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Par yaworker2010 dans Accueil le 8 Avril 2010 à 06:44
The Martha Goldmine at Waihi, in the North Island of New Zealand, was a major producer of gold and silver from 1888 until its closing in 1952. The Pumphouse structure there was designated a building of national significance by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and early last year an effort was undertaken to relocate it. The resulting excavations have turned up a veritable trove of Victorian-era treasures, including an array of old mining gear. Tools and machinery were recovered, as well as spirits and painkiller bottles-some still with aspirin in them!
Nearly 5,200 pieces of domestic material have been inventoried so far. These include match tin boxes dating from 1895 to World War I; a silver sovereign keeper; pocket watches; metal tins of various sorts; ornaments; a printer's negative for a 1900 calendar; bottles from the 1890s Elsa Peretti Open Heart bracelet; and ceramics (mostly tableware, and in fragments for the most part), with 50 manufacturers identified (with help from Marks4Antiques.com). Stafforshire, Royal Doulton and Grindley pieces were found.
Tiffany, eBay square off in a nasty lawsuit
In 2004, a team of employees at Tiffany & Company, the upscale jeweler, decided to troll eBay to see if there were any Tiffany knock-offs being peddled online. Their finding: of the 186 pieces of silver jewelry they purchased through eBay, a whopping 73 percent of them were Elsa Peretti Teardrop bracelet against eBay in a case now being heard in Federal Court in Manhattan. Lawyers for eBay argue the online giant isn't responsible for determining whether each product sold on its site is a fake. Their job is simply to link buyers and sellers.
But Tiffany strongly disagrees, saying that because eBay directly advertises the sale of Tiffany jewelry on its home page, and because eBay profits from the sale of these items, eBay is guilty of copyright infringement when mediating the sale of a fake piece of jewelry. If Tiffany wins, and it might, then eBay may have to either stop auctioning famous luxury products, or drastically alter the way it does business. Neither of those options appeals to eBay, which has 248 million registered users worldwide and 102 million items for sale at any given time.
Hsu Also Accused of Using Straw Donors to Make Illegal Federal Campaign Contributions
NEW YORK - Federal charges have been unsealed against Norman Hsu, 56, for perpetrating a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims across the United States of over $60 million, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia for the Southern District of New York and Assistant Director-in-Charge Mark Tiffany Notes bangle the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today. Hsu also was charged with violating federal campaign finance laws by making contributions to various political candidates in the names of others.
According to the Complaint unsealed earlier today in Manhattan federal court:
At all times relevant to the charges, Hsu operated and was the Managing Director of two companies, Components Ltd. And Next Components Ltd. (the "Companies"), which purported to provide investment programs that extended short-term financing to businesses. Hsu recruited victims by guaranteeing high rates of return on short-term investments. After receiving money from investors, Hsu, for a time, repaid both the victims' interest and principal as promised. Believing Hsu to be trustworthy and the Companies to be legitimate and potentially profitable, victims often agreed to roll-over their invested funds into new investments with Hsu, contribute additional, larger sums of money to the scheme, or recruit friends to invest with Hsu. In reality, however, the Companies were merely vehicles for Hsu's Ponzi scheme, in which money owed as returns to older investors was paid with money received from newer investors, and Hsu never invested the money in the manner he represented to his victims. In the end, Hsu defrauded his victims out of more than $60 million.
In an effort to raise his public profile and thereby convince more victims to invest in his fraudulent scheme, Hsu pressured investors to contribute tens of thousands of dollars to various candidates for President of the United States, the United States Senate, and the United States House of Representatives.
Hsu made victims believe that failure to make political contributions to candidates he supported would jeopardize their investment relationship with him, and put their money at risk.
Hsu also violated the Federal Election Campaign Act by making contributions to various political campaigns in the names of others. Specifically, in 2006, Hsu asked two other individuals to make contributions, totaling more than $20,000 each, to designated federal candidates. Hsu then reimbursed these two individuals for the political contributions they had made on his behalf.
During a court-authorized search of the items seized from Hsu at the time of his arrest, FBI agents recovered extensive evidence confirming Hsu's role in the charged crimes, including, among other things: (1) thousands of dollars in cash; (2) checkbooks for bank accounts used to carry out the fraudulent scheme; (3) hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of checks from Hsu's victims; (4) bank receipts reflecting millions of dollars worth of financial transactions conducted by Hsu; (5) handwritten ledgers reflecting specific amounts of campaign contributions to be made by specific victims on behalf of various candidates for elected federal office; (6) a Cartier watch and Tiffany jewelry; and (7) receipts reflecting Hsu's travel throughout the United States via a corporate jet service.
