensive, but it changes periodically andis affordably priced, with enough choices by the glass. You mightthink a place that labels itself a wine bar would put more emphasison wine; this is more just what you'd expect at a nice restaurant.

And that's what Bliss is. If you go in with a preconceived notionof what a coffeehouse or wine bar should be, you might bedisappointed. If you accept it as a nice suburban restaurant with awarm and welcoming staff and a kitchen that can produce some verygood food, you'll be happier. So it needs to get a few kinks out.It's still a better option than the chains in the area.

elizabeth.large@baltsun.com

Bliss Coffee and Wine Bar

Address:

1402 Handlir Drive, Riverside

Hours:

Open daily for continental breakfast, lunch and dinner

Price:

Appetizers: $7.95-$11.95; entrees: $14.95-$24.95

Call:

410-272-0505, live-your-bliss.com

Food: ** 1/2

Service: ***

Atmosphere: ** 1/2

Morning Coffee: Utah State's QB in quest...

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:34:53 +0200

Morning Coffee: Utah State's QB in question

Coffee Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

The decision of who will start at quarterback for Utah State justgot a little more difficult. Junior Jase McCormick, who played infour games last season and was expected to challenge for thestarting position during fall camp, told coach Brent Guy that

he might walk away from football, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday evening.

McCormick completed 62.5 percent of his passes, but threw fiveinterceptions as opposed to two touchdowns. Senior Sean Setzer, theonly other quarterback with experience, becomes the frontrunner forthe starting position. He played in one game last season andcompleted one pass for two yards.

The article also notes the emergence of true freshman ExavierJohnson, who looked strong in the Aggies first practice.

My take: This isn't great news for coach Brent Guy, who needs toshow improvement on his 6-29 record during the last three seasons.The good news is that this Guy's first team full of his guys. Ithas 17 seniors, which should help with leadership and finally hasits full array of scholarship athletes.

Several non-BCS teams have started or will start practice thisweekend and Monday. As I've noted a couple times this past week, Iwill be at Utah for its opening practice. I will be chatting livefrom camp at 11:30 EST (9:30 MST) for a half hour.

Starbucks chokes on its latte

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:34:09 +0200

Starbucks chokes on its latte

What has happened to the siren's magic? For more than two decades along-tressed maiden – more decorous now than when she wasfirst launched upon the world – has been the centrepiece ofone of America's best-known commercial logos, that familiar greencircle with "Starbucks Coffee" in white letters, to be found,seemingly, on almost every city block and main street in the land.

And until lately, the allure of the Starbucks siren had beenirresistible. Howard Schultz, the visionary businessman who ineffect founded today's Starbucks when he bought out its originalowners in 1987, ran the company until 2000. In the process hecreated not just a runaway business success but a small revolutionin American culture. A handful of outlets in Seattle have become aglobal empire of some 15,000 stores, generating annual sales ofabout $10bn (£5bn).

But the company that was a case study in business acumen and grewto be the largest coffeehouse chain in the world is now a casestudy of a less flattering variety – of how complacency andthe laws of the marketplace can bring even the mightiest low.

This year the creeping crisis at Starbucks has exploded into fullview. In January, it sacked its chief executive Jim Donald, andrestored Mr Schultz to his former job. April brought a 28 per centslump in quarterly profit, and news that the company would againcut the number of new stores it planned to open across the UnitedStates, to 600 less than initially planned, and trim its officeworkforce by up to 1,000.

Last month, the trickle of bad news turned into a flood. Some 500stores across America are to be shut, with the loss of 12,000 full-and part-time jobs. And the rot has spread farther afield.Starbucks is closing 61 of its 85 stores in Australia –meaning that henceforth only the residents of Sydney, Brisbane andMelbourne will be able to sample its wares. This week brought thelatest blow, the company's first quarterly loss in 15 years, of$6.7m, compared with a $158m profit a year before.

At one level the news is anything but surprising. The US isengulfed by its worst economic crisis in decades, and consumers arecutting back on non-essential spending, with expensive coffee amongthe first things to go. There is a symmetry too between thetroubles of Starbucks and those of the plummeting US housingmarket, the epicentre of the crisis.

