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Does the Bible say anything about cremation?
from R.C. Sproul Jr. Jun 02, 2011 Category: Articles
No. Cremation, however, may have something to say about the Bible. The proper handling of human bodies after death is not something the Bible expressly deals with. There are sundry ceremonial laws in the Old Covenant about touching dead bodies, but no instruction on what to do with these bodies. As such we need to be careful not to condemn what the Bible does not condemn. How though, could cremation speak to the Bible?
Cremation, strange as it may sound, is a form of liturgy. It is a form for dealing with matters of eternal consequence. As a form it in turn communicates a message. That message, it seems, does speak against the Bible's understanding of death. Cremation, however subtly, suggests that our bodies are of no significance or import, that they are simply so much trash that must be burned. It is implicitly a Gnostic practice, a denial of the goodness of the creation in general and the human body in particular.
Burial, on the other hand, communicates something far more consistent with the Bible. It affirms not only that the human body has dignity, but also that it has a future. It affirms that death is not the end of the body. Consider for a moment why so many cemeteries have in their name some variation on the notion of "Garden." That cemeteries are well kept and green is consistent with our dignity, but that is not what "Garden" in this context communicates. Because of the promise of the gospel, because of the promise of the resurrection, we are not so much burying the bodies of our loved ones when they pass, as planting them. We are put in the ground to wait for the return of Christ when our corruptible bodies will be made incorruptible.
The practice of burial is so closely identified with the Christian perspective on death and the human body that anthropologists track the spread of the Christian faith westward across Europe through history by looking to the spread of cemeteries. They know that Christianity came to dominate a given region at that time that cemeteries came into use.
Anytime we consider how our behavior communicates we need to be careful. On the one hand we don't want to be Gnostic enough to suggest that our bodies, and how we treat them are meaningless and communicate nothing. On the other hand this does not mean that anyone who ever approved or requested a cremation has self-consciously denied the gospel and affirmed Gnosticism. Of course buried bodies decompose. And of course, better still, cremated bodies will in fact be resurrected. Nothing we do can undo the promises of God and the glory of the resurrection. Balance, however, suggests that we think through our behavior, that we think deliberately. Balance also suggests that we ought to honor our fathers who gave us this liturgy in the first place.
One cannot say that cremation is a sin. One might say that burial better reflects the biblical perspective on life, death and the body. One can say with certainty that Christ will come again, and our bodies will be raised again, never to die again.


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This article by Tripp Hudgins (aka @anglobaptist) originally appeared on anglobaptist.org.
I guess I should offer a caveat right from the start. I know I'm privileged. I know that my white, southern, maleness may make the following invalid to many. Still, I'm in The Body known as the Church, too. So, here's some musing on disillusionment, loving the unloving, and what it means to remain invested in the institutional life of Christianity.
It was 1992 when I was enrolled at what was then a clandestine Baptist seminary in Richmond, Virginia. Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond was just getting started. My step-grandfather was involved in the initial planning. The faculty was comprised primarily of folk who had lost tenure at places like Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. They were too liberal...whatever that meant in the 1980's. The Fudamentalist Takeover had been successful and these intellectual leaders had been ousted from their seminary positions. BTSR was a place to regroup. It was a place to keep working. It was a place to start over. The students who first attended were also looking for a place to escape the insanity of Baptist life of the 1980's. Of course this would prove impossible. We brought the fights and fears into the classroom with us. We looked around and could only see small churches with entrenched and hurtful attitudes about women, human sexuality, and a myriad of other social issues. Enter E. Glenn Hinson...
Glenn was the professor for Christian Spirituality and taught an amazing class on the History of Christian Spirituality. He was also my advisor and encouraged me to become involved at Richmond Hill.
Glenn decided to host a book study group. We were to read Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. We struggled with the language, both Bonhoeffer's dense thinking and prose, and the gendered language. We were all about the issue of gender in language about God and Christianity. But we worked through it and found ourselves struggling with the passages about disillusionment.
Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.
By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world...The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community, the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more that the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.
Glenn shared his struggles, his losses. He spoke of how he lost tenure in the most abrupt and cruel of ways. Then he demonstrated again and again how through history the Church has been a place of brokeness...just like the rest of the world. He spoke of humility, the humility it takes to repent and forgive...and to recognize that we are not immune to one another's cruelty. We all shared our frustrations and fears. We each had our utopian vision for the Church. Again and again Glenn knocked them down. He did us a great kindness by doing so. Bonhoeffer wrote, "God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious."
The Church is not a purity cult. We try to turn our institutions into purity cultus of behavior or belief all the time. We're really good at it. We've fought wars over our theologies wrapped in nationalism. We've crusaded from west to east all in the name of the purity of the Church. "Ex filio" was a war cry a thousand years ago.
Rachel Held Evans is right. Evangelicalism may very well be losing a generation and by extension, we all are. But then some of us have been losing parts of generations for a long time. Some of the Boomers walked never to return. More of Gen X did the same. Now the enormous generation of Millennials is having its say. Many are voting with their feet. They are tired of the culture wars. They are tired of the purity fights. Many people from various generations are. They are all voting with their feet. The same thing is happening in Catholicism though some arechoosing to stay. If it weren't for the influx of Catholic immigrants to the US, we'd see the same statistical free fall in Catholicism that the mainline is experiencing.
Maybe those who leave the Church actually understand Bonhoeffer. I don't know. Maybe they are looking for what I like to call the "impurity cult" of Christianity. I don't know. All I know is disillusionment, in the end, is good for us. We need to learn that the Church is no different from any other community. We hurt one another. We even kill one another. It can be as terrible as any other place. And it actually becomes more so when we fall for the lie that we're better than anyone or anywhere else...that we are somehow morally pure.
I understand that I'm in a privileged position in many ways. My life and my rights are not threatened in any way. I understand that. I'm not suggesting that people not leave the institutional life of the Body of Christ. If you are being abused, get out. And if you need to stand in solidarity with the abused by leaving with them, then do so. What I do ask you to consider is this: it is one thing to love the "unloveable" or the lepers of this world. It is another thing all together to love the "unloving," the Pharisees of this world. God loves them both and the unloving will always be part of our life together. We are the unlovable and the unloving and we're all in this thing together.
Glenn echoed Bonhoeffer who echoed Christ: life in the Body, in the community of Christ, is not a safe place, a pure place with shiny happy people holding hands. It's not "up with people." It's a place with real people who will intentionally or not find ways to hurt one another. We will always need repentance and forgiveness in our life together. No matter how fluid (or post-modern) the institution, we will need these practices because we will always find some way to oppress one another.
In the end, disillusionment is good for us. We need to rid ourselves of the illusion that there is such a thing as a perfect Church. It doesn't exist. Our imperfections come with us, our impurities come with us when we enter into the life of the Church. So we repent. We forgive. And, sometimes we leave.

subset: commoncrawl


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Apple has been hit by a class-action lawsuit claiming the company deceived customers over the quality of the screens in the 20-inch iMacs launched last summer.
The screens are inferior in quality to those in the previous generation of 20-inch iMacs, and to those in the current generation of 24-inch iMacs, and are practically unusable for uses such as editing photographs, according to the lawsuit, filed by Kabateck Brown Kellner LLP.
"Apple is duping its customers into thinking they're buying 'new and improved' when in fact they're getting stuck with 'new and inferior'," said Kabateck Brown Kellner managing partner Brian Kabateck, in a statement. "Beneath Apple's 'good guy' image is a corporation that takes advantage of its customers."
The company pointed to claims by Apple that the 20-inch iMac's screens can display "millions of colors at all resolutions" and provides a "stunning" visual experience for uses such as watching movies, editing photos and playing games.
In fact, these claims are only accurate for the 24-inch iMac, which can display 16,777,216 colors, according to the law firm. The 20-inch system, introduced in August 2007, can only display 262,144 colors and uses a different, cheaper LCD technology called six-bit twisted nematic film (TN).
"The 20-inch iMac's TN screens have a narrower viewing angle, less color depth, less color accuracy and are more susceptible to washout across the screen," the law firm stated. The technology is "particularly ill-suited to editing photographs because of the display's limited color potential and the distorting effect of the color simulation processes," the firm said.
In 2005 Apple settled two different class-action suits covering its iPod music players, one covering the capabilities of the iPods' batteries and another claiming that the iPod Nano's screen quickly became scratched and unusable under normal use.


