Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Former prime minister Anand Panyarachun said that coup-makers should ensure that the problems that led to the coup in the first place do not return.

"We should not let problems such as corruption or complete control of power to return, otherwise people will ask what the coup has achieved. We should ensure this doesn't happen," he said.

Anand, who was appointed prime minister after the 1991 coup, said a military power seizure was not always a bad thing, though he did not support it.

"I insist, I don't want to see another military coup in Thailand. But, if there is a government that offers space for the people to take part in politics and the economy, and also returns power to the people, then the military will have no reason to stage a coup," he pointed out.

He was speaking at an interview entitled "Ask Khun Anand about Today's Issues" conducted by media personality Pinyo Trisuriyatamma at the Montien Hotel on Thursday night.

After much pushing, Anand finally said he was not afraid to voice his thoughts about the latest coup, but his answer would not change what had happened, adding that there was no point in discussing the power seizure.

"I was not a democratically elected prime minister, but what did I do that was not right while in government?" he asked.

"I don't think democracy is just about elections. Democracy entails several other things such as democratic values, organisations set up to ensure checks and balances, transparency, a fair judicial system, the right to express opinions.

"An election gives us our representatives. But once elected, these representatives try to make personal gains while claiming they are honorary representatives. This is worrying, as people get tired of democracy. People become sick of politicians even though there are many good politicians."

Yet, the former PM appeared to be optimistic about post-coup politics.

Link:
'Coup should not revive old woes'

ACTUAL treating of mold at the ceiling of an office

How do you rate the health of your work environment? Is your workplace making you sick? Perhaps you have complained about mysterious itching, irritation of eyes, nose, and throat, or even asthma. And its not just in your office that you encounter these problems. Sometimes, when you stay in hospitals or even libraries, you experience sudden headache, tiredness, shortness of breath, wheezing, dizziness and loss of concentration.

If so, chances are you may be suffering from sick building syndromeused to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.

Complaints usually involve buildings or establishments where windows are sealed shut and fresh air is scarce. In the United States alone, so many cases have been reported that the Environmental Protection Agency states that one out of four new or renovated buildings may be classified as sick buildings. These building-related illnesses have already cost billions in lost productivity every year due to absenteeism after workers have fallen sick.

The US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has revealed that occupants in buildings where the ducts have never been cleaned are 60 percent more likely to develop respiratory ailments. Clean ducts can help improve air delivery systems. Furnishings, carpets and fabrics stay clean longer and even the energy efficiency and service life of HVAC equipment can improve.

I recently discovered that the excellent service to cure sick buildings is now offered in the Philippines. Piahstreams Philippines managing director Charlie Carmona introduced me to the company that has been in the country for several years now.

DECONTAMINATING at the source, ventilation system

Piahstreams Consultant Services (Piahstreams) and its partner, Remediation and Decontamination Solutions Corp. Inc. of Valentin Prieto Jr., are the experts at protecting lives against symptoms of sick building syndrome and other cases. Since 2001, Piahstreams has been providing consultation services to analyze contamination issues and recommend effective solutions to address various special niche market demands.

Piahstreams, via its professional affiliation in the United States, takes pride in its three independent yet highly sophisticated linked business coresrestoration and recovery, environmental remediation, and hazardous waste management.

The restoration and recovery core utilizes state-of-the art technology and proven industry methods to restore emergency support functions of post-disaster areas to maximize the survival of lives and the use of remaining assets.

Link:
How to cure a sick building

The second reading of an ordinance that would require all Luther property owners to install a specific septic system and pay monthly fees for it was tabled during Thursday nights Luther City Council meeting.

As it currently reads, the ordinance would require all property owners to install a certain septic system - yet to be determined - on their property. The system would be owned and maintained by the city. A monthly fee would also come with the system, which is set at $80 right now.

Resident Jack Miller, one of approximately 50 Luther residents in attendance at the meeting, said the sewer systems property owners would be required to install are expensive.

A lot of people in this town are on a fixed income, and they cant afford it, Miller said. Weve got to think about them.