California and Florida, where the company has been opening newstores and which account for one-third of its domestic revenue, aretwo of the states worst hit by the housing slump. As demand hasfallen, the cost of dairy products such as milk have been risingsharply. Not just Starbucks, but any similar business, would behaving problems in these circumstances.

But there is far more to it than that. Starbucks' malaise longpredates the downturn of 2007/2008. In a sense it is a victim ofits very success. Consciously or subconsciously, a company thatstarted life as an exotic shop in the Seattle landmark of PikePlace Market, selling beans and coffee-making equipment, and thendeveloped into one of America's smartest global brands, must havefelt it could do no wrong. In the process, however, it forgot whereit came from.

From the outset, the key to Starbucks success was its upmarketimage. Its coffeehouses were where yuppies went, and those whoaspired to be like them. That the coffee itself was a miteexpensive only added to its snob appeal: Starbucks was not for thehoi polloi. If you wanted cheap coffee, then go to a diner andchoose between regular and de-caf. Its stores were chic andfashionable, where you could spend a little downtime betweenappointments or simply shoot the breeze with friends. Starbucksprojected itself as "The Third Place" – between home and theoffice – and there was much truth to the slogan. Mr Schultz'sgenius was to grasp the market for the concept.

Have a good idea though, and others will copy it. For a long whileStarbucks managed to keep ahead of the game, expanding at breakneckspeed, buying up likely competitors and launching new products thatrivals could not match. On top of lattes, grandes, mochas,espressos, frappuccinos and the rest it offered not just teadrinks, fruit smoothies ice creams and its own range of snacks.Starbucks sold its own franchised merchandise – T-shirts,even its own books and music.

But premium coffee remained the basic product – and oneothers could easily imitate. Of late that challenge has been pickedup by Dunkin' Donuts and above all by McDonalds. In an age ofbelt-tightening the virtues of thift are again evident. McDonalds'coffee was perhaps once best known for being scaldingly hot. Now itoffers premium coffee, not only cheaper than Starbucks' but of aquality that won first place in a survey in March by ConsumerReports here.

As a result, Starbucks finds itself caught in a new, unweclome,"third place", pressed from below by the fast-food chains from whomits very ubiquity has made it almost indistinguishable in thepublic mind, and from above by a new generation of expensive andexclusive coffee houses – to the modern industry whatStarbucks was 20 years ago.

Such an identity crisis would be bad enough on its own. ButStarbucks has compounded the problem by, in Mr Schultz' words,"cannibalising" itself – opening so many stores, so closetogether, that they attract business not from new customers buteach other. And even the quality may be sagging. In a recentindependent taste test of the main coffee chains in the UK,Starbucks came bottom.

For such structural difficulties, the chief executive admits, thereis no instant fix. The giddy growth of yesteryear will neverreturn, even when the US economy picks up. A solution, almostcertainly, will require a return to first principles. As Mr Schultztold analysts this week, discussing that first-in-15-yearsquarterly loss: " We are not going to go down the fast-food laneand do things that are ... not in the long-term interest of thebrand and the experience."

It would be unwise to count Mr Schultz and Starbucks out, whateverthe current travails. The loss reflected exceptional costs relatingto the closure of 600 stores, and the next quarter will be back inthe black. Wall Street is cheered by the company's readiness toface up to its difficulties. Some foreign markets are still faringwell, and Starbucks is still looking expand in areas such asEastern Europe. New products, among them a milder "regular" coffeecalled Pike Place Roast, have also been introduced at its 11,000American stores. But it will be a while, if ever, before theStarbucks siren regains her former magic.

How a coffee empire was built

1971: Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Ziv Siegl open their firststore, selling coffee beans and coffee-making equipment, inSeattle's Pike Place Market. It is named Starbucks after the firstmate in Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

1982: Howard Shultz joins the company as the director of retailoperations and marketing. It begins providing coffee to restaurantsand espresso bars in addition to its own five stores. Shultz,having seen coffee bars in Italy, convinces the founders to try thesame idea in Seattle.

