There's no mistaking the MyHandleBar party bikes, which have been turning heads in downtown Boulder and in Fort Collins for a few weeks now and officially open for business today. It's a people-powered roving happy hour, of sorts, that groups can book to tour downtown bars and breweries, for family reunions, to entertain out-of-town guests or to just cruise around on for a few hours. tiffany necklace white gold
It looks like a cross between a traveling bar top, several tandem bikes all smooshed together and something Rube Goldberg might have dreamed up had he been a bike designer. Actually it was two brothers in the Netherlands who sketched plans for the prototype on a cocktail napkin. The bike can carry 15-passengers plus a designated driver (provided by the company) who rides at the front and steers, works the brake and provides encouragement and commentary. There are 10 padded pedaling seats arranged around a handsome wooden counter with chains that drive a central mechanism. tiffany cufflinks
It takes at least six people to pedal the bike comfortably, and there's a passenger bench across the back. Patrons can plug their MP3 players into an integrated sound system and there's storage for bags and purses, a cooler full of snacks and non-alcoholic beverages or whatever else you may need to enjoy the ride. "People really have to see this thing to understand what it is," says Theresa Preston, 31, who founded the company based on an idea she read about in Entrepreneur magazine and contracted to have the bikes delivered from Holland. tiffany charms
"We've had a great response so far wherever we go -- lots of thumbs up, lots of honking and waving and a ton of questions." Drivers carry informational flyers to hand out, but mostly people want to know, "If I hop on can I get a free beer?" the driver tells me when I join a group taking the bike out for a spin. Unfortunately you can't actually drink alcohol on the bike, and no riders other than those in the group that rent the bike are allowed. There are two set routes for both Boulder and Fort Collins that stop at popular bars and breweries, however, or you can customize your own tour as long as it sticks to the downtown area and doesn't tackle a hill above a 6-percent grade. tiffany necklace silver
It didn't take long for our group of strangers and acquaintances to start talking when we took the bike for a test-ride during a recent launch party at the Lazy Dog. It takes a little effort to get the bike going (it weighs upwards of 1,500 pounds) but once up to speed it cruises easily and is a blast to ride. People on the street yelled and waved and more than a few pulled out their cell phones to take pictures. We even momentarily upstaged a juggler performing with flaming clubs on his unicycle as we cruised up 13th Street past the Pearl Street Mall. tiffany mens necklace
The bikes are currently available for private rentals, and Preston is working on plans for a singles mixer where people can book seats individually. "What a great ice-breaker," she says. "To all pedal around town together, share a few drinks at the bars and hopefully get to know some new people." One thing is for sure on the party bike: You'll never meet a stranger. cheap tiffany
ATHENS/BERLIN (Reuters) – The Greek parliament approved detailed austerity and privatization bills on Thursday in a crucial vote to secure emergency funds and avert imminent bankruptcy, but longer-term dangers still lurk. Lawmakers voted 155-136 for the implementation laws a day after backing a deeply unpopular 28 billion euro, five-year austerity plan, removing the last obstacle to the next slice of aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The euro and world stocks rose to three-week highs after the vote as investors expressed relief that the specter of a sudden summer default had been avoided, despite fierce public opposition to deeper pay and spending cuts.
tiffany charms The European Union's top two officials, Herman van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso, hailed the vote as an "act of national responsibility" and said conditions were now in place to disburse the urgently needed next tranche of loans to Greece. Euro zone finance ministers will take the decision at a meeting on Sunday. The IMF is set to follow suit on July 5. That 12 billion euro loan will prevent Greece defaulting in mid-July or August and shift the focus to a second assistance package likely to be about the same size as last year's 110 billion euro bailout. The IMF said on it hoped for a "positive resolution" in talks with European countries to ensure the Greek economic program is fully funded.