The town already has a $370,000 I-JOBS grant that can be used for the city-wide sewer improvements. In order to be eligible for additional grants and loans to help fund an upgrade to the towns sewer system, an ordinance needs to be in place. If the town is successful in securing additional funding sources, the $80 monthly fee could change.

I really think theres money out there so we can get this down to $50, said Luther City Clerk Linda Benson.

Factoring into all this is the fact that if work on the towns sewer systems does not begin by June 1, 2015, Luther will lose the I-JOBS grant.

Councilman Tim Herrstrom said putting the ordinance in place is the right thing to do.

If everyone had an updated system, we wouldnt have this problem, Herrstrom said.

Vicky Severson said she is concerned about the future of the town if the ordinance passes. She said residents have said they will abandon their homes if the ordinance is put in place. Others have talked about voting to have the town disincorporated.

Read the rest here:
Sewer ordinance tabled

COBDEN -- More than a thousand miles away in Cobden, Matt Hartlines thoughts rarely wander very far from a desert in Northern Mexico.

Each year Hartline leaves the village of Cobden, where he serves as associate pastor of First Baptist Church, and travels with members of his church to El Coyote, a small remote village in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico.

For him, its more than just a trip out of the country, though, referring to it as a calling from God.

We are called to missions, but we are called to go to El Coyote, Mexico, Hartline said. We are not just doing random missions, but were called to go there. All of us have a heart for the Mexican people, for these people.

Beginning a dental ministry

Brian and Sherri Lukes, members of First Baptist Church of Cobden, began making the trip to Mexico more than 14 years ago after hearing a woman speak about using what God has given you to do ministry.

Sherri had taught dental hygiene at SIU for 25 years, and so she wanted to clean peoples teeth, meet their physical needs and while theyre waiting in line, share the gospel, Brian Lukes, her husband, said.

The mission work began meagerly, with Sherri setting up a lawn chair at a garbage dump in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, and cleaning teeth while her husband and others built a soup kitchen in the dump.

They expanded their ministry over the next four years, going deeper into the heart of Mexico to Palmillas. While Brian and others from the church did construction work, Sherri cleaned teeth with the help of three to six of her SIU dental hygiene students.

But after hearing about Octavio, a missionary from Mexico City, and his wife, who is a dentist and has a dental operatory and a dormitory for mission groups in El Coyote, the Lukes and others from the Cobden church have been returning each year to the tiny desert village.

Read the rest here:
Cobden church has heart for Mexico

Courtesy: Brittany Pistole

Courtesy: Brittany Pistole

Courtesy: Brittany Pistole

UPDATE 8/15/14 @ 5:36 p.m. NEW BOSTON, Ohio (WSAZ) -- A church in New Boston, Ohio is in shambles after a truck smashed through one of its walls.

Police believe the truck was topping out at more than 60 miles per hour before it hit a sign, flipped and landed inside the church.

Investigators said the driver, Samuel Gibson, 21, was drunk and the underage passenger, Zachary Cunningham, 19, was too.

Church leaders said the damage may be bad enough to condemn the building and force them to start from scratch.

"You have a huge hole in the side of your church, it was an accident," said Rev. Mike Percell.

That's the call Rev. Percell got around 4 a.m. Friday, after police said a drunk driver crashed through a fence, a sign and finally, into New Boston Nazarene Church.

"It damaged several pews, of course the walls, the complete wall is structurally unsafe, it is off-limits now to the public," he said.

Read the original post:
UPDATE: Suspected Drunk Driver Crashes into Church

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) Pyongyang isn't just any North Korean city. So when a 23-story apartment building under construction collapsed in the center of the showcase capital in May, officials faced a bona fide emergency.

Their response was in some ways predictable: a grudgingly slow and piecemeal confirmation, followed by scapegoating and spin. Three months later, they still refuse to give a death toll, saying only that it was "serious" and that leader Kim Jong Un "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident."

