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Mens Leather Belts And What You Should Know Before You Buy

Trousers, jeans, chinos and even smart shorts all look better with a belt. Somehow, empty belt loops just dont look right. So, adding a smart belt completes the image? Not for long

Todays modern belts are often made of different and usually man-made layers glued together. The technical term is bonded leather.

But it says real leather on the belt! Yes, some belts do have the words real leather (or the leather symbol) stamped on the inside. So that layer might well be real leather. But what about the other bits?

After a period of time, the other bits make their appearance. The glue that kept them together starts to fail. The belt splits into layers as body heat, tension and pressure do their work. Examine the pieces closely and you may find a thin layer of cloth or webbing, a strip of padding and maybe a vinyl top layer.

Shoes and other footwear have symbols to explain their construction a leather upper, man-made sole etc. Unfortunately, without this same information on a belt, when the words real leather are seen the assumption is that the whole thing is leather. The manufacturers of this type of poorly labelled belt are doing nothing to set the record straight. Shame on them.

So, apart from the passing off of a belt as all leather, shouldnt it be ok to wear?

Well, man-made materials should be long lasting, so how long do these belts last? A few months? A year? More? Well that depends on the use they get. Anecdotal evidence varies. Cost is not a factor either. Unless the belt is made of semi-precious metal or stones, its the brand that pushes the price right up, not the raw materials.

Where do they break? At the pressure points. Where the prong fits through the strap. Theres a lot of tension on that little metal stick and the belt area near it. The other main failure point is round the back where the belt pulls against the belt loops when the wearer sits down.

At some point some of these bonded belts are no longer the smart accessory as theyve begun to disintegrate. Maybe not all belts and maybe not all the time, but enough for those who know to be a bit more careful when they are buying their next belt.

So whats the alternative?

Solid leather. Rather than split, it will give. Being solid leather it cant break into layers, it stays in one piece. (Unless you let the dog chew on it). After years of wear, when it gets a bit tired, it can be relegated to second best and worn during diy jobs or when gardening or working on the car, rather than thrown in the bin. These long lasting belts are often handmade in tourist and craft areas and maybe expertly tooled with patterns or images (native American Indian craftwork, for example). An overly busy pattern might not be right for formal wear, so a plainer finish is probably more appropriate.

So how do you tell what a belt is made of?

At the buckle end of the belt, look for the cut edge. Examine the cross-section and it will be obvious. Multiple layers of different shades and thicknesses give the game away. If the cut edge has been sealed then again it is probably man-made.

Ultimately of course it is a matter of personal choice. Buy mens leather belts or buy bonded belts. Either will look great in the shop. Just take care to see what the belt is made of and think of the use the belt is going to be put to (infrequent or every day, formal or informal). Then make that informed decision.

How To Stop Birds From Hitting Windows

There are many reports every year all over the United States about birds hitting windows on homes and buildings repeatedly. In fact, in just the United States there are an estimated 900 million birds killed from hitting windows every year. Now that sounds like a lot, but if you think about it, that’s really only an average of about 2-3 birds per house each year, with many people reporting more than 3.

The reasons behind all this window striking is mainly due to the refection birds see when it is brighter outside than inside your house. This makes it very easy for them to see everything that is outside reflected in the glass like a mirror. There are even many instances where the birds see its own reflection and will feel the need to chase that other bird they see (this happens a lot during breading season).

Therefore, this is a topic discussed numerous times every year about the best solutions to get birds to stop doing this.

So, at this point I’m sure some readers have already done some of their own research about different answers to get this stopped. Some for example are:

Sticking decals on the glass
Move bird feeders farther away from the house
Hanging things down in front of their windows
Installing screens
Even replacing windows with a ones that reflect down or bird safe glass

As a result, these techniques can help, but do not always get the job done and can get expensive after trying one thing and then another. Also, I prefer my bird feeders to be somewhat close to my house, so I don’t have to use binoculars every time I want a better look at a bird I see at our feeders. So the easiest, and in my opinion the best solution to this problem is a feeder that mounts directly on the window. And the reason this works so well is because the birds can very clearly see the feeder on the window, and will fly to the feeder to eat then away from the house when finished eating (which the flying away from feeders is the most common window hitting). This is also a cheap way to fixing the problem with window bird feeders only costing $12 to $25 on average, and are great for getting a close view of birds while eating.