1984: The trial was successful and Starbucks as we know it islaunched. Separately, Shultz creates the company Il Giornale,selling products made from Starbucks coffee beans.

1987: Il Giornale acquires Starbucks assets and it morphs intoStarbucks Corporation, opening stores in Chicago and Vancouver. Itloses money throughout the 1980s as it expands. By 1989 it has 55stores.

1991: The privately owned company offers stock options to employeesand in 1992, starts trading on Nasdaq. It also sets up shops inBarnes and Noble bookstores and Nordstrom department stores and in1994 started providing coffee to ITT/Sheraton hotels (nowStarwood).

Mid-nineties: Starbucks branches out with various deals thatinclude making coffee ice cream with Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, apartnership with PepsiCo to sell bottled Frappuccino drinks and alicensing deal with Kraft Foods to sell its brand in supermarkets.It also expands overseas, in Asia and then the UK, where it buysthe Seattle Coffee Company chain. It launches a music businessthrough its acquisition Hear Music and also buys Tazo, anOregon-based tea company.

2000: Mr Shultz becomes chairman and chief global strategist,ceding the post of chief executive.

2004: It jumps on the Wi-Fi bandwagon, offering high-speed wirelessinternet access in many restaurants. Through Hear Music, itreleases Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company CD with ConcordRecords, which goes on to win eight Grammy Awards. A new recordlabel is created between Starbucks and Concord Music Group todistribute recordings. Paul McCartney becomes the first artist, in2007, to sign.

2007: After falling sales, Jim Donald, the chief executive, quits.Shultz returns to that role and announces that the group will slowUS growth and accelerate international expansion. Starbucks now has15,756.

2008: Starbucks cuts jobs and close stores worldwide.

Louise Dransfield

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Banking on a new coffee shop

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:30:35 +0200

Banking on a new coffee shop

People who work in a downtown Roanoke high-rise office building orwho park in its adjacent garage now are an appetizing customerniche for a local coffee retailer.

For a little more than a week, Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea hasbeen brewing its java and other beverages in the lobby of theWachovia Tower at the corner of South Jefferson Street and SalemAvenue. The coffee and food retailer has opened a shop in a250-square-foot space beside the tower's security desk.

The arrival of the new shop comes after Mill Mountain shifted itsdowntown store to new digs at 117 Campbell Ave. in May.

Demand for java from the Wachovia Tower's approximately 400employees inspired Mill Mountain's expansion into the officebuilding.

Dennis Cronk of Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group said heapproached the coffee retailer about opening a shop in the lobby.Poe & Cronk manages and leases the office building.

"We have a lot of people who have requested over the years that weprovide a similar amenity," Cronk said.

By serving coffee, tea and other beverages, Mill Mountain hopes toentice people who work for companies located in the tower or whopass through its lobby from the parking garage. The potential ofdrawing a lucrative customer base appears high.

About 550 people will work inside the Wachovia Tower oncearchitectural and engineering firm Hayes, Seay, Mattern &Mattern moves into the building by the end of the year, Cronk said.That move will add about 160 employees.

Cronk estimated that more than 100 people park their vehicles inthe tower's parking garage, though they do not work inside thetower. Many stroll through its lobby to get to their officeselsewhere in downtown, he said.

The Wachovia Tower already is 96 percent occupied, Cronk added. Itopened in 1991, rises 20 floors and houses approximately 218,000square feet of office space, he said.

Luis Murillo, who is district manager for Mill Mountain, describedthe retailer's new Wachovia Tower space as a convenient stop forcustomers and a "good opportunity" for its business.

Unlike some of Mill Mountain's other Roanoke Valley locations, thissmall shop does not serve a full breakfast menu. It sells muffins,scones, cookies, yogurt and other grab-and-go foods.

Customers, however, can place orders for lunch. Sandwiches andother fare on Mill Mountain's lunch menu are prepared at itsCampbell Avenue location and delivered to the tower shop.

Already, there has been early demand for lunch delivery. On itsfirst day open, Mill Mountain sold at least three lunches at thetower location, Murillo said.