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I know I already have a Devil's Food recipe on my site, but this recipe is actually a different one. When I first started my blog, the Devil's Food Cake that I made for my friend's birthday was actually the first post I ever put up and I made it straight out of a recipe book.
As I've gotten into baking and blogging, I now choose recipes differently. I no longer just take them out of a book and leave it at that. Now I enjoy the process of doing research. I go to different blogs and recipe sites and see what the common elements of a particular recipe is. Sometimes even looking up the history. I really enjoy this process and am always learning new things.
For this cupcake recipe, I did my usual process and started looking at other recipes to see if the one that I'd used out of a recipe book was a common one or something different.
It was a little confusing, some used real chocolate, some used cocoa, some had a mixture. Some recipes used sour cream, others used buttermilk. So I had a look at Wiki's definition of Devil's Food and it really helped with choosing a recipe for these cupcakes.
It seems the important elements of a Devil's Food recipe is the addition of coffee, using cocoa and boiling or hot water instead of milk.
I wasn't sure if I should use sour cream or buttermilk, but Wiki mentioned that Devil's Food is a close relative to Red Velvet cake, and so I opted for buttermilk.
The reason I decided to make Devil's Food cupcakes was to match them up with Angel's Food cupcakes for Halloween. They make a really great pair, naughty and good, both in appearance and in calories ;)
I made these even naughtier by filling them with a generous filling of Nutella. I used one of my favourite frostings, Swiss Meringue Buttercream, to top them off. Creamy, silky and oh so good!
Dressed with glittered horns and tails, they're devilishly good!
This recipe is now my favourite for chocolate cupcakes. They're moist and perfectly dense, which makes them really great for filling and they hold their shape beautifully once baked. This is definitely my new go-to chocolate sponge recipe. Oh, and you don't actually taste the coffee, it just adds a lovely richness. Give them a try!
Makes 24 cupcakes
3/4 cup Strong Hot Coffee (brewed or instant)
3/4 cup Cocoa
170g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 cups Brown Sugar
3 Large Eggs, room temperature
2 1/2 cups Plain Flour
1 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted)
- Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners
- Whisk together coffee and cocoa and a small bowl, cover bowl with clingfilm and set aside
- Sift together flour, bicarb and baking powder, set aside
- Measure out buttermilk and mix with vanilla extract, set aside
- In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and salt
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating each egg in thoroughly and scraping the side of the bowl before adding the next egg
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined
- Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix until combined
- Repeat, ending with the last of the flour mixture
- Add the cocoa and coffee mixture and mix until thoroughly combined
- Divide equally into prepared cupcake liners
- Bake for 20-25mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
- Allow to cool thoroughly on wire racks before filling and frosting
- Once cooled, use an apple corer to make a hole in each cupcake
- Pipe or spoon Nutella into each cupcake hole
- Top off with generous swirls of chocolate Swiss Buttercream and decorate as desired
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Enough for a generous swirl of frosting on 24 cupcakes
4 Large Egg Whites, room temperature
200g Granulated White Sugar
350g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
200g 75%-85% Good Quality Dark Chocolate
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, set aside to cool
- Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl
- Put the bowl over a pot of simmering water
- Whisk over heat until all the sugar is dissolved and it resembles marshmallow fluff, about 3 mins
- Pour the mixture into a large bowl and beat until the mixture is cool and you have a glossy meringue
- Beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time, making sure it's completely mixed in before adding more
- Tip: At some point it will look curdled, DON'T WORRY! Once you've added all of the butter, just keep beating and it will come together to form a smooth, creamy buttercream
- Beat in the vanilla extract and then mix in the cooled and melted chocolate
To Make Chocolate Horns and Tails
- Temper your chocolate and cool until it's a suitable piping consistency, you don't want it too thin or thick
- Fill a piping bag or parchment cone and pipe the chocolate into the shapes of horns or tails
- Tip: You can draw the shapes before hand on a piece of paper then place the paper under the parchment or acetate to trace over
- While the chocolate is still a little bit tacky, sprinkle with red edible glitter or brush with lustre dust
- Allow to set completely before removing carefully and decorating your cupcakes. If possible, wear cotton gloves to reduce the heat from your hands
Recipe Adapted from Food Network


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Dame Judi Dench supporting us
Lets get it to number one -
The cull is unscientific, unethical and wont work .
Dame Judi supports Team Badger and would vote for Brian May.
Vote for Brian May by signing the petition . Sign and share the petition at www.teambadger.org
Badger culling will not help TB in British cattle
Culling badgers could make the problem of cattle TB worse
No country has successfully tackled TB in cattle through killing wildlife
Vaccination is the only way to tackle TB in any species
Owen Paterson is ignoring Defra's own scientific research


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ByGreg Bensinger
Amazon.com knows you so well it wants to ship your next package before you order it.
The Seattle retailer in December gained a patent for what it calls "anticipatory shipping," a method to start delivering packages even before customers click "buy."
The technique could cut delivery time and discourage consumers from visiting physical stores. In the patent document, Amazon says delays between ordering and receiving purchases "may dissuade customers from buying items from online merchants."
So Amazon says it may box and ship products it expects customers in a specific area will want – based on previous orders and other factors — but haven't yet ordered. According to the patent, the packages could wait at the shippers' hubs or on trucks until an order arrives.
An image from patent, showing a possible logistics trail:
In deciding what to ship, Amazon said it may consider previous orders, product searches, wish lists, shopping-cart contents, returns and even how long an Internet user's cursor hovers over an item.
Today, Amazon receives an order, then labels packages with addresses at its warehouses and loads them onto waiting UPS, USPS or other trucks, which may take them directly to customers' homes or load them onto other trucks for final delivery.
It has been working to cut delivery times, expanding its warehouse network to begin overnight and same-day deliveries. Last year, Amazon said it is working on unmanned flying vehicles that could take small packages to homes directly from its warehouses.
In the patent, Amazon does not estimate how much the technique will reduce delivery times.
The patent exemplifies a growing trend among technology and consumer firms to anticipate consumers' needs, even before consumers do. Today, there are refrigerators that can tell when it's time to buy more milk, smart televisions that predict which shows to record and Google's Now software, which aims to predict users' daily scheduling needs.
It's not clear if Amazon has deployed or will deploy the technique. A spokeswoman declined to comment.
But the patent demonstrates one way Amazon hopes to leverage its vast trove of customer data to edge out rivals.
"It appears Amazon is taking advantage of their copious data," said Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research analyst. "Based on all the things they know about their customers they could predict demand based on a variety of factors."
According to the patent, Amazon may fill out partial street addresses or zip codes to get items closer to where customers need them, and later complete the label in transit, the company said. For large apartment buildings, "a package without addressee information may be speculatively shipped to a physical address … having a number of tenants," Amazon said in the patent.
Amazon said the predictive shipping method might work particularly well for a popular book or other items that customers want on the day they are released. As well, Amazon might suggest items already in transit to customers using its website to ensure they are delivered, according to the patent.
Of course, Amazon's algorithms might sometimes err, prompting costly returns. To minimize those costs, Amazon said it might consider giving customers discounts, or convert the unwanted delivery into a gift. "Delivering the package to the given customer as a promotional gift may be used to build goodwill," the patent said.


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Grange Buckingham offers a number of convenient hotel services to ensure you have every comfort during your stay.
The Concierge desk is open 24-hours to assist you with any additional hotel, sightseeing or travel requirements you may have. Services rendered include luggage storage, tourist recommendations, bookings for theatre shows, provision of local maps and directions, public transport information, and taxi hire.
A same-day laundry and dry cleaning service is available to all our hotel guests from Monday-Sunday.
Laundry bags and dry-cleaning forms can be found in your bedroom wardrobe. Items handed in to Reception or Concierge before 08:45 will be returned to you the same evening.
An iron and ironing board can also be obtained upon request.
Families and guests with children are welcome at Grange Buckingham. A cot can be provided free of charge for infants up to 2 years of age. Extra beds can be provided on request for children up to 9 years of age and over, for an additional charge. Full details are given on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
A daily newspaper is available for all hotel guests with our compliments This paper is specific to the hotel. All other daily newspapers or publications can be provided upon request at the appropriate rate. Please note that orders should be placed with Reception in advance. Some publications (mostly international) will require 24hrs notice.
Room Service is available 24 hours a day for your convenience. Our Room Service menu offers main meals as well as light bites and snacks, and can be found in your hotel bedroom.
Please note that Room Service charges apply. For more details refer to our Frequently Asked Questions.
A shoe-shine machine is available for your convenience, and is located in the hotel reception on the Ground Floor.
Complimentary dental kits, shaving kits and sewing kits can be obtained upon request at Reception. A universal mobile phone battery charger is also available if you need to charge your mobile phone.
Our cookies enhance browsing, they never store information about you. Our cookie policy.


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Jan. 3, 2002
FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Christian University's women's basketball team snapped Santa Clara's six-game win streak with a 76-66 win to close non-conference action tonight at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Down 18 at the half, the Broncos launched a comeback in the second period, shooting 50 percent from the field and making all 15 free throw attempts, but it wasn't enough, as both teams will enter league play next weekend with identical 10-3 records. The Broncos finish their 2001-02 non-conference season tied for its second-best mark in the last 10 years. SCU's most successful non-conference campaign came during the 1990-91 season when the squad went 12-2, en route to a 28-3 mark and the WNIT Championship.
TCU's Kati Safaritova followed her career-high 29 points from two nights ago with seven straight to start the scoring and a teammate added two more, before Santa Clara could respond with a three by junior forward Tammy Annas. Down 16-8 at the first media timeout, Bronco head coach Chris Denker inserted his entire second string, hoping to change the game's flow, but the 12 turnovers SCU committed in the half, along with a .333 shooting percentage, created a 18-point deficit at intermission, 41-23.
The Broncos opened the second period a new team, outscoring TCU 12-5 in the first four minutes, with two baskets each by junior forward Kendra Rhea, on the inside, and senior guard Becki Ashbaugh, from behind the arc, that reduced the lead to 11 at 46-35. SCU increased the run to an 18-8 advantage and was only down by eight with 13 minutes remaining, on two free throws by senior guard Caroline Gruening, who was fouled driving to the basket after stealing the ball under the Bronco basket on a TCU inbound play.
Freshman guard Quinn Thomas converted three-point play to reduce the TCU lead to seven with 4:28 remaining. A coast-to-coast drive by Ashbaugh made it a five-point deficit at 71-66 with 2:36 remaining, but it was as close as the Broncos would get.
Santa Clara was led by Ashbaugh's 17 points. The Broncos' defensive effort was led by Gruening's career-high seven rebounds and six steals. Santa Clara's shooting percentage in the second period marked the sixth time in the last eight halves of play that the team has shot over .500. Additionally, the team was held to a season-low four baskets from three-point land. The Broncos went 18-19 overall from the charity stripe for a season-high 94.7 percentage.
Safaritova finished with 14 points to lead the Lady Frogs, while Sandora Irvin pulled down a game-high nine boards. TCU's Ebony Shaw went down midway through the second half after injuring a knee while chasing a ball. She finished with 11 points.
Santa Clara returns home and will open the West Coast Conference season next week, hosting Gonzaga on Thursday, January 10. Fans that donate a jacket will receive a $2 admission price as part of "Bring a Coat Night." Portland will also visit the Leavey Center, on Saturday, January 12. The Broncos will celebrate Middle School Madness and Girl Scout Night against the Pilots. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.