But in a country where acknowledgment of failure is rare, experts say North Korea's handling of the collapse also shines a light on how it is grappling with some deeper issues, including its image among foreign investors, the limits on its control over information and the need to address, at a public level, the concerns of its citizens.

In this photo taken on Thursday, July 31, 2014, a North Korean woman walks past a recently completed dormitory to house more than 3,000 workers at the Kim Jong Suk Textile Factory in Pyongyang, North Korea. Home to more than one-tenth of North Korea?s 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) (Wong Maye-E/AP)

Well aware of how far North Korea lags behind its more prosperous neighbors, Kim has singled out development projects as a key priority since he assumed power following the death of his father in 2011. This week, while visiting a block of apartment houses being built in Pyongyang for university teachers, he reportedly said the nation's soldier-builders are "racing against time in ushering in a great heyday of building a rich and powerful country."

Nowhere is that race more feverish or the political stakes higher than in Pyongyang.

Home to more than one-tenth of North Korea's 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty.

In a country that sorely needs to improve its basic infrastructure, there is no public debate over whether North Korea really needs a new luxury ski resort, or a 105-story pyramid-shaped hotel that has been a Pyongyang landmark for more than 20 years, but has yet to open for business. Questioning the value of megaprojects held up as symbols of progress and national pride in North Korea is taboo.

Housing, however, hits closer to home.

"This accident happened because they broke the rules and methods of construction," Pyongyang resident Pak Chol told The Associated Press after the accident was reported by the state media. "We must make sure that this kind of terrible accident never happens again, by sticking to the proper method of building."

Excerpt from:
Building fail sheds light on N. Korean priorities

Residents were evacuated from a Brooklyn apartment building Friday after a piece of construction equipment smashed through a wall.

Firefighters say an excavator from a neighboring construction site was leaning against the building when they got there.

Six people were evacuated, but no one was injured.

NY1 spoke to people who were inside the building when it happened.

"There was, like, a boom and then, like, a little shake, and then, the people came, the firemen came, and they said we had to evacuate the building," said one person who was inside the building.

"The second floor, the lady told me that the whole wall shook. She came downstairs and said the building is smashed. So I went upstairs, the whole wall is smashed in. It took the whole sheet rock and pushed it all in," said another.

"I just felt scared because I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what happened until I came outside and it was unlevel," said a third. "To me, it was an accident."

There is no word yet on when residents will be allowed back into their homes.

See original here:
Residents of Brooklyn Apartment Evacuate After Construction Equipment Smashes Through Wall

In this photo taken on Friday, Aug. 1, 2014, elderly North Korean men walk on a sidewalk with the 105-story pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel, which has been under construction since 1987, seen in the background in Pyongyang, North Korea. Home to more than one-tenth of North Koreas 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday, July 28, 2014, construction workers sit in front of the new Pyongyang International airport terminal under construction in Pyongyang, North Korea. Home to more than one-tenth of North Koreas 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Thursday, July 31, 2014, North Koreans paint the facade of their apartment building in Pyongyang, North Korea. Home to more than one-tenth of North Koreas 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Monday, July 28, 2014, construction work is underway at the new Pyongyang International airport terminal in Pyongyang, North Korea. Home to more than one-tenth of North Koreas 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Thursday, July 31, 2014, North Korean men wait next to the recently completed dormitory to house more than 3,000 workers at the Kim Jong Suk Textile Factory in Pyongyang, North Korea. Home to more than one-tenth of North Koreas 24 million people, Pyongyang has always been the focus of development and the prime beneficiary of state funding. Providing better housing for Pyongyang residents, who have a much higher standard of living than other North Koreans, is a key means for the leadership to ensure their support and loyalty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)The Associated Press

PYONGYANG, North Korea Pyongyang isn't just any North Korean city. So when a 23-story apartment building under construction collapsed in the center of the showcase capital in May, officials faced a bona fide emergency.

Their response was in some ways predictable: a grudgingly slow and piecemeal confirmation, followed by scapegoating and spin. Three months later, they still refuse to give a death toll, saying only that it was "serious" and that leader Kim Jong Un "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident."