I hope this was helpful and that you are able to save more birds from hitting your windows. And for your convenience there is a great new bird supply store online that has amazing organized selections of everything bird watching related with some great deals on window bird feeders as well (please see my resources for more information).

Health Benefits Of Herb Gardening

One trend that is quickly gaining huge popularity is herb gardening. People everywhere are starting their own gardens and producing great herbs and other plants that are much healthier and cheaper than the produce that can be purchased at the store. While it used to take a fairly large garden to grow herbs, it is now possible to have your own herb garden inside your home through a process called hydroponic gardening. This means that you will be able to enjoy the health benefits of herb gardening, even though you may have limited yard space or live in a small apartment.

Besides being a great experience, there are many health benefits of herb gardening. The first main health benefit of growing your own herbs is the added nutrition that you and your family will be getting from your food. Home grown food is higher in nutrition because it can be harvested at peak ripeness. This means that you and your family will be getting more nutrients from your food, which will lead to less medical problems. Another one of the health benefits is that garden grown plants are not contaminated with the harmful chemicals and pesticides that are widely used in commercial farming. These chemicals can be dangerous to humans, even in small amounts, so not having them on your food can help keep you healthy.

Aside from the health benefits there are many other benefits that make growing your own food a great option. Plants that are grown at home will be much fresher than plants that were picked, shipped, and sat in the store until you purchased them. The best tasting plants are the ones that are picked fresh and immediately used., and this is only possible for you if you grow your own.

Starting your own garden can be a great idea and also be a lot of fun. Try to choose herbs and plants that you will be using frequently and others that you may not be able to find in local stores. By growing your own herbs you will be getting all of the health benefits of herb gardening as well as better tasting food at a lower cost. If you are new to herb gardening and need some additional information, you can find tips, tricks, and suggestions on the Internet. There is a lot of information that will be able to help you get started with your own garden.

Overall a-share valuation tends to be mature – Alloy Steel Seamless Pipe Manufacturer

As the recent A-share market approaches the point similar to last year end, the overall valuation of Shanghai Shenzhen 300 Constituent Stock keeps going downward. As the market closed on July 3rd, the P/E ratio of Shanghai Shenzhen 300 index lowered to 10.68x, which is close to the year low record of 10.43x on January 5th, 2012. Such a figure also neighbors Shanghai Shenzhen 300 Index’s 9.37x historic extreme.

Thomson Reuters data shows that by June 29th, the dynamic P/E ratios of Standard & Poor’ 500 Index, Deutscher Aktien Index, Hang Seng Index and Shanghai Composite Index are 12.54x, 9.22x, 9.62x and 9.29x. Analysts pointed out that in terms of international horizontal comparison; there are no huge differences between A-share valuation and mature markets in America, Germany and Hong Kong, etc.. In terms of horizontal comparison, the present A-share valuation is obviously lower than the 998 points on June 6th, 2005 and 1664 points on October 28th, 2008. This is an objective support for enhancing the valuation of Shanghai Shenzhen 300 Index.ex.

The performances of A-share keeps going downwards from 2010 to 2011 and the yearly price drop ranges are 14.31% and 21.68% respectively. After the earlier continuous and considerable decline, the general valuation of A-share market gradually draws together with mature markets.

Judging from the current circumstances, analysts think that though our economic growth slows down, there is little suspense that Chinese economy will grow faster than developed countries like America and Germany in years. Therefore the valuation of A-share market is increasingly attractive.

However, the structural disparity is still significant between A-share market and other markets though the overall valuation of A-share market is drawing close to international developed markets. Thomson Reuters reveals that the industries with highest dynamic P/E ratios are biotechnology (36x), investment (20x) and retail commodity (17x). And the lowest dynamic P/E ratios are seen in air transportation (7x), auto manufacturing (8x) and insurance (9x). In contrast, the industries with best P/E ratios are food and home appliances (22x), non-ferrous metal (22x) and health & medical (20x) and the lowest are banking (6x), railway transportation (9x) and automobile (9x).