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Photo of Ellen Gleason courtesy of Gil Talbot.
Five members of the Harvard women's lacrosse team were named to the All-Ivy League team as voted on the league coaches. Jennifer VanderMeulen and Melanie Baskind both earned spots on the All-Ivy League first-team to lead the Crimson.
This is the first time since 1994 that five Harvard women have been selected to the all-conference team.
After leading the league in scoring (both overall and Ivy games only), VanderMeulen earned her second consecutive selection to the All-Ivy first team. The sophomore attack averaged 3.57 goals per game in Ivy play (25 total) and 3.21 goals per game overall (45 total), helping the Crimson to its No. 1 League rank of 12.43 goals per game. She scored multiple times in all 16 games played this season, including five in a near upset of then No. 7 Virginia April 3 and April 23 in a 15-9 victory over Columbia.
Joining VanderMeulen on the first team is Baskind. This is the second women's lacrosse All-Ivy selection for the junior midfielder, though the dual-sport athlete has earned All-Ivy honors three times in women's soccer, including first-team selection this past fall. As she did on the soccer pitch, Baskind was key to the Crimson midfield, recording 13 goals, two assists, six caused turnovers and a team-high 16 ground balls during Ivy competition. For the season, Baskind was one of four Crimson players to record 20-plus goals, netting 25 to go along with six assists and 30 ground balls (2.14 per game ranked No. 4 in the League).
Danielle Tetreault and Ellen Gleason were named to the second-team, earning All-Ivy accolades for the first time. Tetreault was second on the Crimson in goals (36) and points (42). She led the team in draw controls with 25 and also collected 12 ground balls. Gleason was a mainstay on the defense all season long, causing 15 turnovers, collecting 21 ground balls and winning 19 draw controls.
Jess Halpern earned Ancient Eight honors for the third time when she received honorable mention this season. Halpern, a first-team selection as a sophomore and second-team honoree as a freshman was again one of the top attackers. Despite a slow start to the season, coming back from a season-ending knee injury last year, Halpern scored 26 goals in 13 games for the Crimson.
Harvard will be the third seed at the Ivy League Tournament this weekend at Penn. The Crimson will face the No. 2 seed Dartmouth Friday at 4 p.m.


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In late August, months before launch, retail copies of Resident Evil 6 appeared in Europe. Kotaku wondered if these were stolen goods, and according to Capcom, they were.
"Capcom is currently undertaking a thorough investigation into reports that Resident Evil 6 is being sold ahead of its official October 2 release date," Capcom told Eurogamer.
"At this time, all we can add is that it would appear this unfortunate incident is limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game."
Resident Evil 6 goes on sale October 2.
Capcom corroborates: Stolen copies of Resident Evil 6 have been sold [Eurogamer]


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"Unique marinas in Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro and Greece"Huzur Mah. Maslak Ayazaga Cad. No:2, Sariyer, Istanbul, Turkey
Read more
D-Marin operates a global network of unique marinas in the Eastern Mediterranean. Each equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and premium yacht berths, its unique marinas are set in some of the world's most beautiful locations.


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Recent News
May 20, 2014
Kraft Foods Group Recalls Select Cottage Cheese Products
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services received information regarding a recall for various cottage cheese products distributed by Kraft Foods Group. A voluntarily recall for select Knudsen Cottage Cheese, Breakstone's Cottage Cheese, Simply Kraft Cottage Cheese, and Daily Chef Cottage Cheese products has been issued by the Company. Some ingredients used in these products were not stored in accordance with Kraft's temperature standards. While unlikely, this could create conditions that could lead to premature spoilage and/or food borne illness; therefore, the company is issuing the recall as a precaution.
The affected products all have code dates from May 9, 2014 through July 23, 2014. Approximately 1.2 million cases of affected product were shipped to customers across the United States. The affected products were not distributed outside of the United States. See the announcement from the FDA Recall page for product information. Link: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm397901.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
Consumers can find the code date on the bottom of the cup or the top of the package. Simply Kraft products with a plant code of 36-2158 on the cups or a "W" in the case code (e.g., "W 21 JUL 2014") are not affected. Simply Kraft products subject to the recall are only those with a plant code of 06-245 on the bottom of the cup and case code date without any "W" (e.g., "21 JUL 2014"). No other Knudsen, Breakstone's, Simply Kraft or Daily Chef products are impacted by this recall. The Tulare, Calif. manufacturing facility, where all of the affected products were produced, has ceased production and distribution of the affected products as the company works to address the problem. Consumers who purchased any of these products should not eat them. They should return them to the store where purchased for an exchange or full refund.
The full recall notice can be found at: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm397901.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.


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Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you attempt to quell the rising violence in Thailand. Nothing makes me sadder than seeing violence in Thailand. That place is meant to be a haven of spicy delicious food and hedonistic behavior. Don't ruin a good thing, angry people! We have so little to look forward to these days! LET'S GO!
AMERICAN IDOL – 9:00PM (FOX) Bieber! It's Bieber! Bieber's here! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
/wakes up and screams and faints again
/fans self with Bieber autobiography pamphlet
Oh my God. Oh my God, I can't believe he's here! HE JUST LOOKED AT ME! Did you see that? He totally looked at me! I'm never washing these eyes again! His hair! I found one of his hairs on the ground! I think it's his! I will floss with every day until I am in my GRAVE! I love you, Justin! No one hearts you like I do! You're the best Bieber ever! No one Biebs like you do! CHOOSE ME! ANTICIPATION: BIEEEEBERRRRRR!
THE GOOD GUYS – 8:00PM (FOX) It's the pilot episode of this buddy cop action comedy starring Bradley Whitford (rocking a killer mustache) and Colin Hanks (Tom Hanks' kid. Sorry, fella. I'll never think of you otherwise). Whitford is an alkie detective assigned to a young protégé after, as is standard in the buddy cop genre, breakin' some stupid rule. Early reviews are tepid. But I'll watch anything if it looks like a 60-minute version of the "Sabotage" video. ANTICIPATION: NO BLACK PARTNER?
TOP CHEF MASTERS – 10:00PM (Bravo – an NBC/Universal network) The chefs have to do fancy tailgating tonight. And let it be known that I would cut off both my arms to have Susur Lee as my private chef. That guy is no joke. ANTICIPATION: OH HOW I WISH I WERE A JUDGE THEY'D ALL GET FIVE STARS
MODERN FAMILY – 9:00PM (ABC) Claire wants to take a family portrait. Why doesn't she just take a screengrab of the one from the opening credits? ANTICIPATION: I HATE POSING FOR PHOTOS AND SO DO YOU
I GET THAT A LOT – 8:00PM (CBS) Celebrities dress up as filthy common folk in hopes of being recognized. Good luck with that, Nick Jonas. No one over 15 knows who you are. And no one under 14 cares. Know why? BIEEEBERRRRRRR! ANTICIPATION: TIM GUNN DOES A LOTTA SLUMMING!


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Hi all. I'm new to the forum but not new to all things paranormal. I live in York, PA (West York to be exact). I was wondering if someone had any info of close by places I could visit. I already been to the Hex Hollow a few times with my friends. Went there during the day and at night. Weird stuff happens there at night. My friends and I got chased out of there. We were at the lake and there was a mist forming on the lake and it chased us out. We fled outta there so fast! There is something uneasy about that lake. I don't know what it is! I wouldn't go by myself because I don't know the area that well. My friend knows that area like the back of her hand. She lives in the trailer park that is right by it.
Anyway, I also heard from my friend that Indian Rock Dam Road bridge is haunted also. I really didn't sense anything evil there.
If anyone knows of any close by haunts let me know okay? Thanks! I also know about the 7 gates of hell. I think I drove by there with my friends once.
Any haunts in York? (about 15 miles away)
Started by SandyGhost , Aug 18 2012 05:35 PM
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Hainer named chairman of Bayern supervisory board
Herbert Hainer has been named chairman of Bayern Munich's supervisory board following the resignation of Uli Hoeness.
Hoeness tendered his resignation as president and chairman earlier on Friday, after receiving a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for tax evasion on Thursday.
The 62-year-old said he fully accepted the decision and would not appeal the sentence administered by a German court.
Initially Hoeness was charged with defrauding authorities of €3.5 million, however at his trial in Munich the actual figure was revealed to be €27.2m.
Hoeness brought the evasion to the attention of authorities last year, in a move his defence team hoped would mitigate any punishment.
But - following three days of hearings - Hoeness was found guilty of seven counts of tax evasion and decided to relinquish his post at Bayern.
Hainer, currently deputy chairman, now takes the role of chairman "until further notice".
A statement on Bayern's official website read: "Herbert Hainer (59), adidas AG CEO and previously deputy chairman of the FC Bayern Munich AG supervisory board, is appointed chairman of the supervisory board, effective immediately and until further notice. This decision was unanimously approved by the supervisory board."
Upon the announcement, Hainer paid tribute to Hoeness' legacy.
"Uli Hoeness hhas always devoted his leadership qualities, great personal commitment and outstanding lifelong effort to the best interests of FC Bayern Munich," he said.
"He is very largely responsible for FC Bayern Munich becoming one of the most successful and attractive clubs in the world both in sporting and financial terms. We offer him heartfelt thanks and gratitude for this."