This coffee retailer has a history in the Roanoke Valley. DaveJohnson opened Mill Mountain's first shop in downtown Roanoke in1990. Since then, the retailer has grown to include three otherlocations in the Roanoke Valley and two in Richmond. One is acoffee kiosk inside a Richmond hospital.

For now, the Wachovia Tower shop opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 2p.m. Eventually, the afternoon hours may expand depending oncustomer traffic, Murillo said.

And Mill Mountain may not be done growing in the Roanoke Valley.Murillo said plans are brewing for an additional location, but hewould not disclose details.

Dissent grows as Ruto moves to name coff...

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:29:45 +0200

Dissent grows as Ruto moves to name coffee board

August 4, 2008:

A new board to manage Kenya’s coffee regulator is to beappointed this week, deflating hopes that farmers could once againelect the directors.

This follows the end of the three-year tenure of the current 12directors of the Coffee Board of Kenya.

Controversy has marred appointment of a new board followingopposition by farmers to the current system which allows theminister to appoint the directors.

Agriculture minister William Ruto told

Business Daily

that while the interests of farmers would be looked into, the lawas is constituted allows the minister to appoint directors.

The current system was put in place last year through the FinanceAct of 2007 that gave the power of appointing directors to theminister.

This story is available in full in the Business Daily e-paper.

You may subscribe to the newspaper here.

Coffee culture grinds Starbucks' Austral...

beibei2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:28:34 +0200

Coffee culture grinds Starbucks' Australian operation

19 hours ago

SYDNEY (AFP) — Starbucks hit a roadblock trying to export itsbusiness model to Australia, a robust coffee culture wherecustomers already knew the difference between a macchiato and anaffogato, local traders say.

The US giant announced last week that it would close 61 of its 84Australian outlets by Sunday, saying "challenges unique to theAustralian market" were behind the decision, which cost almost 700jobs.

The statement from Starbucks' head office in Seattle did not saywhat made Australia different, but did point out: "There are noother international markets that need to be addressed in thismanner."

Starbucks Asia Pacific president John Culver was more forthcomingabout why the company was on the retreat in Australia, eight yearsafter opening its first store in Sydney.

"I think what we've seen is that Australia has a very sophisticatedcoffee culture," he said in a newspaper interview.

A wave of post-war immigrants from Turkey, Greece and particularlyItaly means that for decades Australians had been enjoying the"coffee experience" Starbucks virtually created from scratch in theUnited States.

Both Sydney and Melbourne have Italian enclaves lined with cafeswhere old men sip espressos at outdoor tables through the day andtrendy young couples gather in the evening for a caffeine fix.

Starbucks' idea of making itself a "third place" in customers'lives between home and work was a novelty in the United States,where in many small towns cafe culture consisted of filter coffeeon a hot plate.

But Melbourne cafe owner Jeremy Jenkins said the situation wasdifferent in Australia, where baristas have been plying their tradeat steaming espresso machines since the 1950s.

"People come in our cafe because they know us and they know they'llget good coffee, we're part of the local community," Jenkins toldAFP.

"Starbucks is a McDonald's coffee experience. It's not about thequality of the coffee, it's about convenience and location."

Starbucks also closed 600 stores in the United States early lastmonth in a move widely seen as a response to belt-tightening amongcustomers less inclined to spend money on luxuries like coffee intough economic times.

Commentators have suggested similar problems hit Starbucks inAustralia, but the queues outside the Met Cafe in central Sydney ona recent windy winter's day indicated many customers were not yetready to sacrifice their coffee hit.

Met Cafe owner Brendan Smart said Starbucks had expanded tooquickly in Australia.

"A few years ago there weren't that many of them and they seemed tobe going OK, but then all of a sudden, they were everywhere," hetold AFP.

"Some city blocks had three Starbucks on them -- it's crazy."

Smart said many customers had told him they did not want to buytheir coffee from a corporate giant and those who had triedStarbucks were not impressed by the product, saying it did notcompare with the numerous local brews available.

"What we do isn't rocket science, I'm the first to admit that, butyou've got to have a passion for coffee that involves everythingfrom grinding the beans to operating the machine," he said.

