Chinese New Year begins 02/07/2008

The Year of the Rat celebration begins next month which will have an impact on production and shipping throughout China. Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4706 begins on Feb. 7, 2008. Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year. Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in rat years tend to be leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking.

RBI Monthly Prize Package Giveaway!
	JANUARY 2008 WINNER Kirk Schultz Applied Industrial Norton Shores, MI

A monthly look at recent events in China
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How is the radial internal clearance of insert bearings specified?
by Mike Mortensen - Director of Engineering RBI-USA

Radial internal clearance ranges for insert bearings are specified in a manner that is very similar to ranges for deep groove ball bearings. See the table below for the various clearance ranges specified for insert bearings based on bore diameter.

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The End of an Era
	AT&T will completely phase out its pay telephone business next year. The first pay phone was built in 1878, two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. But as mobile phones have become ubiquitous, revenues from pay phones have shrunk every year since 1998.