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Syria Sweeps Into Rebel Stronghold
DAMASCUS—Syrian government forces, backed by members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, launched a sweeping operation Sunday to capture a rebel stronghold near the Lebanese border, according to Syrian state media and activists opposed to the regime.
Taking the town of Qusayr, southwest of the city of Homs, would bolster recent gains by regime forces in central Syria and around the capital, Damascus. It also could further embolden Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who told an Argentine newspaper over the weekend that his fate would be decided in elections scheduled for next year.
Mr. Assad's remarks complicate the renewed U.S.-Russian push for a political settlement to end the more-than-two-year civil war in Syria. Rebels and their Western and Arab backers insist any settlement must be predicated on Mr. Assad relinquishing power.
Underscoring the depth of the rift in Syria, regime supporters cheered the military operation in Qusayr, with some Assad loyalists openly calling for the government to storm rebel enclaves around the country, even if that means killing large numbers of civilians.
Mr. Assad's opponents accused the regime of carrying out a sectarian agenda in Qusayr.
Government forces had cordoned off Qusayr on Sunday and were waging street battles against rebels on multiple fronts, Syrian state television reported. Syrian army officers in Qusayr told state TV that soldiers had taken over several government buildings in the town's southern half, including the local municipal building, where the rebel flag was brought down and the Syrian flag hoisted in its place. That couldn't be independently verified.
"We have crushed more than 70 terrorists," said one army officer. "God willing, Qusayr will be liberated in the coming hours or days."
The rebels in Qusayr, who are estimated by Hezbollah to number about 5,000 and whose ranks include foreign fighters and extremists, denied the government's claims.
However, rebels said the town was being subjected to one of the most intensive bombardments by regime forces to date.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday that at least 52 people—all but four of them rebel fighters—have been killed so far in the offensive, which started late Saturday night with several airstrikes and a barrage of artillery and rocket fire.
Syrian government forces and Hezbollah fighters have been tightening their siege of Qusayr since mid-April. About 10 days ago, the Syrian regime dropped leaflets on the town telling fighters to surrender and civilians to evacuate.
An activist identified by the channel as Abu al-Hoda al-Homsi, speaking from Qusayr, told the Al Jazeera TV channel that about 40,000 civilians remained in Qusayr. Al Jazeera is owned by Qatar, a principal backer of the Syrian rebels.
Al Jazeera broadcast what it said was footage from inside Qusayr showing the body of a fighter wearing an ammunition vest in the back of a truck and the bodies of bearded military-age men at a field hospital, shrouded in white sheets and being readied for burial in accordance with Islamic traditions. The footage showed parts of the town engulfed in black smoke, as explosions and gunfire are heard in the background.
It is unclear how many civilians remain in Qusayr and whether the figure given by opposition activists is accurate. Before the start of the conflict, Qusayr was home to about 60,000 people, mostly Sunni Muslims and Christians. Almost all the Christians, who numbered about 10,000, fled in early 2012 after rebels belonging to the country's Sunni majority clashed with Christian families supporting the regime. Hundreds of Sunni families also left the town, many going to neighboring Lebanon, said international aid workers in Lebanon.
Last year, Sunni rebels started attacking Alawites and Shiite minorities inhabiting the farming villages around Qusayr, and this year, rebels openly vowed to "cleanse" the area of the two groups. Alawites, who belong to an offshoot of Shia Islam, dominate the Assad regime.
In April, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah took over at least 14 villages around Qusayr and said it would defend Mr. Assad against what it called a conspiracy by Israel, the U.S. and Sunni Arab dynasties in the Persian Gulf.
Hezbollah has said nothing about its role in the current battle in Qusayr. A senior fighter with the group and residents of border towns and villages in Lebanon told The Wall Street Journal at the end of April that Hezbollah had been instrumental in planning for Qusayr's takeover. U.S. officials estimate there are 2,000 to 2,500 Hezbollah fighters in Syria.
Sectarian animosities in places like Qusayr have significantly added to the brutality of the conflict in Syria.
Some regime loyalists are urging government forces to replicate what they did this month when they swiftly stormed pro-rebel enclaves on the country's Alawite-dominated west coast. The government said it had targeted terrorists. Activists said they documented the executions of at least 205 people, many of them civilians.
In his interview with Argentine daily Clarín, published on the newspaper's website Saturday, Mr. Assad likened Syria to a ship adrift in a stormy sea and himself to a captain steering it to safety. Mr. Assad, who still enjoys popular support, particularly among Syria's minorities, said his fate wouldn't be decided at peace talks the U.S. and Russia are trying to convene in Geneva between the regime and the opposition.
"I am not a person who abandons responsibility," he said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the Syrian Ministry of Information.
"I am a president elected by the people, and only the Syrian people will decide whether I stay or leave, and the ballot box is the referee," said Mr. Assad.
He warned against foreign intervention in Syria by countries backing the rebels, including the U.S. "They know it won't be a picnic," he said.
Write to Sam Dagher at email@example.com
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In tough times we continue the search for good, inexpensive wines. With summer already waning – didn't it start barely three weeks ago? – we focus on white wines this month.
Wines of Substance is a project from Jamie Brown of Waters Winery and Greg Harrington of Gramercy Cellars. The winery focuses on single varietal offerings with each of the wines featuring black and white labels with a periodic table style notation. The 2009 Pinot Gris is a fairly full-bodied white with callouts to the Old World.
July Five Under $15: Summer Whites
July Virtual Tasting - Hogue 2007 Genesis Syrah
Our July Virtual Tasting is tonight! The tasting will take place between 7-8pm Pacific Time. The wine is the 2007 Hogue Genesis Syrah.
What you need to do to participate is:
1. Buy this month's wine from a local retailer or from the winery
2. Post your comments/tweets on the wine tonight between 7 and 8pm. For those on Twitter, follow me @wawinereport. I will be using the hashtag #wawine during the event.
Look for updates to the blog and comments and tweets from virtual tasters starting at 7pm. Hope you'll join us.
Cabernet is king at Abeja, but others vie for the crown
What follows is a section of my 2010 Walla Walla Spring Release Report. The report will be published in its entirety in .pdf form after the last entry is posted to the blog. See previous posts here.
Since Abeja's first release from the 2001 vintage, the winery has established itself as one of Washington's premier producers of Cabernet Sauvignon - the 'King of Grapes.' While the winery also makes limited bottlings of Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Viognier – which are also consistently standouts that demand attention – Abeja's mission is Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for the majority of its production.
Another Thought from Woodinville's Stevens Winery
Tim Stevens was studying English literature and working in a restaurant to make ends meet when he first became interested in wine. He subsequently met winemaker Matthew Loso at a tasting group in what would become a fateful meeting. He worked for two years as Loso's assistant winemaker at Matthews (Loso has since moved on). After a consulting stint with Scott Greer at Sheridan Vineyard, Stevens and his wife Paige started Stevens Winery in 2002.
Stevens Winery has focused on small lot production of Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Malbec, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc. Formerly a commercial artist, each of the wines bear a unique label every vintage.
Charles Smith - Coming Soon to a Bottle Near You
What follows is a section of my 2010 Walla Walla Spring Release Report. The report will be published in its entirety in .pdf form after the last entry is posted to the blog. See previous posts here.
Charles Smith of K Vintners continues along as an irrepressible force of nature. Much like his wines, he is almost unavoidable. In any given week, he's pictured in newspaper articles and blogs posts around the world, including a recent favorite from The Gray Market Report. One isn't even safe in the car with his visage now on three separate billboards in or around the Walla Walla Valley.
Smith has parlayed his marketing and promotional genius into a wine empire. Already far along the path to stardom with his omnipresent 'House Wine' from the Magnificent Wine Company and his highly rated micro-quantity wines from K Vintners and Charles Smith Wines, Smith rose to national prominence last year after receiving a 100 point score for his Royal City Syrah from Wine Enthusiast and being named Winemaker of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine.
Washington Wine Round-up July 15th to 21st
A round-up of stories on Washington wine from July 15th to 21st. Please add any I missed during this time period to the comments section. See previous weeks here.
From around the world...
The Toronto Star recommends Hogue's 2008 Genesis Merlot.
From around the country…
Wines & Vines writes about wineries opposing initiative 1100.
Waters winemaker Jamie Brown takes the road less traveled (WWSR 2010)
What follows is a section of my 2010 Walla Walla Spring Release Report. The report will be published in its entirety in .pdf form after the last entry is posted to the blog. See previous posts here.
Winemaker Jamie Brown of Waters Winery has taken a somewhat unforgiving path to success. A Walla Walla native, Brown became interested in winemaking as he watched the local wine industry grow and a number of friends enter the field. A musician and songwriter, the relationship between art and winemaking appealed to Brown's artistic sensibilities.
After assisting at Glen Fiona, Dunham Cellars, and Pepper Bridge, Brown was encouraged by friends to start a winery of his own.
July Virtual Tasting - Hogue Cellars Genesis Syrah 2007
Our July Virtual Tasting wine will be the 2007 Hogue Genesis Syrah. This wine retails for $16 and is widely available. The tasting will take place on Thursday, July 29th from 7-8pm Pacific Time.
What you need to do to participate is:
1. Buy this month's wine from a local retailer or from the winery
2. Post your comments/tweets on the wine that night between 7 and 8pm. For those on Twitter, follow me @wawinereport. I will be using the hashtag #wawine during the event.
Rasa Vineyards listens to the 'voice of the people' (WWSR 2010)
What follows is a section of my 2010 Walla Walla Spring Release Report. The report will be published in its entirety in .pdf form after the last entry is posted to the blog. See previous posts here.
Of the numerous new wineries that opened in 2009, few made as significant an impression on me as Rasa Vineyards. Named after a word in Sanskrit that translates roughly to terroir, Rasa Vineyards was started by brothers Billo and Pinto Naravane. The winery's inaugural releases were two wines - the 2007 QED, principally Syrah, and the 2007 Principia, a reserve Syrah. Both of these wines stand among the finest being produced in the state and exemplify why there is so much excitement about Washington Syrah (see a review of these wines here).
Northstar Winery looks for the Big Dipper
Among the many changes in wine over the last ten years has been a general increase in alcohol and a decrease in acid levels. These changes have resulted from evolutions in viticulture, enology, and consumer tastes. Consumers everywhere have favored a more 'drink-me-now' wine as opposed to something that needs years of cellaring to become approachable. Wineries have responded in kind.