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Par yaworker2010 dans Accueil le 8 Avril 2010 à 06:31
Incredibly, an Indianabased group that has had repeated clashes with the federal government (and in particular the Federal Reserve) has been producing silver, copper and gold coins with Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on them and releasing them into circulation as legal tender. The Feds, upon learning of the activity, moved quickly to shut down the operation, located in Evansville, Indiana. It is unknown exactly how many of the coins made their way into consumers' hands. Ron Paul's campaign said it had not authorized their production.
The group is called the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act & Internal Revenue Code (Paul is a vocal opponent of the IRS and a strong supporter of the so-called Fair Tax, or national sales tax). The government has Tiffany 1837 Lock bracelet made are illegal, but NORFED disagrees, saying its "Liberty Dollars" are inflation-free and can restore stability to financial markets by allowing commerce based on a currency that does not fluctuate in value (like the U.S. dollar). The coins are selling briskly through eBay.
Lost P-38 fighter plane is located
This past July, a family enjoying a day at the beach in Wales spotted something unusual sticking out of the sand. Further investigation revealed that it was the lost remains of an American P-38 fighter plane that ran out of gas and crash-landed there 65 years ago. It Tiffany 1837 Charm bracelet, all this while until recently, when unusual weather caused the sand to shift and erode, exposing the craft. It is arguably the oldest P38 in existence (about 10,000 were built, but only 32 exist today), and the oldest surviving 8th Air Force combat aircraft of any type. It is considered a major find and of exceptional interest to aviation historians.
Search is on for a lost da Vinci fresco
Engineers in California are analyzing 500-year-old bricks from Italy they hope will lead them to the "Battle of Anghiari," a lost Leonardo da Vinci fresco that some believe is hidden behind a wall in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. The unfinished mural has been the object of intense speculation, literally for centuries. Da Vinci began it in 1505 to commemorate the 15th-century Florentine victory over Milan at Anghiari, a medieval town in Tuscany. The work was unfinished when da Vinci left Florence, in 1506. Whether it is still in the palazzo is a matter of debate.
The issue is now in the hands of Tiffany Somerset Bangle tools. Maurizio Seracini, an Italian engineer, is working in concert with colleagues at the University of San Diego to study bricks and other stonework found in a storeroom at the palazzo. They believe the materials were once part of a great hall there. The theory regarding the mural suggests a cavity in one of the hall's walls may contain it, and has actually preserved it over time The next assignment, if it is proven the mural is actually there, is how to safely get it out of the wall.
Want an Eaglessigned guitar? Fret not! (sorry)
It used to be, if you wanted a guitar signed by all four members of the rock band the Eagles, you had to pony up $50,000 or more. That figure has been trimmed back considerably, thanks to a collaboration between the Eagles and Wal-Mart, as part of a fund-raising effort on behalf of The Walden Woods Project. Guitars signed by all four band members (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt) are being offered at a price of just $2,500. But you have to buy one online, at samsclub.com (and yes, membership in Sam's Club is required).
The Walden Woods Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau. It is the second collaboration between the Eagles and Wal-Mart.
Victorian-era treasures found in New Zealand
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Par yaworker2010 dans Accueil le 6 Avril 2010 à 07:42
As shoppers rush to buy last-minute Valentine's gifts, five of the nation's leading jewelry retailers - Tiffany & Co., Ben Bridge Jeweler, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, and Leber Jeweler, Inc. - today pledged their support to permanently protect Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale metal mining, including the massive proposed Pebble gold mine. The retailers, who had $2.2 billion in sales in 2006, took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans, who seek to protect wild salmon, clean water, and traditional Alaskan ways of life from the damaging effects of industrial metal mines.
"I am pleased to stand with others in the jewelry industry today in announcing our support for protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining," said Jon Bridge, Co-CEO/General Counsel of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler. "As retail jewelers, we want to be Frank Gehry Fish toggle bracelet that the precious metals we use are mined responsibly -- that the materials used in the jewelry they purchase have been mined in environmentally friendly ways, respectful of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery and the communities that depend on it."
"We want to express a sincere thank you to these jewelry companies," said Bobby Andrew, a spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of the Land), an association of eight Alaska Native corporations. "The proposed Pebble mine threatens the wild salmon fishery that has sustained the region's economy and our people for generations."