Government Supports Private Capitals Move into the Culture Industry

After General Administration of Press and Publication enacted a policy to encourage private capital entering the culture industry, Ministry of Culture also published similar policies.

However, State Administration of Radio Film and Television has not published similar policies. Reporters from China Securities Journal have learned from insiders that reform in the radio, film and television will be slower than that in press and state owned art groups. The private capital has to wait to enter the radio, film and television at least in this year.

GAPP policies primarily focused on supporting private capital apply for national culture industry special funds. It maintains that private capital receive the same treatment with state capital in press park establishment and industry park construction. Ministry of Culture stated that private capital firms will receive equal treatment with state capital firms in terms of projects establishment, tax benefits and regulatory approvals. It also encourage private capital firms including financial institutes, brokerages and culture funds to enter the culture industry.

Cheng Shaofeng, deputy director of culture industry research institute of Beijing University said that, press industry and entertainment industry reforms started relatively early and as a result private capital has high degree of involvements. At present, policies enacted by two main regulatory agencies actually officially acknowledged private capital’s status in the industry and further laid out regulations for participants to follow.

Currently among the public listed companies in the domestic market, press firms have the largest share while radio, film and television firms are next to none. -Press and media industry reform was the fastest therefore privately owned press firm and advertisement firms are abundant with high degrees of market competition. Therefore, it is relatively easy for private capital enter such industries. On the other hand, radio, film and television industries reform has not yet completed yet with planned internet, cable and phone networks combination moving very slow. In addition, many existing firms within the industry still remain bureaucratic. And as a result, private capital still faces resistance to enter into this industry.- Chen stated.

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What Hydroponic Supplies Do I Need To Start Hydroponic Gardening

Hydroponics can be simple. You can start with the minimum hydroponic supplies and slowly find out what else you need as you go along. The particular hydroponic nutrients you need depend on what plants you are growing, and you may find that you need to add nutrient supplements to overcome nutrient deficiencies in your plants.

The easiest way to start hydroponic gardening is to use a static, media-based, non-circulating system. These are generally the most forgiving and most versatile ways to start hydroponics. These typically consist of boxes, bags or beds filled with a medium such as coconut fiber, sand, perlite, gravel or even potting mix. Among the other initial hydroponic supplies you need to start are a tank, a small pump and a feeder or dripper line.

There is evidence that long beds are easier to set up and care for than boxes or bags with individual drippers. The beds or troughs can be replaced with a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system which excludes a medium. However, the grower needs to have the necessary and confidence to make the switch to an NFT system.

Simple, non-reticulating systems are suitable for most crops so growers will be able to get experience this way for a long time using the bare minimum of hydroponic supplies. Among the crops you can grow in a medium such as coconut fiber are capsicums, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, zucchinis, herbs and root crops. Most flowers including roses and carnations can be produced this way.

The most important of all the hydroponic supplies you will need to start a static, non-circulating system is the growing medium. A high-quality coconut fiber will give you all the anchoring you need. Ideally, the coco coir, as it is also called, should be pH balanced and pre-buffered to enhance your plants uptake of hydroponic nutrients. Then you need containers. Polystyrene foam boxes and nursery bags are among the options, but long plastic pipes that have been halved longwise make useful growing trenches.

You need clean water for hydroponic gardening, but there is no need to go overboard in getting it clean. As long as you regularly sterilize your water supply and your hydroponic nutrients solution you should not have any problems. As long as your water supply has no suspended solids in it, such as dam water, then it is quite suitable for hydroponic gardening. You also need a nutrient tank.

Last but not least you need to invest in hydroponic nutrients to mix with the water and administer to the plants. You can get additional information from the experts at the company where you buy your hydroponic supplies, but a single pack nutrient, which is complete, balanced and specifically designed for the particular crop is the easiest to use. The dry nutrient is weighed and added slowly, taking a few minutes, to the nutrient tank as a dry powder while the tank is being filled or agitated. A well-formulated, single-pack nutrient will dissolve completely with merely a trace of sediment, which removed by the filter.

To recap: the hydroponic supplies you will need in order to start hydroponic gardening are:
growing medium
container/s
clean water
nutrient tank
hydroponic nutrients