Northstar Winery winemaker David 'Merf' Merfeld has watched these changes take place. Merfeld, a native of Iowa, moved to Washington in 1990 to pursue a career in brewing. While originally interested in beer he says, "When I got the offer to make Merlots at Northstar, no one had to ask me twice." Merfeld joined the Northstar team in 2001 and became head winemaker in 2005.
Quilceda Creek announces fall releases
Quilceda Creek has announced their fall releases. This includes three wines from the 2007 vintage – a Galitzine Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, a Palengat Vineyard Proprietary Red Wine, and a Columbia Valley Red Wine.
Quilceda Creek made its first Galitzine Vineyard-designated Cabernet in 2004. The vineyard is located on Red Mountain and is managed in partnership with Jim Holmes, owner of nearby Ciel du Cheval Vineyard. The 2007 Galitzine Cabernet Sauvignon will be 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot.
Washington Wine Round-up July 8th to 14th
A round-up of stories on Washington wine from July 8th to 14th. Feel free to add any posts I missed to the comments section.
Buckle your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen. This round-up is a long one.
From around the country…
The Wall Street Journal writes about stalking Washington wine.
The San Francisco Chronicle recommends Washington Cabernet.
The Mercury recommends Chateau Ste. Michelle's Gwurztraminer.
Fielding Hills Winery: How Mike Wade went from drinking house Burgundy to making some of Washington's best wines
Mike Wade of Fielding Hills Winery recalls a formative wine experience at Chieftain Restaurant in Wenatchee, Washington. An avid beer drinker at the time, Wade decided one night to try a glass of "house Burgundy" along with his prime rib. As fate would have it, there were no French inspectors in town otherwise this story might never have been written. Instead, Wade became hooked on wine.
After traveling to Napa Valley in the mid-nineties followed by trips to the Yakima and Walla Walla valleys in 1997 and 1998, Wade became increasingly interested in growing grapes and making wine. As part owner of Columbia Fruit Packers, an apple and cherry packing business, he saw similarities between growing apples, cherries, and grapes. As he looked more into growing grapes and making wine he kept asking himself the same question - "Could I do this?" After seeing a seeing a small-scale wine operation in Walla Walla, he decided that the answer was yes.
Will this be 'The decade of Washington wine?'
Last month I wrote about a few recent trends in the Washington wine industry. Here I discuss other recent trends and the potential implications for the coming years.
Increased Number of Grape Varieties Planted
For many years Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Riesling have dominated the Washington wine scene. In the last ten years, this has started to change. Many vineyards now have twenty or more varieties planted. This has resulted in the emergence of several varieties in the last decade, particularly Syrah and Malbec. However, a number of varieties that were previously almost unheard of in Washington are popping up each year as well, such as Juan Garcia, Tempranillo, Albarino, and Grenache to name just a few.
Ramseyer Vineyards: A family tradition
Joseph Ramseyer started making wine in Washington in the 1960s. These were the early days of the rebirth of the state's wine industry when Associated Vintners (now Columbia Winery) and Ste. Michelle Vintners (now Chateau Ste. Michelle) were both getting started. While these wineries would blossom and help form the large industry that exists today, Ramseyer would focus his efforts as a home winemaker.
For Ramseyer, who would become one of the founding members of the Enological Society of the Pacific Northwest (now the Seattle Wine Society), making wine was a family affair. The whole family worked to pick the grapes, crush, and press them. The grapes for the wines came from the Grandview area not far from what would one day become Boushey Vineyards. Throughout the years, the Ramseyer family rarely missed a vintage until Joseph passed away in 1986.
Location, location, location. What happens when a highway moves
In the wine business, like in almost every business, location matters. Wineries spend a good deal of time thinking about where to hang their sign to make sure that they draw enough visitors to sustain the business. They also often spend a good deal of money for the right real estate. And with good reason. A proper location can be the difference between success and failure. What to do then when your winery location suddenly changes?
On Monday June 21, a new section of Highway 12 opened on the way in to Walla Walla. The new section is part of a multi-phase project funded by a variety of agencies and municipalities (see the complete list here). The goal of the project is to improve safety and increase commerce by widening U.S. Highway 12 to four lanes from the Snake River Bridge (US 12/SR 124 intersection) to the city of Walla Walla (see a list of project goals and progress here).
Special WBC10 Edition: Washington Wine Round-up July 1st to 7th
Below is a list of known posts from July 1st to July 7th related to the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference. Please add links to additional posts during this time period to the comments section.
From the blogosphere…
1 Wine Dude discusses the case for Washington Syrah.
Drink Nectar gives a video recap of WBC10 and links to numerous blog posts.
Wine Tonite! writes about the foundation of Washington wine.
A round-up of stories on Washington wine from July 1st to 7th. See the special Wine Bloggers Conference edition for additional posts on Washington wine during this time period. Please refer any complaints regarding this distinction to the legal department.
From around the country…
Wines & Vines writes about the delay in the growing season this year.
The Dayton Business Journal recommends Columbia's 2008 Cellarmaster's Riesling and and Pacific Rim's 2008 Gewurztraminer.
The Richmond Times Dispatch recommends the 2008 Willow Crest Pinot Gris.
'Which side of the Potomac are the vineyards on?' Branding Washington wine
Despite the fact that Washington State wines have received numerous accolades and high scores in recent years, many people remain unaware that Washington is a significant wine region. Surely, people who pay close attention to the world of wine are keyed in on what is happening here, but the average consumer is still somewhat unaware. Recently, several Washington wineries have set out to fix this.
L'Ecole No. 41: An ambassador in a bottle (WWSR 2010)
What follows is a section of my 2010 Walla Walla Spring Release Report. The report will be published in its entirety in .pdf form after the last entry is posted to the blog. See previous posts here.
L'Ecole No. 41 is located in Lowden, Washington, a short distance from Walla Walla. The winery was founded in 1983 by Jean and Baker Ferguson as the third winery in the Walla Walla Valley. L'Ecole is now owned by the Ferguson's daughter and son-in-law, Megan and Martin Clubb, with Martin serving as the winemaker.
L'Ecole is located in an iconic, 1915 schoolhouse whose image adorns the winery's labels. L'Ecole is relatively large compared to many Washington wineries, making approximately 30,000 cases annually. While many wineries may lose focus, quality, or both at this level, L'Ecole has excelled. The winery produces consistently high quality wines across a range of styles and price points. Winemaker Marty Clubb attributes this to a continued focus on vineyards, viticulture, and an artisan approach to winemaking.
Walla Walla's Bunchgrass Winery Reemerges in Top Form (WWSR 2010)
What follows is a section of my 2010 Walla Walla Spring Release Report. The report will be published in its entirety in .pdf form after the last entry is posted to the blog. See previous posts here.
As I drove to Bunchgrass Winery, I listened to a message from co-owner Tom Olander on my cell phone. Look for the…what was that he said? Dragon? I listened to the message again. Sure did sound like dragon. I've seen a lot of things in Walla Walla but…then there it was - a steel sculpture of a dragon by the side of the road. And a good thing too as Bunchgrass is otherwise modestly marked and set back far from the road.
Bunchgrass was founded by Roger Cockerline in 1997. Cockerline's interest in wine started in the 1980s when he planted a small vineyard, selling grapes to local wineries. He also saved some grapes to make wine with friends Gordy and Venneri and Myles Andersen, who would go on start Walla Walla Vintners.
Summer is here! Seattle emerges from its long slumber
Note: Rainy weather not drawn to scale.
Residents of Seattle know that regardless of the date summer is marked on the calendar, there is only one date to pay attention to here – July 5th. With Independence Day barbeques and fireworks safely ruined by gray and drizzle, summer officially begins.
The past several years have seen a disturbing trend in the Rain City with sunny weather beginning in May and even April. More concernedly, we even saw some good weather on the Fourth of July. Previously a gloomy holiday had been almost as certain as death and taxes. For several years running Seattle denizens grumpily dragged out their barbeques and were forced to celebrate the holiday outside with the rest of the nation. Coffee shops citywide lamented the drop in revenue as the city's pasty masses took to the outdoors. There was much talk about global warming. Four horsemen were said to be seen riding over Snoqualmie Pass.
Sleep easy tonight Seattleites. Order has been restored.
Summary of Posts for First Half of 2010
Below is a summary of posts from the first six months of 2010.
January 2010
Five Under Fifteen - January
January Virtual Tasting '07 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet
Buyer beware: Misrepresenting price and points on the shelves
Washington Wine Round-up: January 15th to 21st
Stomani Cellars (SSAW Winter 2010)
Random thoughts from the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference
From the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference, a list of truly random thoughts:
Far less drunken absurdity than last year's conference. Must have been all those Californians!
In terms of people I spoke with and met, there seemed to be more bloggers this year as opposed to industry types.
Oregon Pinot Noir is excellent. I was accused of having Pinot Envy, and I can't deny it.
Amazed to not have live stream going for the conference.
Never cease to be impressed at how Walla Walla rises as a community for an occasion.
Washington Wine Round-up June 22nd to 30th
A round-up of stories on Washington wine from June 22nd to June 30th. Please note, posts generated by folks at the Wine Bloggers Conference during this period are in a 'special edition' post here.
From around the country…
The New Jersey Star Ledger writes about Riesling with a callout to Chateau Ste. Michelle and Snoqualmie.
Wine Spectator writes about eleven value reds from Washington (Note: may require subscription).
The Anniston Star writes about going beyond Chardonnay with a callout to the Eroica Riesling.
The Lousville Courier-Journal writes a Charles Smith.
Washington Wine Round-up: Special Wine Bloggers Conference Edition
Below is a link to known posts from last weekend's 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference. The list has been compiled from various links sent on Twitter, Google alerts, searches, and the like. I have attempted to capture as many as possible. However, I am sure the list is quite far from complete. My apologies in advance to anyone I missed. Feel free to leave comments with links to additional posts. Please note that some of these posts relate to Washington wine while others are specific to the event itself. Enjoy!
Wine & Dine Walla Walla gives a WBC wrap-up.
Drink Nectar writes about speed wine blogging. Josh also writes about five things he is going to do because of WBC. See his post in advance of the conference here.
Wine & Beer of Washington State gives five sound bites from the conference.
Please note that some of these posts relate to Washington wine while others are specific to the event itself. Enjoy!