tiffany pendants An IMF spokeswoman, Caroline Atkinson, said in a statement the Greek Parliament's final approval of austerity plan would "bolster Greece's efforts to implement its economic reform program." Credit insurance markets are still pricing in a nearly 80 percent chance of Greece defaulting on its 340 billion euro debt mountain -- 150 percent of annual economic output -- within five years. Greek bond yields fell only slightly and there was a widespread sense that relief may be very short-lived. "The Greek situation has been kicked down the road for a couple of weeks and the immediate prospect of a default is off the agenda for now," said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets. "Getting this vote through is one thing, but all it is doing is delaying the inevitable. ... Given what is going on on the streets of Athens, you have to question whether Greece can implement these measures. tiffany cufflinks
" In Berlin, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he had reached agreement with German banks on private sector participation in a new assistance program, based on a French plan for a voluntary debt rollover. German institutions were likely to contribute 3.2 billion euros through this scheme -- barely 1/10th of the sum sought from private bondholders. French banks and insurers have the biggest exposure among foreign holders of Greek debt. tiffany & co outlet
Greek banks have little choice but to roll over their own holdings. Prime Minister George Papandreou's socialist government may find it hard to enforce tax increases and state asset sales against massive public resistance, while a violent fringe always present in Greek politics has burst to the fore. Vasso Papandreou, a former European Commissioner and member of the prime minister's PASOK party who is not related to him, told parliament she would vote for the laws as a patriotic duty although she feared the economy would deteriorate as a result. "Germany is preparing the ground for our official bankruptcy as soon as this can happen without cost to the German banks," she said, venting a feeling widely shared among Greeks, who say they are suffering to save European bankers. tiffany rings
Rioters armed with stones and clubs fought several hours of running battles with police firing huge clouds of teargas in central Athens until the early hours of Thursday morning, leaving gutted shop-fronts, shattered windows and a field of debris. "The problem for Papandreou is not in Parliament," said Costas Panagopoulos, head of ALCO pollsters. "It is what is happening outside Parliament: not in Syntagma Square, which is just a few hundred protesters, but with the whole of Greece's 11 million people." Papandreou on Thursday asked the EU for help in drafting a recovery plan for the Greek economy. tiffany earrings
This would mainly include speeding up the disbursement of EU regional policy funds already earmarked for Greece, as well as suspending until 2013 all Greek government contributions to EU co-financed projects. "Since our proposals do not imply an increase of the total sum of funding for a country and have the unanimous political support of the (EU) member states, they could be implemented quite soon," Papandreou said in a letter to Barroso, president of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
tiffany braceletROLLOVER TALKS North European creditor countries, led by chief paymaster Germany, are insisting that private sector bondholders must share the cost of any further rescue, so intensive talks are under way on a "voluntary" rollover of maturing Greek debt. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who has repeatedly warned the EU against triggering a credit event or downgrade of Greek debt to default, took a cautious line on the French proposal in testimony in the European Parliament. tiffany men's necklace
"At this stage we have not yet (got) a position... we are very alert but I cannot give you a precise judgment on what is going on. There are several concepts being examined," he said. Three banking sources told Reuters on Wednesday that politicians and bankers were confident that implementing the French plan would not trigger a payout of credit insurance or a default that would inflict losses on banks. tiffany necklace
Banks had received positive signals from ratings agencies that they would not call the rollover plan a default, the sources said. But officials cautioned that many details of the plan, including whether there would be any official guarantee, remained to be negotiated. Many investors and economists still expect Greece to default in the medium term, and one influential international official suggested on Thursday that might be better for Athens. "The current state of affairs where all the Greek taxpayers' money goes to the creditors cannot continue," said Angel Gurria, head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a rich nations' intergovernmental think-tank. tiffany necklace silver
"Greece must be enabled to have a policy that really allows work on the economy's recovery. This is also best for the creditors," Gurria told Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad. He did not rule out a "haircut" for Greek debt holders. "IMPLEMENTATION RISK" As life returned to normal in Athens after a night of violence, market concerns shifted from the danger of an immediate disorderly default for the first time in the euro zone to the medium-term prospect of a Greek debt restructuring. tiffany necklace white gold