"You go into Starbucks and it's full of teenagers behind thecounter. I'd question whether they have that passion."

Starbucks now plans to streamline its operation to 23 stores inAustralia's largest cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

City Votes To 'Grandfather In' Giant Ame...

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:25:45 +0200

City Votes To 'Grandfather In' Giant American Flag In Leesburg

LEESBURG, Fla. --

Leesburg residents were protesting a move Monday that could bringdown a giant American flag, but the city council decided to instead'grandfather in' the flag.

SLIDESHOW:

Images Of 30-Foot By 60-Foot American Flag

VOTE:Agree With Decision To Let Giant Flag Keep Flying?

VIDEO REPORT:

Giant American Flag Gets To Keep Flying

The city said the flag is too big, but others call it a citylandmark. The city commission decided to make an exception Mondayto their own rules to keep the flag flying. They were facing alarge crowd of people who are at Monday night's meeting to stand upfor the stars and stripes and found a way to avoid any controversy.

If you drive Highway 441 through Leesburg, you can't miss it. It'sone of the largest, if not the largest, American flags in all ofCentral Florida and it flies over a car dealership.

Greg Clark says it's a tradition, not a trademark. Clark and mosteveryone else who crowded Monday's Leesburg city commission meetingbelieve an ordinance to limit the size of U.S. flags and polesshould be repealed.

The ordinance was originally passed in 2004, along with a new setof rules for signs in Leesburg's business districts. Some considerlarge signs an ugly sight and the city set deadlines for theirremoval, the first wave to hit next January. But because of theenormous cost involved and with some businesses struggling in tougheconomic times, city leaders might consider extending the deadlineanother two years.

As for the 30-foot-by-60-foot star spangled banner, the cityavoided a likely fight if they tried to bring it down. Members ofthe city council that Eyewitness News talked to Monday had saidthey thought patriotism would win out.

The car dealership was annexed into the city of Leesburg in 2006,but the flag has flown since 1987. For that reason, some believethe flag should be grandfathered in and allowed to remain flying.

Western Mass. Flag Football League seaso...

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:24:43 +0200

Western Mass. Flag Football League season set to open

What do former local high school standouts do when their playingdays are over?

Many of them take to the field in the Western Mass. Flag FootballLeague, which begins its 11th season Friday with two night games atHolyoke High School.

"It's a range from 18 to guys who are 36, 37 years of age," saidChad Gibson of Chicopee, the league's commissioner andsingle-season sack leader. "The majority of high school standoutsfrom the past 15 years have all played in the league."

The 11-team WMFFL plays a 13-game regular season over 15 weeks. Thefirst four weeks and the playoffs are held at Holyoke High School,with the remaining games at Van Horn Park in Springfield. When playshifts to Van Horn, two games are held simultaneously on Saturdaysat 8 and 10:30 a.m.

Gibson, who is in his sixth season as commissioner, hopes to take agroup of all-stars to a World Cup qualifying event, sponsored byflagmag.com, a leading resource on flag football.

The league plays 8-on-8, using NCAA rules. The sidelines areconsidered live, which leads to some pretty spirited tackling thatborders on full contact. High school and college officials call thegames.

"I anticipate in probably five years, my main goal is to have thisleague with approximately 20 to 24 teams," Gibson said.

The 2008 WMFFL campaign begins with a rematch of last November'sSuper Bowl, as Gibson's Maximum Capacity Bears open defense oftheir championship against the No Fear Falcons. The Bears arearguably the league's elite team, having won the last two SuperBowls and four of the eight individual postseason awards in 2007.

Gibson and top defensive back Nate Mercier anchor the defense,while the combination of reigning MVP K.J. Walsh at quarterback andreceiver Juni Delgado give the Bears offensive firepower. Otherelite quarterbacks in the league include the Falcons' RichieSantiago, the Eagles' John Frasco and the Redskins' Tim Klett.

Waving the flag on Iraq -- now in rerun!

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:24:13 +0200

Waving the flag on Iraq -- now in rerun!