As shoppers rush to buy last-minute Valentine's gifts, five of the nation's leading jewelry retailers - Tiffany & Co., Ben Bridge Jeweler, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, and Leber Jeweler, Inc. - today pledged their support to permanently protect Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from Elsa Peretti Sevillana Mesh bracelet including the massive proposed Pebble gold mine. The retailers, who had $2.2 billion in sales in 2006, took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans, who seek to protect wild salmon, clean water, and traditional Alaskan ways of life from the damaging effects of industrial metal mines.
"I am pleased to stand with others in the jewelry industry today in announcing our support for protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining," said Jon Bridge, Co-CEO/General Counsel of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler. "As retail jewelers, we want to be able to tell our customers that the precious metals we use are mined responsibly -- that the materials used in the jewelry they purchase have been mined in environmentally friendly ways, respectful of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery and the communities that depend on it."
"We want to express a sincere thank you to these jewelry companies," said Bobby Andrew, a spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of the Land), an association of eight Alaska Native corporations. "The proposed Pebble mine threatens the wild salmon fishery that has sustained the Tiffany Cushion Two-row bracelet economy and our people for generations.""We want to express a sincere thank you to these jewelry companies," said Bobby Andrew, a spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of the Land), an association of eight Alaska Native corporations. "The proposed Pebble mine threatens the wild salmon fishery that has sustained the region's economy and our people for generations."
Last year, Nunamta Aulukestai and a diverse group of Alaska Native communities, commercial fishermen, businesses, and sportsmen publicly invited jewelry retailers to express support for the protection of Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. The invitation ran as a full-page ad in National Jeweler magazine. (For a copy of the ad and jeweler pledge, see http://www.protectbristolbay.org/.)
Consumers today are more aware of the human and environmental costs of the goods and services they purchase than ever before. While other business sectors have responded to demand for cleaner, ethically produced goods and services - such as sustainably harvested wood products and fair trade coffee - the mining sector lags behind in terms of embracing an independent system for standards and verification. Some 100,000 consumers in more than 100 countries have signed on to the No Dirty Gold pledge, urging mining companies to provide alternatives to "dirty" gold.
"Consumers and jewelry retailers across the country have clearly signaled their desire for certified, more ethically produced metals," noted Raymond C. Offenheiser of Oxfam America. "The question is: when will mining companies step up to meet this obvious demand?"
Keywords: Conservation, Conservation Value, Ecology, Economics, Environment, Fair Trade, Government, Human Rights, Minerals, Mining, Mining Sector, Northern Dynasty Minerals, Oxfam America, Politics, Sports.
This article was prepared by Resource Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2008, Resource Week via VerticalNews.com.
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Par yaworker2010 dans Accueil le 6 Avril 2010 à 07:39
As shoppers rush to buy last-minute Valentine's gifts, five of the nation's leading jewelry retailers - Tiffany & Co., Ben Bridge Jeweler, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, and Leber Jeweler, Inc. - today pledged their support to permanently protect Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale metal mining, including the massive proposed Pebble gold mine. The retailers, who had $2.2 billion in sales in 2006, took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans, who seek to protect wild salmon, clean water, and traditional Alaskan ways of life from the damaging effects of industrial metal mines.
"I am pleased to stand with others in the jewelry industry today in announcing our support for protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining," said Jon Bridge, Co-CEO/General Counsel of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler. "As retail jewelers, we want to be able to tell our customers that the precious metals we use are mined responsibly -- that the materials used in the jewelry they purchase have been mined in environmentally friendly ways, respectful of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery Flower charm bracelet on it."
The controversial Pebble mine is highlighted in a new report released by the No Dirty Gold consumer campaign led by EARTHWORKS and Oxfam America. The report, "Golden Rules: Making the Case for Responsible Mining," documents the toll of irresponsible mining on people, water, and wildlife at a time when soaring metals prices are driving new mining development globally. The report describes human rights violations and environmental concerns at metals mines in the United States and around the world. (To download a copy of the report, visit http://www.nodirtygold.org/.)
The retailers are among a group of 28 jewelry Charm bracelet percent of U.S. jewelry sales, who have endorsed the No Dirty Gold campaign's "Golden Rules" - human rights and environmental criteria for mining. The announcement takes those commitments a step further.
"Some of the world's leading jewelers have recognized that the Bristol Bay watershed is a treasure worth protecting. We applaud their principled position and commitment to not source metals from areas of high conservation value," said Payal Sampat of EARTHWORKS.
The proposed Pebble mine is backed by the UK-based Anglo American, one of the world's largest metals mining companies, and Canadian firm Northern Dynasty Minerals. The Bristol Bay watershed, where the proposed mine would be located, supports the world's most Elsa Peretti Open Heart bracelet is critical to the state's economy and to the livelihood of many Alaska Native communities.
