Nov 23 2011

DNA dye Smartwater sends Torfaen metal thief to jail

 DNA dye Smartwater sends Torfaen metal thief to jail11 November 2011 last updated at 03:28 ET Share this page a scan with ultraviolet light confirmed the lead had been taken from the roof of Pontypool's indoor market

A council which has sprayed a chemical dye on its property and buildings has welcomed a jail term for a man caught trying to sell metal he stole.

The 24-year-old was jailed for 22 weeks after admitting stealing lead from Pontypool market and the Jubilee Centre in Torfaen.

It is the first successful prosecution since Torfaen began using SmartWater for fly tippers and thefts.

The council said 49 metal thefts since April had cost it £136,000.

The council has put the DNA dye on buildings, vehicles and office equipment

Each container of SmartWater liquid has a unique chemical signature, ensuring property can be traced

The council was the first in Wales to use the dye against fly tippers, with it sprayed on waste materials carried by lorry.

But the recent court case in Newport stemmed from the rising number of metal thefts that have cost Torfaen £290,000 in the past three years.

Magistrates heard the cost of the lead stolen from the indoor market's roof amounted to more than £1,400 but replacing it and repairs pushed the bill to £6,000.

Footprint impressions

The court heard police officers found the man and his 18-year-old accomplice by the weighing scales at the Pontypool scrap dealer site.

Police had arrived with a SmartWater representative on a routine visit to scan metal with a UV light for traces of the liquid that is invisible to the naked eye.

Magistrates heard the pair initially denied the thefts.

But footprint impressions taken from the market were linked to the man and SmartWater analysis confirmed the metal had been taken from the roof of the market.

The man was also given a 10-week sentence for stealing lead and his co-defendant, who pleaded guilty, was given a 12-month community order.

Torfaen council said it had seen a "significant" rise in metal thefts since last year, when 35 thefts cost it £107,000, but the court case showed the £58,500 three-year SmartWater initiative was starting to pay off.

In addition to external metal on buildings, the dye is also sprayed on vehicles and equipment, as well as computers and laptops.

Torfaen executive member John Cunningham said he hoped the sentence sent out a strong message.

"Metal thieves cost Torfaen thousands of pounds every year and we are dealing with it very seriously.

"any potential metal thief should know that all our property is marked with SmartWater and this includes our buildings, our computers, our equipment, machinery and tools."




Nov 22 2011

Phil Anselmo discusses Slayer’s “Reign In Blood”