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The Lake of Genesareth (also called the Sea of Galilee) is a relatively small body of water, 14 miles long and three to seven miles wide. not a lake like on of America's Great Lakes. It was hardly a small ocean. But storms could up suddenly as the winds swept down from the mountains of Lebanon, more over the boats used by the fishermen on the lake were sturdy enough but not built to resist more than the normal waves on a not very big lake.
The fishermen did not take unnecessary chances. They were quite skillful in reading the weather signs and were never very far from one shore or another. This particular storm must have been especially strong and to have given no advance warning. Obviously it is a story told for a troubled Church – which of course has always been troubled.
read the padre
Once upon a time two kids, a boy eight and a girl ten, went out on the tiny lake where their family had a small summer home, for a boat ride with their dad. There's supposed to be a storm, their mother said, be careful. But moms always worry and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No one put on life jackets because it was not a dangerous lake. Right? Well, they had a nice ride from one end to the other while their dad told them about some of the silly things he had done when he was a kid and then when he was an officer in the Navy flying off an aircraft carrier. They hardly noticed that the sky was filling up with clouds and the wind was picking up. Put on your life jackets, said the daddy. DadDY! said the kids! That's an order he said. He never talked that way so they put on their life jackets. They rowed across the lake towards their cottage, but it started to rain, and they couldn't see the shore. Next a big storm him them and the waves banged against the boat. The kids were scared, the little girl began to cry. Don't worry, said the daddy. Then a great big wave rolled the boat over. Hang on to the sides were the last words they heard their daddy say. The kids sunk deep into the lake and sucked in a lot of water before they bounded to the surface. They both screamed for their daddy(well, would you?) and hung on to the boat for dear life. Then they cried a lot. They were in the water for a long time. Then suddenly the stormed stopped and the sun came out. They saw their daddy at the stern of the boat, pushing it. Put your feet down, he shouted. They did and you know what? They touched bottom. They looked around and saw they were right in front of their cottage. We were never afraid, they told their mommy, because we knew daddy was with us all the time. Mommy seemed skeptical, but that's the way mommies are.
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Die Ressourcen unserer Erde sind begrenzt und es ist lebenswichtig, dass wir nur das nehmen, was wir wirklich brauchen, und die verbleibenden Ressourcen für die nachkommenden Generationen schützen. Polyurethane spielen eine äußerst wichtige Rolle bei der Bewahrung der natürlichen Ressourcen unseres Planeten. Dauerhafte Polyurethan-Beschichtungen und Lacke gewährleisten, dass die Lebensdauer vieler Produkte weit über die Zeit hinaus verlängert wird, die ohne diese Behandlung erreicht werden würde. Polyurethane helfen, auf nachhaltige Weise Energie zu sparen. Mit ihrer Hilfe können Architekten Gebäude besser dämmen, in denen dann weniger Gas, Öl und Strom verbraucht werden, die sie sonst heizen bzw. kühlen müssten. Dank Polyurethanen können die Automobilhersteller ihren Fahrzeugen mehr Attraktivität verleihen und leichtere Karosserien bauen, sodass die Fahrzeuge weniger Kraftstoff verbrauchen und emissionärmer sind. Mit Polyurethanschaumstoffen isolierte Kühlschränke sorgen für eine längere Haltbarkeit von Lebensmitteln und vermeiden deren Verschwendung.
Neben der Einsparung von Energie und dem Schutz wertvoller Ressourcen muss jetzt sichergestellt werden, dass Polyurethanprodukte nicht einfach weggeworfen oder entsorgt werden, wenn sie nicht mehr genutzt werden.
Polyurethane sind auf Petrochemie basierende Polymere, deshalb ist es wichtig, sie wann immer möglich zu recyceln, sodass keine wertvollen Rohstoffe verschwendet werden. Es gibt verschiedene Möglichkeiten des Recyclings: die mechanische, chemische und rohstoffliche Verwertung. Klicken Sie unten, falls Sie weitere Informationen wünschen:
Je nach Polyurethantyp können verschiedene Wege des Recyclings zur Anwendung kommen, wie etwa Schleifen und Wiederverwendung oder Partikelbindung. So werden etwa Polyurethanschaumstoffe oft zu Teppichunterlagen.
Recycelt man nicht, so ist die bevorzugte Option die energetische Verwertung. Polyurethan enthält Tonne für Tonne die gleiche Menge Energie wie Kohle, was es zu einem sehr effizienten Rohstoff für Verbrennungsanlagen für Hausmüll macht, die die erzeugte Energie zum Heizen öffentlicher Gebäude nutzen.
Die am wenigsten erwünschte Option ist die Mülldeponie - diese Variante sollte soweit wie möglich vermieden werden. Glücklicherweise gehört die Zeit der Deponien bald der Vergangenheit an, da den Regierungen weltweit der Wert des Abfalls sowohl für die stoffliche als auch die energetische Verwertung zunehmend bewusst wird und die Kapazitäten der Mülldeponien der Länder erschöpft sind.
Außerdem strebt die Polyurethanindustrie durch kontinuierliche Innovationen danach,nachhaltigere Werkstoffe zu produzieren.
Erfahren Sie mehr über die Nachhaltigkeit von Polyurethanen.
Polyurethane innovation in the wind power industry
The European Union has set a binding target of 20 per cent of its energy supply to come from renewable sources by 2020; in order to achieve this target, more than one-third of European electrical demand will have to come from renewables. Wind power is expected to deliver 14-18 per cent of demand; delivering on these targets relies on the ever improving standards for efficiency and reliability of wind power.
One of the current challenges for the wind power industry is the weight of turbine blades. Currently, larger blades are needed to generate sufficient levels of power, however, they are also more easily damaged and harder to transport. Research teams have been racing to develop wind turbine blades which utilise the unique advantages of polyurethane.
Previously, glass reinforced polyurethane composites have been used for products including agricultural equipment, heavy-duty construction equipment and watercraft. These recent blades have adapted this polyurethane material to the specific requirements of wind turbines. The prototype blades have proven in preliminary tests to be eight times more durable, tougher and substantially lighter than conventional models such as epoxy or vinyl ester blades. The "results of mechanical testing for the carbon nanotube reinforced polyurethane show that this material outperforms currently used resins for wind blades applications," according to Ica Manas-Zloczower, Professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western.
What does this all mean, you ask? The lighter, stiffer blades enabled by the usage of polyurethane allow us to maximise energy production as it permits the construction of larger wind turbines. As the blades also improve on levels of fatigue and fracture toughness, it ensures the blades ability to withstand the stress of high winds. These bigger, stronger blades in turn capture greater amounts of wind energy compared to traditional turbines. According to EWEA, "the blades should [also] be economically feasible, using sustainable materials"; the polyurethane prototype contains "low, or no, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and use sustainable raw materials from renewable resources". Studies on the prototype have shown that the technology "can even be "retrofitted into existing designs at minimal cost".
The world's total wind electricity capacity grew 50 times in the period 1990-2007 and predictions are increases over the 2008 level of 10-fold by 2030 and 20-fold by 2050. In 2009 the EU produced 163 TWh of wind power; this meant 106 million tons less of CO2, the equivalent to taking 25% of cars in the EU off the road and enough to power 82 million electric cars! Progress in the industry will inevitably be a combination of research in a variety of technical areas; polyurethane, however, provides a valuable contribution in optimising wind power technology.
Recently, Bayer scientists unraveled a unique concept shoe which consists of up to 90% eco-compatible properties. The "green shoe" will bring benefits to shoe-manufacturers, consumers and in particular, to the environment.
Among these eco-compatible properties are polyurethane raw materials based on natural resources, products for solvent-free coatings and adhesives, a polycarbonate blend, and thermoplastic polyurethane based on renewable resources.
The annual environmental burden could be reduced by approximately 150.000 metric tons simply by replacing conventional solvents with new developed products and techniques for solvent- and plasticizer-free textile coatings and adhesive raw materials. 150.000 metric tons- That is more than 1% of Sweden's annual CO2 emission.
Further, the outer and the middle soles of the "green shoe" will consist of microcellular polyurethane elastomer systems where up to 70% of renewable materials are used.
This is just another example of how manifold the application area of polyurethane is and how it can contribute to make everyday life easier and greener. Yet another example of how polyurethanes contribute to improving lives and protecting the planet in new ways every day.
Reducing man-made CO2 is one of the most important priorities of our era in order to reverse climate change and avoid environmental dramas and preserve biodiversity.
CO2 is a waste gas and indeed a key contributor to climate change, and so far it was scientifically impossible to make good use of carbon dioxide, the only two options were to limit emissions or to store CO2 underground.
But after many years of intensive research, scientists have found a way to use CO2 as an alternative to petroleum as the chemical industry's key source of the element carbon.
The biggest constraint for the industrial use of CO2 was the absence of a catalyst allowing its use as a raw material substituting petroleum. But the solution was found by Bayer and Aachen University scientists, with support from the German state and federal governments, and the CAT Catalytic Centre.
Together they were able to find a chemical precursor (catalyst) into which CO2 is incorporated and then processed into polyurethanes, which are used in thousands of everyday applications.
This important discovery led Bayer to start a pilot project and on 17 February 2011; the first plant opened in Leverkusen, Germany. The plant uses carbon dioxide from partner RWE to produce polyurethane foams.
The new process helps to boost sustainability in a number of different ways. CO2 will be used as a resource instead of being merely disposed of as waste in the future. But it may also be used as a substitute of petroleum for the chemical industry.
What's more, polyurethanes themselves play a significant role in reducing energy consumption and protecting the climate. When used to insulate buildings from cold and heat, they can save approximately 70 times more energy than is used in their production.
This landmark scientific development is just another example of how polyurethanes contribute to improving our lives and protecting the planet in new ways every day.
Perhaps you have already seen a garden or lawn on the roof of a building, but polyurethanes could significantly boost the current enthusiasm for green roofs, and turn urban dwellings into greener environments.
A green or "living" roof is a roof that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium. Not only are green roofs an aesthetic pleasure, but they also possess a wide range of useful characteristics. For example, they considerably "cool down" the building by evaporating the moist. The conventional roof absorbs and stores sunlight heat, making the building much warmer and decreasing the frequency of air conditioner use. Data shows that green roofs can reduce cooling loads on a building by 50% to 90% percent! Other benefits include filtering pollutants out of the air and rainwater, and improved sound insulation. It also reduces the time for storm water runoff.
Although green roofs have existed for generations, they have several installation drawbacks. The most significant is the weight of the conventional insulation layers, such as lava stones and bulky substrates. The weight of the insulation layer increases the work and costs, which makes green roofs a less attractive option. To solve the problem, Huntsman Polyurethanes relied on the versatile characteristics of PU; they developed the VYDRO® foam, with an aim to lower the weight of the roof layers. VYDRO® foam proved to be an elegant solution to the weight of the roof layers. One cubic meter of lava stone weights 1500kg, while the new polyurethane foam would weigh only 30 kg for the same covered areas. The lightness of the materials means not only diminished pressure on the building, but also the simplicity to install, reduced transportation costs and load saving of up to 70% compared to standard systems.
VYDRO® foam is certainly much lighter that conventional materials, but it is also PH-neutral; a very important factor when you have a constant connection with water. However, what actually makes polyurethane foam exceptionally useful for green roofs is its ability to suck and store large amount of water (up to 30 times of its weight). This feature allows plants on the roof to easily access the source of water, which is vital in dry weather. So when you decide to transform your roof into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, rely on polyurethane.
With a life expectancy of 25 years, VYDRO® foam is expected to give a huge boost to green roofs; just another example of how polyurethanes contribute to improving lives and protecting the planet in new ways every day.
Have you ever wondered what houses will look like in the future? Well, you might want to ask a group of students from Virginia Tech University in the United States, who stand behind the Lumenhaus project. Inspired by the Farnsworth House by Mies Van Der Rohe, (which was build in 1951 and considered as one of finest examples of modern architecture), the students decided to create the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly pavilion today.
With support from the Virginia Tech University and a group of sponsors, they were able to write an architectural plan and soon create a prototype. Recognition came quickly - they won the European Solar Decathlon 2010 and their house has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.
The house itself is impressive. It uses the most environmentally and energy efficient materials available to date, combined with their excellent health and safety record. One of the materials they used was closed-cell insulation foam made from polyurethane – a regular PU foam used in our homes. The team of architects applied it in the walls and movable panels of the house.
Just like any passive house, the cornerstone to maximum savings and environmental benefits is insulation and air-tightness. Without these key elements, the potential of innovative technologies and smart construction goes to waste. As they noted, using polyurethane foam allowed tighter enclosure and significantly increased thermal resistance.
In fact, the thermal resistance of the house is five times higher than for an average house! This led to a very high energy savings rate, which has been recognised at the European Solar Decathlon 2010 awards. In addition, the polyurethane foam they used for insulation does not contain CFCs or HCFCs.
Another striking feature is the house's use of solar power - the rooftop photovoltaic system has the ability to vary its angle. This way it can maximize the efficiency of the power gained from the sun. Further efficient use of the sun can be found in the house's open configuration – it has adjustable walls on the North and South side. It also features a concrete floor with a radiating heating system and contains a multitude of energy efficient appliances, all of which can be controlled with your Smartphone.