Waving the flag on Iraq -- now in rerun! It's hard to predict how Obama's trip will play out with voters inNovember. But McCain has obviously decided that whatever flashystunts Obama pulls off, his own best strategy is to stay on message-- and that means turning the Iraq lemon into lemonade. The war maybe hugely unpopular, warmonger-in-chief Bush's approval rating maybe approaching Vlad the Impaler's -- no matter! Attack! The bestdefense is a good offense! Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

It's an audacious strategy, and it could prove to be disastrous.Pickett's charge did not succeed for the Confederacy at Gettysburg.But it's right out of the Karl Rove playbook -- and if recenthistory has taught us anything, it's never to underestimate KarlRove.

Rove, and his star pupil Bush, perfected a political tacticreminiscent of the old Green Bay Packer power sweep: Everyone knowsit's coming, but they still can't stop it. And McCain is too smartnot to stay with a proven winner -- especially because he doesn'thave any choice.

The Rove play is based on three things: wrapping yourself in theflag, never admitting you're wrong, and impugning your opponent.These three tactics have one thing in common: They are aimed at thelowest common denominator of the American people. Under normalcircumstances, they have only limited effectiveness. But when thenation is at war, they are extremely potent -- as John Kerry andthe Democrats found out in 2004. And McCain is going to use themand use them and use them.

McCain's repeated claims that we are succeeding in Iraq and muststay the course to final "victory," and his attacks on Obama, aretextbook examples of the Rove-Bush-GOP tactic. Take the

recent speech

in which McCain attacked Obama for not supporting the "surge." "IfSen. Obama had prevailed, American forces would have had to retreatunder fire. The Iraqi army would have collapsed. Civiliancasualties would have increased dramatically," McCain intoned."Al-Qaida would have killed the Sunni sheikhs who had begun tocooperate with us, and the 'Sunni Awakening' would have beenstrangled at birth. Al-Qaida fighters would have safe havens, fromwhere they could train Iraqis and foreigners and turn Iraq into abase for launching attacks on Americans elsewhere. Civil war,genocide and wider conflict would have been likely."

McCain then went on to sketch an even more apocalyptic vision ofwhat would have happened if America had been led by the weak andtraitorous Obama instead of the brave and resolute Bush:

Badminton venue chief denies report on f...

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:23:30 +0200

Badminton venue chief denies report on flag-related complaint

Special report:

2008 Olympic Games

BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Olympic badminton venue chief onTuesday blasted at a report about a flag complaint lodged by aBritish Olympic official, labelling it "totally ungrounded."

Ren Chunhui, executive deputy director of Beijing Olympic badmintoncompetition venue located at the Beijing University of Technology(BJUT), said that the media department of the venue has beeninformed of "the irresponsible report".

An Australian newspaper reported Monday that British Olympicofficial Clive Woodward complained in an official chefs de missionmeeting that the English flag had been hung at the badminton venue,not the Union Jack, an oversight that will upset Scottish, Welshand Northern Irish competitors.

"We didn't hang the English flag in our gym, not Union Jack flageither," said Ren, emphasizing that some Britons working at thevenue can prove it.

"We are considering seeking apology from the reporter," said thevenue chief.

the Olympic badminton competition, scheduled to be held in the BJUTgymnasium from August 9 to August 17, will attract a record50teams.

Friends help park win flag

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:22:58 +0200

Friends help park win flag

Jul 29 2008

Peter Collins

, South Wales Echo

A VICTORIAN park in central Penarth has been recognised for afourth successive year in a national award scheme.

The Green Flag Award recognises the best green spaces in thecountry, and Penarth’s Belle Vue was judged to be welcoming,safe and well maintained, with a strong involvement from the localcommunity.

The park is managed by Vale of Glamorgan Council’s parks andgrounds maintenance division with the support of a dedicatedFriends of Belle Vue Park organisation.

Councillor Geoff Cox, the council’s cabinet member forvisible and building services, said: “The award is a tributeto the marvellous partnership work of parks staff, the Friends andthe community park keeper.”