"There's still implementation risk over the next few months but for now the default risk has been taken off the table," said Lloyds Bank strategist Eric Wand. He forecast renewed pressure on the bonds of weaker euro zone countries on the edges of the single currency area after a temporary respite. "There should be a brief hiatus in the periphery-bashing we've had in the last few weeks, but there are other problems." Those included the prospect of early Spanish elections and squabbling within Italy's center-right coalition as the country faces a credit rating downgrade. tiffany charms
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and congressional lawmakers reached a deal Tuesday to propel three coveted free trade agreements toward a vote on Capitol Hill, though the ultimate fate of the pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama remained uncertain. Key lawmakers from both parties struck an agreement with the administration to extend aid for American workers displaced by foreign trade. Cheap Pandora Charms
The White House, acknowledging concerns from labor unions, had threatened to hold up passage of the pacts unless the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, or TAA, was renewed. But the process for ensuring passage of the trade deals and the assistance for workers was unclear Tuesday. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he planned to attach TAA to the Korea deal, the largest and most desirable of the trade pacts, when his committee began discussing the agreements on Thursday. Pandora Earrings
But top Republicans balked at that proposal. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said it was a "highly partisan decision" that "risks support for this critical job-creating trade pact in the name of a welfare program of questionable benefit at a time when our nation is broke." Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he would oppose any trade deal in which the worker assistance program was embedded. Republicans generally support both trade and worker assistance programs, so Baucus' move could put GOP lawmakers in the awkward position of either having to vote against issues that traditionally have GOP support or handing President Barack Obama a victory on a top priority.
Pandora Bracelets Baucus negotiated with House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and top White House economist Gene Sperling to reach a deal on the substance of the worker assistance. Their plan would make benefits available to service as well as manufacturing industries, provide money for retraining and make affordable health care available. Camp said in a statement Tuesday the decision on how to move the trade deals and TAA through the House was an issue for Republican leadership to determine. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said the worker assistance program should be dealt with separately from the trade agreements. Obama frequently cites passage of the three trade deals as an economic imperative for the U.S. He has touted the pacts as an opportunity to open overseas markets to U.S. companies and make American products more attractive in the global marketplace. Pandora Charms
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday: "Now is the time to move forward with TAA and with the Korea, Colombia and Panama trade agreements." The pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce also urged lawmakers to move quickly to pass the pacts. "I urge members of both parties to seize a reasonable compromise and move the trade agenda forward," chamber president Tom Donohue said in a statement. "The time to act is now." The TAA program was expanded two years ago as part of Obama's stimulus package to include aid for more displaced workers, but the expansion expired in February. Pandora Beads
The extension agreed to in negotiations is smaller than the 2009 package and would continue through 2013. Administration officials said continuing TAA would be paid by spending cuts, though Camp's office said the details of where the cuts would come from were still being worked out. The U.S. signed the trade pacts with South Korea, Panama and Colombia in 2007 under President George W. Bush. But the then-Democratic-led Congress never brought the agreements up for vote, giving the Obama administration time to renegotiate areas it found objectionable. U.S. trade officials spent months negotiating outstanding issues on the pacts, reaching an agreement with South Korea in December. Pandora Charms
The pact would boost U.S. exports by $11 billion a year, according to the administration. Deals were struck this spring with Panama, one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies, and Colombia. The administration says a final pact with Colombia will boost U.S. exports by more than $1 billion per year. All three agreements need congressional approval. Labor unions and key Democrats continue to have deep concerns in particular over the deal with Colombia, a country considered extremely dangerous for union organizers. While Colombia has agreed to implement an action plan for protecting worker rights and ending violence against union groups, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, said Monday that he would oppose the trade deal if it did not include specific language committing Colombia to carry out those steps. _____ Associated Press writer Jim Abrams contributed to this report. Pandora Jewelry