 Phil Anselmo discusses Slayers Reign In Blood

Philip, how did you first discover Slayer and how did they fit into what you – as a musician – were doing at the time? Philip Anselmo: I remember watching heavy metal closely as it evolved. I was about 15 years old or so and Metallica’s Kill ‘Em all really set the tone for that kind of metal, with the crunchy axe sound. Slayer’s Show no Mercy was a great LP but it still posed a lot of questions as to where they’d go next. then, Haunting the Chapel was a much more relentless offering, but still, it was only an EP. Finally, when Slayer released Hell Awaits, I, like many others, was sold. that record is still my favourite. very Mercyful Fate influenced riff-wise but the point is: Slayer became more extreme, where bands like Metallica were heading in a more acceptable direction. I was a Slayer kid 100%. Do you remember when you first heard Reign in Blood? Set the scene and tell us what your first thoughts were… PA: I bought Reign in Blood on vinyl when it first came out. I really had no cash to do much of anything but getting that record was essential… Shit, I probably would have stolen it if it weren’t for a friend lending me the cash to buy it. anyway, all I had to listen to it on was my buddy’s shitty turntable at the apartment I was living in and it skipped constantly – I was furious! But I eventually got the cassette and all was, well, crushing! There wasn’t a single show I’d go to where RIB wasn’t the talk of the night; it killed everything else even considered ‘heavy’. Which tracks stand out most and why? PA: Where do I start? ‘Angel of Death’, ‘Piece By Piece’, ‘Altar of Sacrifice’, ‘Jesus Saves’, ‘Criminally Insane’, ‘Raining Blood’. all of them are still brutal masterpieces. Slayer had trimmed down their riffing a tad on RIB, but still, they were complex enough to keep my attention and innovative beyond words. Extreme drumming, extreme vocals, extreme concepts, insane riffing and blistering out of key leads… like Black Flag possessed by a Catholic Satan. Gotta love it… Did you – consciously or otherwise – take any aspect of RIB forward to Pantera material and if you did, which songs or feels are most heavily influenced? PA: of course. But there was a bit of influential magic here. I was the Slayer fan out of the Pantera boys – they were into Metallica, Motorhead and Def Leppard etc, so I was a bit of an outcast. But there was no denying Slayer’s power and their popularity was growing, so it was tough for the fellas to ignore. Slayer was playing on a Saturday night in Dallas on the South of Heaven tour and they’d gotten into town the night before. My great friend and boxing coach, mad Maxx Hammer at Z-Rock (who was a DJ at that time) suggested to the Slayer guys that they should come to see us play on that Friday. well, Tom, Kerry and Jeff came out, and to cut a very long story short, Kerry and I hit it off well. Kerry and Jeff even got up and jammed Reign in Blood with us that night. Several months later, Kerry called me and said that he wanted to come hang out (he was in between legs of touring) and jam with us. that jam session… teaching Dimebag Slayer riffs and Dime teaching Kerry our stuff was stupendously influential. Look no further than the end of ‘Domination’ to hear the Slayer influence, it’s fucking obvious! Slayer supported Pantera in 2001, what were your emotions having them support you given how you felt about their music? PA: all I knew was that we had better jam our asses off every night. we really had to be on point. Playing after Slayer is no easy chore and dammit, when they’d kick into ‘Angel of Death’ or ‘Raining Blood’… my adrenaline still gets going just thinking about it! I’d get so pumped-up watching Slayer that I’d have to catch a second (or third) wind just to get up and play our set. It’s true! Slayer was the craziest motivator ever… and I mean EVER. Sum up where you think RIB fits into the overall fabric of heavy metal? PA: it still stands the test of time and still kills – a pure, classic LP. To me, Slayer invented the style of heavy metal I adore: odes to Satan with discordant axe harmonies and thundering drums. They invented the style – that says everything. There may have been other great bands out there – great influential bands – but Slayer stands alone in my heart till I croak, period. and I think history will be kind to them. They’re legends under my roof anyway. Read the FULL article here.




Nov 19 2011

Business opportunities in ‘green’ field to be discussed by panel tonight

9225412 large Business opportunities in green field to be discussed by panel tonightThe Star-Ledger file photoNon-profit group Rising Tide Capital is celebrating America Recycles Day by hosting a panel discussion tonight on new opportunities for small and large businesses in the growing green sector.

Speakers will share their own innovative green ideas and business practices, and discuss how they started their green initiatives at the start Something Green event at the City Hall Rotunda and City Council Chambers at 280 Grove St. from 6 to 8 p.m.

The event is part of a week-long series of free panel discussions and networking gatherings in Jersey City, Newark and Orange to connect entrepreneurs with potential business partners, mentors and investors during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The panel will be moderated by Julie Wang, director of The Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative and features Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage, a renewable energy company; Liz Long, CEO and founder of Bag the Habit, a Jersey-City based company that designs and distributes reusable shopping bags; Andrew Sell, CEO and founder of Hipcycle, an online store for stylish and durable recycled products; Nyugen Smith, a Jersey-City artist working with found materials and Daniel Strechay, Director of Communications & Public Relations at SIMS Metal Management, a giant publicly listed recycler.

For more information about the start Something NJ initiative and the start Something Green event, visit startsomethingnj.org.

For more information about Global Entrepreneurship Week, visit unleashingideas.org