The Virginia Tech Lumenhaus project is one of the most efficient and stylish houses of 2010, and polyurethane has been an essential part of this inspiring project. Once again, just another example of how polyurethanes contribute to improving lives and protecting the planet in new ways every day.
Can polyurethane foams be recycled? In a video posted on 27 August 2010, the American car manufacturer Chrysler shows how it has decided to swap soy-based polyurethane foams for recycled foams on the Grand Cherokee 2011's assembly line. Chrysler announced that it was going to use 180,000 pounds of polyurethane foams that would otherwise end up in a landfill for seats and headrests.
Managing waste is as important for the environment as saving natural resources, and while soy-based foams are renewables, their creation still requires additional resources. On the other hand, recycled polyurethanes only generate so much energy as is needed to achieve the process, and Chrysler claims that it reuses all post-industrial waste that recycling generates.
Although it was an experiment, the American company is already planning on extending its polyurethane recycling practice, increasing the amount of recycled foams to 10 percent in seats and 20 percent in headrests in the future. Polyurethanes use in cars is not limited to seats and headrests, and Chrysler engineers also expressed their willingness to extend the use of Polyurethane foams everywhere possible.
Chrysler's initiative evidences a growing concern in the car-making industry that its environmental impact is not merely limited to tailpipe emissions. And because polyurethanes are petro-chemical polymers, it is vitally important that we recycle or recover them whenever possible, to save our planet's precious resources and keep enjoying the comfort provided by polyurethane foams in our everyday life.
There are many options available for the automotive industry to recycle or recover polyurethanes. In the video, Chrysler uses a chemical recycling process called "glycolysis" to produce regenerated polyols. To learn about the different options in detail, refer to our "Recycling and Recovering Polyurethanes" factsheet.
Chrysler's groundbreaking initiative brilliantly echoes polyurethanes' commitment to improving lives and protecting the planet in new ways every day.
Swaziland is located in Southern Africa, surrounded by South Africa and sharing a border with Mozambique. It is also one of the world's poorest nations since over 60% of its population lives on less than 1 euro a day. About 75% of the population is employed in subsistence farming, working in dispersed villages and growing their own food. In Swaziland, food goes off quickly in high temperatures, and because electricity is not widely available, communal refrigerating appliances can only be used to a limited extent.
In light of these issues, Palfridge Ltd., a leading manufacturer of refrigerating appliances based in Swaziland, has developed an eco-friendly refrigeration solution. Using raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience, the company started manufacturing appliances with very thick-walled insulation made of rigid polyurethane foams. Used in most refrigerating appliances across the world, polyurethane foams provide outstanding insulation properties. In fact, using polyurethanes as an insulator in fridges has achieved 37% energy efficiency gains in the ten years leading to 2002.
The Palfridge appliances can keep ingredients cool up to five days without electricity, at temperatures exceeding 40°C. These appliances are also equipped with 90 Watt solar modules, which are a great help in powering refrigeration appliances in hot countries. Altogether these devices boost efficiency and consume significantly less energy than conventional refrigerators.
In a country devastated by HIV/AIDS- more than 25% of the population is infected- long-term refrigeration solutions for food and medical treatments are desperately needed, but in this case Palfridge's appliances also make a small contribution to climate protection, by reducing emissions of gases containing fluorine to 29,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.
The project was financed under the Proklima program of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammebarbeit. It proves that high-performance insulation from polyurethane opens the door to the solar-powered fridge, reducing energy consumption and bringing practical solutions to some of poor countries' most pressing problems.
Just another example of how polyurethanes contribute to improving lives and protecting the planet in new ways every day.
BASF has created a new moulding system using polyurethanes, named COLO-FAST® PU, revolutionising renewable energy technology. This innovative new moulding system is used in the framing of photovoltaic (solar) panels and solar collectors and is aimed at simplifying the process as well as reducing the costs and improving standards.
Previously, the framing of solar panels and collectors was labour-intensive, involving joint cutting, bending and fastening light alloys together. However, the new framing method offered by COLO-FAST® PU, allows for all electrical connections, clasps, integrated metal plates and other installation components to be incorporated in a one-step process, making the process much quicker, cheaper and easier.
With the new COLO-FAST® PU, the polyurethane is cast directly onto the solar cell during reaction injection moulding. Reaction injection moulding is the process whereby a mixture of two parts of a polymer (in this case polyurethane) is injected into the mould under high pressure using a special mixer. The mixture is then allowed to sit in the mould long enough for it to expand and cure. At this stage, the solar cells and solar collectors are placed into a closed mould and COLO-FAST® PU is injected through a mixture head. After a reaction time of only 30 seconds, the finished framed panel can be taken out and is ready for use immediately.
Once the frame is made, the properties of polyurethane provide for the permanent protection of all components of the frame. Polyurethanes boast excellent weatherability and are highly resistant to oil, light, heat, water and chemicals, meaning the frames are well protected from damage once in place and even during transport and installation. What's more, the frames have much greater design freedom, allowing designers to be more creative with the forms and colours, and produce light or thin frames as well.
Polyurethane is not only sustainable itself, it can also improve the sustainability of other clean technologies.
In a solid construction, a typical insulated external wall has either a "double wall structure", whereby the insulation is enclosed between two walls, or a single wall structure with additional external insulation. Both of these designs are costly and have a relatively long construction period. Elastogran avoids this complex method of insulating layers by creating an alternative – the polyurethane rigid foam Elastopor® H filling.
Elastogran's insulation structure is made from hollow bricks which have the thermal insulation - Elastopor® H - already built into the bricks. The bricks are made from lias clay, which is formed into ceramic clay interspersed with air, and its cavity is then filled with Elastopor® H. Previously mineral wool and perlite had been used to fill hollow blocks like these, but Elastopor® H actually improves the level of insulation. What's more, this method eliminates the need for any external insulation saving a considerable amount of space.
As well as being easier and cheaper to construct, the Elastopor® H has also proved to be more effective insulator than others that are available on the market. This is because Elastopor® H boasts the following properties:
Heat conductivity is the property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat. A material with low heat conductivity provides effective insulation which in turn improves the energy efficiency and the noise control within a building. Over the recent years we have witnessed a rise in energy costs – a trend which has pushed the building materials industry to focus increasingly on heat conductivity. Elastopor® H boasts extremely low heat conductivity which is why it is such an attractive alternative to other insulating materials.
The end result of Elastogran's insulation satisfies both architects and builders alike and can be used in a wide range of applications. It is yet another example of the sustainability and comfort that polyurethane provides, while reducing heating costs and requiring little investment.
Bayer MaterialScience has recently developed Top Therm 90 – a new concept for slimline windows and facades which has excellent insulating properties.
Top Therm 90 is made using a combination of Baytherm® polyurethane insulating foam and a thin, weather-resistant and dimensionally stable outer shell made using the Baydur® casting system. The end-product is an insulation solution which cuts heat loss by around 50% in comparison to other solutions on offer. The Baytherm foam ensures there is virtually no contact between the warm and cold sides of the frame profiles and adapts perfectly to the Baydur-casted polyurethane shell that surrounds it.
In addition, during the production of the Baytherm foam, a reaction takes place with the polyurethane, bonding the foam core permanently to the unit's structural surfaces as it cures. This adds strength as well as optimizes the insulating properties. Baytherm allows therefore for a design with thinner walls and style, whilst still providing improved energy efficiency.
The concept is based on an integrated approach, treating the windows and frames as a single unit both in thermal and structural terms, thus optimising insulation. The process of manufacturing and installing the frame system is straightforward and thus cost-effective.
It is an ideal solution in terms of both insulation and mechanical strength, for example for windows with multiple glazing and despite having a profile thickness of just 90 millimeters, the windows still meet the necessary requirements for use in passive houses.
Making windows that meet the passive house standard; how else could polyurethane prove its key role in a sustainable future?
Railroad ties based on the glass fibre reinforced integral skin foam from Baydur® have already been in use in Japan for many years, even on high-speed Shinkansen lines. The material offers far greater durability and much lower lifecycle costs than timber and is also highly resistant to moisture.
Moreover the noise produced by streetcars/trams – the cause of numerous complaints from local residents, particularly in city centres – can be effectively dampened using the complete polyurethane rail grouting system Büfaflex®. This material, which is based on the Bayflex® system, has been developed by Polyplan GmbH, Strasslach (Germany), and the BaySystems BÜFA systems house specifically for this application and boasts a customized pore structure that literally swallows up sound.
The material is electrically non-conducting and therefore helps to prevent the corrosion damage that stray currents cause gas and water pipes, is also more cost-effective to process than conventional rail grouting systems. Rails are simply "floated" in special formwork on site and then encased in the foamed polymeric material.
Polyurethane cuts costs, decreases noise pollution and increases efficiency.
Better dimensional and weather stability than wood, lighter than concrete Railroad builders are turning increasingly to polyurethane composite marketed under the name Eslon Neo Lumber FFU from SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO. LTD., Tokyo as the material of choice for manufacturing the ties or sleepers that are used to support railroad tracks. The material is noted for the far greater durability of the ties and the correspondingly lower lifecycle costs. In Tokyo, plastic ties have been in service for more than a quarter of a century. They have been laid, for example, under the track for the Shinkansen high-speed train, and the FFU (Fiber reinforced Foamed Urethane) polyurethane ties have now been premiered in Germany.
Railroad ties must be able to withstand high mechanical loads and must also be dimensionally stable and weather-resistant over a long period to comply with the conditions for safe rail operation and low maintenance costs. Frequent temperature changes, radiation and moisture start to affect wooden ties after a relatively short time, and repairing the wooden track involves a considerable amount of material, time, organization and cost. In comparison polyurethane ties have an estimated service life of at least 50 years. With considerably longer maintenance cycles and associated cost benefits for the railroad operator, individual ties can be replaced quickly and accurately, helping to lower construction costs even further.
The flexural strength of the polyurethane ties is also very much higher than that of wood, even after 15 years, the material is also suitable for the construction of high-speed tracks.
The polyurethane material looks like wood and combines all the positive properties of the natural product with those of a modern composite product. The polyurethane ties can be processed in the same way as timber, and compared with concrete, the polyurethane material weighs much less and boasts the reproducible evenness that is important with turnouts. The polyurethane ties are also very suitable for bridges due to their lightweight and they can be manufactured in virtually any desired length and cross-section up to a current maximum of 9.60 meters.
The ecological compatibility of the polyurethane ties is also an advantage. As a rule, ties that have already been in service can be reused, or can be recycled in the same way as the production scrap.
The polyurethane system based on long-fiber reinforced Baydur® 60 integral skin foam comes from Sumika Bayer Urethane Co., Ltd., the Japanese polyurethane systems house in Bayer MaterialScience's global BaySystems® network.
Polyurethane in railroad ties, increases durability, safety and decreases cost.
The automotive and commercial vehicles industry is continuing to move away from sheet steel in bodywork parts and is instead using high-performance plastics. Alongside the familiar benefits of plastics such as their greater freedom of design and lower weight, their cost-effectiveness in production is also gaining in importance. Manufacturers are currently focusing their efforts on producing larger and larger parts in a single moulding process. The success achieved in this field, coupled with the possibility of integrating additional functions and components in the mould, means they can cut both costs and manufacturing time. Tailor-made polyurethane systems make it possible to produce even large mouldings with complex structures such as undercuts and ribbing in a single shot with no need for post-moulding treatment.
Furthermore the lightweight characteristics of polyurethane compared with some metal alternatives mean that vehicles are increasingly fuel efficient and therefore help reduce their impact on the environment.
Plastics make their mark in agricultural engineering
A recent example from the commercial vehicles industry involves the two side panels and tailgate of the "Jaguar Green Eye" forage harvester from Claas KGaA mbH in Harsewinkel, Germany. Each of the moulded parts is manufactured in a single shot from the flame-retardant, microcellular polyurethane system Baydur® 110 from Bayer MaterialScience supplied by the BaySystems BÜFA system house.
The excellent flow characteristics and low cavity pressure impose virtually no restrictions on the geometric design of the moulded parts, especially in the edge and interior areas.
The benefits of polyurethanes over conventional materials such as glass fibre reinforced plastics or sheet moulding compounds become particularly apparent when manufacturing large mouldings with complex interior surfaces.