As a community association the Friends have raised money to carryout a range of improvements to the park, including a new play area,dog-proof fencing and new beds with flowers, trees and shrubs.

Sibling care appeal

A NEW initiative to recruit foster carers to help keep brothers andsisters together has been launched.

Bridgend Foster Care, which is part of Bridgend Council, has beensuccessfully recruiting and training new foster carers but there isstill a significant shortage of carers who can look after siblings.

Foster care team manager Diana Nyomtato said: “We try as muchas possible to make sure brothers and sisters are kept together butit can be problematic finding carers with homes large enough tocater for more than one child.”

Bridgend Foster Care can be contacted on 01656 642349.

Biggest cheese

HIS year’s Big Cheese Festival in Caerphilly town centre wasa record- breaker as crowds flocked to the site to enjoy the funand blazing sunshine.

As the temperature soared at the weekend, so did visitor numbers,with an estimated 100,000 attending.

Council leader Lindsay Whittle said: “A lot of hard work goesinto organising this major weekend festival and I would like tothank the event team and our sponsors for their continuedsupport.”

Breaking The Metal Mold

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:22:33 +0200

Breaking The Metal Mold

At first, the company used the alloy to manufacture products forthe restaurant industry.

It wasn't until the early to mid-'70s that we started selling it atthe retail level, Lefever said.

Wilton Armetale now makes about 700 different cookware andserveware products, Lefever said, turning out about 700,000 items ayear with a work force of 80 to 85 employees and sales runningbetween $15 million and $20 million.

We are the largest manufacturer and supplier of alternative metalin the country, Lefever said. We call ourselves the last manstanding' ... in an industry where made in the USA still meanssomething.

But to grow, he said, the company had to break with that tradition,a decision that Lefever said has not always set well with all itscustomers.

The new lines of glassware and ceramics are not Wilton Armetale'sfirst forays into outsourcing. They're part of a process ofmodernization that began several years ago.

One of the first steps the company took to ensure its future was toinvest about $4 million in new equipment in 1999 and 2000 to makeits Mount Joy foundry operations more efficient and environmentallyfriendly.

Expanding its brand beyond metal was another step in the process.

For us to continue to grow our business, we realized we had tobranch off into other media, Lefever said. The reason we import theglassware and ceramics is we don't have the expertise to do thatourselves.

Importing is also a step that most of Wilton Armetale's competitors- Arthur Court, Mariposa, Namb and Lenox - took some time ago.

We have to constantly reinvent ourselves when we're in an industryas competitive as this, Lefever said.

The company began exploring the idea of outsourcing around 2005,Lefever said, approaching several of its major customers, such asMacy's, to see if there would be a market for cheaper, mass-produced versions of some of the company's original metal breadtrays.

Finding the right supplier in China took about 18 months.

The challenge, Lefever said, was to find an environmentallyfriendly manufacturer that treated its workers right. And it alsohad to be someone who could be entrusted with the formula for theArmetale alloy.

He credits Ivan Jeffery, president of Crescent Brass in Reading anda longtime friend of Fred Wilton, with helping the company find theright supplier.

It's not that difficult to do business in China, Jeffery said,although the idea scares people at first.

Crescent is similar to Wilton Armetale in being a century-oldfoundry that still pours its own metal castings, Jeffery said.

But unlike Wilton, Crescent Brass has been outsourcing some of itsproducts for a long time.

We started in Taiwan and Italy 25 years ago, Jeffery said. We'vebeen in China about 10 years and have developed relationships justlike you would doing business in this country.

Lefever said he and Fred Wilton flew to China and spent more than aweek there visiting with the company's owner.

\It's been a very good relationship, Lefever said. He's an honestbusinessman who has never breached the issue of confidentiality.We've never seen any of our products show up anywhere else.

\It also turned out to be a profitable relationship.

\That first year, we sold 250,000 units, Lefever said.

\But the outsourcing was a big change for our customers, Lefeversaid.

\The company wholesales its products to nearly every departmentstore in the country, along with about 1,800 independent andspecialty shops across the U.S. and Canada.

\Some of them were upset, Lefever explained, and were saying Wiltonis selling out by importing some of its products from China.

