St John Strobel 05

Vandenbrink Design started earlier this year as a design house for the automotive, engineering, industrial, and manufacturing industries. One product by Vandenbrink that has garnered attention by car enthusiasts world-wide is the Ferrari 599 GTO Mugello concept. Based on the Ferrari 250 GTO, designer Michiel van den Brin put his own spin on the classic car. Reaction has been so positive that Vandenbrink has announced it will bring the car into production as the Vandenbrink GTO.

Yuanhao assumed the imperial title, it was known as the Xia Kingdom. In 1227, Western Xia was conquered by Yuan emperor Tai Zu (Genghis Khan). The Western Xia had ten ruling emperors over a 190 year period. The sites of the imperial mausoleums were chosen nearby at the east foot of the Helan Mountains, 25 kilometers west of Yinchuan City.

On the southeast corner at the foot of the Helan Mountains are two large mausoleums, probably Jialing and Yuling mausoleums of Li Jiqian and Li Demin, who were posthumously designated Emperor Tai Zu and Emperor Tai Zong. The architectural arrangement of the mausoleum area makes these two mausoleums most prominent, followed by others built later.

Like other imperial tombs, Western Xia mausoleums were composed of two architectural units, the mausoleum gardens above ground and underground palaces. All the mausoleum gardens faced south, and their architectural forms above ground have some unique characteristics, though they are quite similar to mausoleums of the Tang and Northern Song dynasties in Gongxian County.

Based on some excavations, each mausoleum had a unified layout, occupying an area of more than 100,000 square meters, surrounded by inner and outer walls. At each corner of the mausoleum gardens were watchtowers, providing visual indicators of the boundaries, serving functions similar to those of watchtowers of the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) in Beijing. Mausoleum gardens were organized from south to north: Stone gates, tablet pavilion, outer city, inner city, hall furnished as an imperial bedroom and spiritual terrace.

In each of the four inner city walls was a gate; between the hall and terrace was an earth ridge shaped like a fish back, about 50 meters long. It was the earth covering of the tomb passage. The northern tip of the ridge was the highest point of the mausoleum garden, and was the mound above the underground palace. The mound, also known as the spiritual terrace, can be seen from some distance because of its height.

The unique characteristics of Western Xia mausoleums are clearly visible on the spiritual terraces. The mausoleum mounds of the Han, Tang and Northern Song dynasties are generally high, square-based packed earth mounds with tapering tops cut flat and gently sloped sides. Completely different, the mounds of Western Xia mausoleums look like squat Buddhist pagodas, round or octagonal and about 20 meters high. Examples seen today have five or seven stories, each of which is built with flying rafters overlaid with rows of tiles, richly decorated with an interspersing of glazed green tiles. The sides of the spiritual terraces are painted a deep red, the red walls and the green tiles providing a striking contrast, making it easy to imagine how magnificent the spiritual terraces must have been.

As the new American election approaches, there are many candidates that will potentially make American History. One of these candidates is Barack Obama. If elected as the next present, he will be the first ever African American president in history. For those who do not know about Obama, here is a brief yet insightful biography.

Obama was born in August 4, 1961. His first experience in politics was when he was the junior United States Senator for his state under a Democratic Party. While receiving such role, he already contributed to history by being labeled the fifth African American Senator in a whole history of the United States.

In 2008, Obama will be running for Presidency. His Democratic Party’s mission is to end the Iraq War, which is quite turn around for the country. It will be quite interesting to see how the election plays out, which may ultimately show the nation’s current stand on the war. Of course each candidate has their own view on the war and it will not be the sole reason why the American citizens will be voting in favor of a specific candidate.

Barack Obama also wants to implement a universal health care system which allows the right to all citizens (and some permanent residents) to health care, regardless of the fact that they can afford to pay for the services or not. This is essential for the United States since they are the only industrialized country that does not grant all of their citizens the right to health care.

If Barack Obama were to be elected as president, it will show how much the United States has gone through pass their decades of discrimination against the African American. Of course racism has already decreased since the 70’s and 80’s but it still lingers within the country if we admit it or not. The sole purpose of voting for a certain senator is not to chose whether he or she is in a specific group (such as race, class or gender) but rather look through such things into their values as a person and goals for the country. This election will be one of the most important elections as there is lots of potential for history to be made and of course, a major impact in the country’s direction.

The results of Barack Obama’s campaign for presidency is not as predictable since the vote is going to be determined by generations of people who have new mindsets. As opposed to decades ago, if a similar election would be held (with a female and black senator running) the results would be quite obvious because of the discrimination between the two. However, the United States are in a new state, but of course those with the discriminating generation are still alive and voting.

As each candidate tour the country hoping to convince voters to vote for them through their campaign, Obama New York as a win would greatly benefit is campaign along with California Obama majority. Tune into the 2008 election as history will surely be made.

Are you one of the 47 million without health insurance? Do you realize that over half of all the bankruptcies in the USA occur as a result of an emergency medical cost? Many medical insurance plans are too costly for people on a modest income. COBRA monthly premiums are shocking to people who are between jobs. Graduating students do not have extra cash to spend on expensive health insurance plans before they get benefits from their jobs.

Short term health insurance plans are designed to give you the coverage of health insurance at a fraction of the cost. These medical insurance plans do not have co payments for doctors’ visits. They also do not generally have prescription drug benefits, nor do they cover pre-existing conditions.

The temporary medical insurance plans do offer major medical coverage for catastrophic situations for a fraction of the cost of co pay plans or COBRA plans. They have a deductible which you choose and an out of pocket maximum. Once the maximum is met, the insurance covers medical expenses at 100%. This coverage could be all you need to keep you out of bankruptcy in the event that you need medical care. While these plans are considered ‘temporary insurance’, they are designed to cover the individual or family for as long as the client pays the premium.

If you don’t know how long you will need the coverage, you can opt for a month-to-month payment plan. But if you know you will have coverage at a certain date, you can save money by selecting the single payment option for the insurance. This is a good idea if you are in a waiting period for a new job before the health benefits begin.

You can get coverage in as little as 5 minutes effective as early as midnight tonight, and apply directly online at several websites. Compare several different options and you will be surprised at how little it costs to insure you in the event of a medical emergency. There is no need to be one of the 47 million Americans in danger of bankruptcy in the event of a medical emergency. These plans are affordable for everyone.