But in a country where acknowledgment of failure is rare, experts say North Korea's handling of the collapse also shines a light on how it is grappling with some deeper issues, including its image among foreign investors, the limits on its control over information and the need to address, at a public level, the concerns of its citizens.

Well aware of how far North Korea lags behind its more prosperous neighbors, Kim has singled out development projects as a key priority since he assumed power following the death of his father in 2011. This week, while visiting a block of apartment houses being built in Pyongyang for university teachers, he reportedly said the nation's soldier-builders are "racing against time in ushering in a great heyday of building a rich and powerful country."

Nowhere is that race more feverish or the political stakes higher than in Pyongyang.

Read more:
Accountability, Pyongyang style: North Korea grapples with implications of high-rise collapse

This stylish duplex in the South End was completely renovated into a sunny condo in 2010 and the owners have added built-ins and other amenities in the past four years.

Unit 2 at 77 Rutland St., one of three condos in the 1900-built rowhouse, occupies the first and second floors and has new windows, systems and roof.

From the outside, the building looks like a traditional rowhouse with a brick exterior, carved wood entryway and projecting bay and ornamental wrought-iron railings.

But the first-floor interior of the unit has an open floor plan, with a front-to-back dining/living and kitchen area with new red oak floors, custom crown molding and 9-foot-9 ceilings with recessed lighting. The dining area has two large windows, and the owners recently added paneled wainscoting with a deep closet running behind the wall. The living area has a gas fireplace with a carved wood mantel with new built-ins added on either side.

The kitchen has 20 cabinets, including several that are pantry sized, and beige granite countertops with newly added glass mosaic tile backsplash. A bi-level granite island with new pendant lamps overhead seats four. High-end stainless-steel appliances include a Sub Zero refrigerator, a Viking gas stove and wine cooler and a Bosch dishwasher. Off the back of the kitchen is a glass door leading out to a private deck with a gas line to an outdoor grill.

Off to the side of the kitchen is a half-bathroom with a small white marble tile floor.

A turning oak staircase leads to two bedrooms on the second floor off an oak hallway with a closet holding a stacked Bosch washer/dryer.

The front-facing master bedroom suite has three large windows, including a three-part bay window with a window seat. The room has 9-foot 7-inch ceilings with recessed lighting, oak floors and a built-in bookcase. Theres a large walk-in closet with built-in storage. The en-suite master bathroom has a white Carrara marble floor and vanity top, as well as a marble surround for a deep soaking tub and a glass walk-in shower with rainhead and handheld fixtures.

The rear-facing second bedroom also has oak floors and an en-suite bathroom with a beige marble tile floor and surround for a tub/shower. Theres also a granite-topped vanity.

This unit has central air conditioning but does not come with a parking space, so owners will have to park on the street with residential permit or rent a garage space nearby.

Continue reading here:
Rowhouse renovated with style

James Smith and Mary Anne Walser knew they could fix the flaws in a midcentury modern home.

The dated home was situated on a wooded 1-acre lot in Atlanta and had the right wrong things going for it, Walser said. For example, the ugly Formica countertops, shag carpet and dark wood paneling could be torn out, replaced or painted over. But the property didnt have a steep driveway or other structural elements that would be too difficult and costly to repair.

The house presented a chance for Smith, an architect, and Walser, a real estate agent, who were married in 2009, to start from scratch on a home project together. Their plan included ripping out walls, exposing wood, and bringing in contemporary fixtures and furniture.

Its a wonderful opportunity to allow us to furnish it in ways that fits both of us, Smith said.

Snapshot

Names: James Smith and Mary Anne Walser, and their dog, Snack. Smith is a principal at Perkins + Will; Walser works for Keller Williams Realty Premier Atlanta.

Location: Atlanta

Size: About 3,000 square feet, four bedrooms, four baths

Year built: 1974

Year bought: 2011

See original here:
Making the most of a mid-century modern