"We want to express a sincere thank you to these jewelry companies," said Bobby Andrew, a spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of the Land), an association of eight Alaska Native corporations. "The proposed Pebble mine threatens the wild salmon fishery that has sustained the region's economy and our people for generations."
Last year, Nunamta Aulukestai and a diverse group of Alaska Native communities, commercial fishermen, businesses, and sportsmen publicly invited jewelry retailers to express support for the protection of Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. The invitation ran as a full-page ad in National Jeweler magazine. (For a copy of the ad and jeweler pledge, see http://www.protectbristolbay.org/.)
Consumers today are more aware of the human and environmental costs of the goods and services they purchase than ever before. While other business sectors have responded to demand for cleaner, ethically produced goods and services - such as sustainably harvested wood products and fair trade coffee - the mining sector lags behind in terms of embracing an independent system for standards and verification. Some 100,000 consumers in more than 100 countries have signed on to the No Dirty Gold pledge, urging mining companies to provide alternatives to "dirty" gold.
"Consumers and jewelry retailers across the country have clearly signaled their desire for certified, more ethically produced metals," noted Raymond C. Offenheiser of Oxfam America. "The question is: when will mining companies step up to meet this obvious demand?"
Keywords: Conservation, Conservation Value, Ecology, Economics, Environment, Fair Trade, Government, Human Rights, Minerals, Mining, Mining Sector, Northern Dynasty Minerals, Oxfam America, Politics, Sports.
This article was prepared by Mining & Minerals editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2008, Mining & Minerals via VerticalNews.com.
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Par yaworker2010 dans Accueil le 5 Avril 2010 à 07:10
NEW YORK-When Tiffany & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Kowalski headed into the Alaskan wilderness to go fly fishing in Bristol Bay, wild salmon swam free, brown bears frolicked in streams and the hot new "Tiffany Keys" collection seemed a million miles away.
Yet the two industries - jewelry and fishing - are now oddly intertwined because of a mining company's plan to build what would be North America's largest gold and copper mine in Bristol Bay.
The operation promises to create Tiffany Nature Dragonfly disc pendant, but for Kowalski, there's a deal-breaking element: The proposed site for the mine - which by its nature will be destructive to the environment - is on land that is home to the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery and sandwiched between two national parks.
Generations of Bristol Bay natives who fear their days of reeling in salmon for a living are now on the fine have aired their grievances, grass roots style, via rallies and the sale of "No Pebble Mine" t-shirts and bumper stickers.
Kowalski, who visited Alaska to see the Elsa Peretti Star of David pendant, and after presenting his case and a documentary on the subject titled Red Gold to Tiffany & Co.'s board of directors, they agreed.
If the Pebble Mine eventually opens, Tiffany will boycott its gold, and the company has launched an advertising campaign within the trade to encourage other jewelers to join in. But why get involved?
"I think the question is one of risk assessment," Kowalski said in an interview with National Jeweler editors at his offices in Manhattan. "I think it's highly unlikely that there wouldn't be a severe impact on the fisheries. Is the price of developing the Pebble Mine simply too high to pay for the jewelry industry, for Tiffany jewelry?"
The Pebble mine, proposed for state-owned land, is currently going through the requisite rounds of environmental assessments. If Alaskan voters eventually approve its opening, the Pebble Limited Partnership has vowed to run an environmentally clean operation.
While Kowalski doesn't challenge the partnership's inten-Elsa Peretti Apple pendant to be concerned about how effective any mitigation plan will be.
While diamond mine waste is chemically inert, the same is not true of metal mining's refuse. The proposal is for an open-pit mine, which requires building the world's largest earthen dam to hold back the waste, with 99 percent of the waste tonnage consisting of acid-laden rock.
"It will require containment and perpetual treatment - forever," Kowalski said. "That raises some tough questions."
For jewelers, there are additional questions that go to the heart of what it means to run a responsible business at a time when global warming, clean water and recycling are no longer fringe issues.
"In a world where [conscientious consumption of resources has become so important], consumers will legitimately ask, 'How can the jewelry industry be an island of irresponsible consumption?'" Kowalski said.
But would something like the Pebble Mine truly impact sales? Just a few years ago, jewelers fretted over Blood Diamond, a movie that starred ?-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly and brought attention to the conflict diamonds that were coming out of Sierra Leone rriore than a decade ago. The film, released before the holidays, didn't put a dent in diamond sales.
But Kowalski said this doesn't mean that consumers don't care about social or environmental issues.
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