That has begun to change, he said, as they've recognized that thequality is not any different from the products made here. And thathas helped pave the way for the company to leverage its well-knownbrand with imported glassware and ceramics.

Jeffery also helped Wilton Armetale find its ceramics supplier. Inaddition to Crescent Brass, he runs a company with a partner inmainland China - Total Source Trading - that imports a variety offinished products and has contacts with a broad range ofindustries.

The ceramics supplier, like the metal supplier, is in GuangdongProvince, in southern China.

Wilton Armetale's connection with its glassware supplier in Mexicois a different story.

Lefever said that relationship grew out of a tour of factories heand Fred Wilton made independent of Jeffery.

During their travels, one of the metal suppliers they were visitingin Guadalajara happened to mention that he also had a factory thatmakes hand-blown glass, Lefever said.

That company, Hacienda Real, is now producing Wilton Armetale's newline of Bello Vaso glassware.

Wilton already has a stock of the glassware at its 80,000-square-foot distribution warehouse on Stony Battery Road, and it hopes tostart shipping its new line of ceramics around Oct. 1, at thebeginning of the busy holiday gift season.

Our goal, over the next three years, is to try to do $1 million ineach product line, Lefever said.

The company had the same goal when it came out with its locallymade Gourmet Grillware a couple of years ago, a line sold throughsuch outlets as Home Depot that is now bringing in $600,000 to$700,000 a year.

That will always be made here, Lefever said. We believe there'salways going to be an advantage to make some of our productsdomestically.

Popular Bedroom, bathroom glassware

beibei2 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:21:59 +0200

Popular Bedroom, bathroom glassware

All these assumptions are certainly reasonable and cover some ofthe most likely scenarios. Most vintage glassware, depression orotherwise, comprises items to be used in the dining room orkitchen.

But another avidly sought type of depression glass may have youheaded elsewhere in the house. Items termed bedroom and bathroom glassware are a popular collectible category encompassingdecorative pieces as well as those used for personal grooming. Hereare some of the objects collectors look for.

Lamps

Although lamps are certainly not limited to the bedside table, thatis what many depression era glass lamps were made for. With bothglass bases and glass shades, many of these lamps haven't survivedthe years intact and unscathed, but those that have are much indemand by collectors. Bedside lamps often have figural bases -well-dressed ladies and Scotty dogs are two examples of popularthemes used. Lamps may be clear, coloured or frosted glass. Theymay also have fired-on colour or painted details.

Perfume and Cologne Bottles

Old perfume bottles make up a popular collecting category all theirown, but there is a distinct elegance to those from the depressionera. Plain, patterned, or art deco in style, perfumes and colognesoffer a huge selection to collectors. Some seek single bottles,while others look for matched vanity sets consisting of two or morebottles, a powder jar and sometimes a glass tray. A range ofcoloured glass bottles from amber to cobalt blue can be found. Onecommon collector concern is the difficulty in finding intact glassstoppers for the bottles though, as they were so often damaged orbroken.

Powder Jars

Made to hold facial or body powder, depression era powder jarsoften capture the imagination of collectors who appreciate whimsy.Many jars are either embellished with a figure as a knob on top ofthe cover, or the whole container itself may be figural. Somecommon themes include well-dressed ladies and animals. Non-figuraljars may be patterned or plain. Examples can be found in manycolours in both clear and frosted glass. Some collectors acceptminor wear and roughness on interior cover edges, which is to beexpected from years of moving a lid on and off.

Other Items

For the bedroom, some other collectible items include glass clocks,and guest or night sets consisting of a water pitcher and glass orglasses. For the bathroom, various toiletry jars and containers,soap dishes and even glass towel bars can be found. As with alldepression glass, collectors want pieces in the best conditionpossible without chips or damage.

So whether enjoying someone else's collection of depression glassor perhaps thinking of starting your own, remember this lovelyglassware doesn't have to be restricted to the china cabinet.

Riel Nason catontheporch@yahoo.ca is a columnist, collector andantique dealer living in Quispamsis. Her column appears the lastSaturday of every month.