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DUBLIN — Following a three-week investigation, police arrested nine suspects and broke up an illegal marijuana operation valued at close to $2 million in Dublin.
A search warrant, which came on the heels of the investigation and surveillance, was served Wednesday at a home in the 5400 block of Aspen Street, Lt. Herb Walters said.
More than 1,000 marijuana plants, about 82 pounds of processed marijuana and more than $10,000 in cash were found inside the home, Walters said.
Each room of the home contained illegal marijuana grows, equipment used to grow the marijuana and a complex ventilation system to hide the smell of the cannabis, Walters said.
The street value of the marijuana was estimated at close to $2 million.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at 925-462-1212.
Contact Natalie Neysa Alund at 510-293-2469. Follow her at Twitter.com/nataliealund.


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Department of Revenue News Release
January 23, 2014West Plains License Office contract awarded
JEFFERSON CITY - The Office of Administration, in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Revenue, has awarded the management contract for the West Plains License Office to Missouri License Office of West Plains, LLC. All license office contracts in Missouri are awarded through a competitive bid process.
Missouri License Office of West Plains has been the contractor of the West Plains License Office since 2005. The West Plains License Office will remain at its current location at 1504 Preacher Roe, Suite 4.
In fiscal year 2013, more than 55,000 transactions were conducted at the West Plains office, generating nearly $182,000 in agent processing fees. Missouri License Office of West Plains' contract includes an annual commitment to return 1 percent (approximately $1,819) of future processing fees to the state.
All local license offices are overseen by the Missouri Department of Revenue, but each is operated by an independent agent.
Follow the Missouri Department of Revenue on Twitter @MoRevenue


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