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Planted, a Swiss startup that’s cooking up alternative proteins using biostructuring and fermentation to serve “clean” cuts of vegan meat — such as the plant-based chicken breast plated up above — has raised again, nabbing CHF 70 million (~$72 million) in Series B funding after a $21 million pre-B round a year ago.
The Series B was led by consumer-focused private equity firm, L Catterton, which has links to LVMH — the Paris, France based multinational corp and conglomerate with a focus on luxury consumer goods. So it’s presumably bought into a vision of the well-heeled being persuaded to abandon bloody filets mignons to bite down on guilt-free vegan cutlets.
The 2019-founded Zurich-based foodtech startup says the new funding will be used to launch its new whole-cut line of products, such as the above chicken breast (or ‘chicken’t’ as one colleague wittily dubbed it) — expanding out from its current range of smaller faux chicken pieces, mock pulled pork and kebab meat, and breaded schnitzel, which can so far be found in some 4,200 retailers and 3,000+ restaurants across three regional markets.
Further international expansion (within Europe) is on the cards now. Planted tells TechCrunch it has the Benelux markets (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) in its sights, using the Series B funds to build on its early focus on German-speaking markets (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).
Funding will also go on boosting its production capacity as it works to optimize its processes to shrink the price gap between actual animal flesh and its pea-protein-based vegan chicken alternative. (It also uses oat and sunflower protein in other mock meats in its range.)
For its vegan chicken, its website lists just four ingredients: Pea protein, pea fiber, canola oil and water (it also adds vitamin B12) — hence the “clean” claim, with its marketing further emphasizing: “We do not use any flavouring or preservatives, chemical additives, soy, gluten, lactose or GMO ingredients.” (Some may quibble over the healthiness of canola oil, which has faced some popular controversy in recent years — although it’s less clear whether the concern is merited.)
Alternative proteins face several barriers to mass adoption — a major one being price, as they do not enjoy the same kind of subsidies typically ploughed into traditional food production, meaning it’s not a level playing field when it comes to competing with meat. Often buying actual meat is cheaper than a plant-based alternative, despite the vastly higher environmental costs attached to traditional meat production (not to mention the animal welfare harms). So the economics are a challenge.
Planted says its current product price vs actual chicken varies depending on the market — sitting between the price of free range and organic chicken as it stands. Though, as it scales production, it envisages being able to shrink this gap, pointing to a doubling of production volume it achieved in May which enabled it to reduce prices. (A set of three of its current faux meat products, each weighing 400g, can cost around €25 for the bundle.)
“One of the main challenges to be solved is the cutting of unsustainable subsidies to the animal industry that currently are the main reason for the low prices of animal protein (also depending on the market) that we have on the market today,” Planted argues. “Price matters when it comes to food — as with everything else. Subsidies into various sectors along the animal protein value chain are maintaining this unequal equilibrium — at our own cost. We must change that to get closer to the true cost of our protein consumption.”
There can also be concern among consumers about how much processing (and potentially preservatives) go into making mock meat. Hence Planted’s focus on minimizing the ingredients used to produce its products — and on transparency around its production methods. No ‘secret blend of herbs & spices’ here.
“What we do is structuring of plant-based protein but then we have a fermentation process run over it so essentially we’re combining the two approaches… What this allows us is to have a very clean formulation,” says co-founder, Christoph Jenny, in a phone call with TechCrunch. “So we don’t have any additives whatsoever — and that seems to be the key message that resonates with consumers. We only have proteins, fibers, water and vegetable oil.”
If you’re wondering what biostructuring is, Planted’s website details the “wet extrusion” production process it uses to convert extracted plant proteins, which are spherical in shape, into “the fibrous, elongated shape of animal muscle fibre proteins” — to mimic meat.
“The ingredients in the extruder are heated and put under pressure by means of two rotating screws, while simultaneously under high shear similar to a pasta maker. This creates a dough that is pressed through a nozzle and cooled,” it explains. “In this way, we can convert plant material to the fibrous structure of meat by applying nothing more than heat, pressure and shear. The best raw materials and the right parameters are chosen for our unique setup in this innovative process without requiring chemical additives.”
“Currently pretty much everything you see in the market has additives in one way or the other. And we feel that is one of the key things — besides the price equation — that holds consumers back. And I do understand it,” Jenny adds. “That’s why we founded the company as we wanted to be able to eat something clean, that’s good for you health. That becomes more and more important — and that’s the angle or the differentiation we focus on.”
Planted also produces all its products under a glass-house production facility in Kemptthal, Switzerland — which it bills as “the first transparent meat production open to the public”. (And you certainly won’t find open-door slaughter houses — but, hey, maybe that should be a policy mandate as a ‘hard truths’ tool to educate consumers on what actual meat is made of to help speed up the transition to less harmful protein production methods…)
It’s also worth noting that (actual) meat can be adulterated with plenty of substances the average person may not want near their food, from the antibiotics fed to animals to increase yields, to the (‘antimicrobial’) chlorine routinely used to wash chicken carcasses in US meat production facilities (although that particular process is banned in the EU) — so there can be a double (i.e. higher) standard applied to meat alternatives, even as long accepted (i.e. tolerated) factory farming methods leave plenty to be desired.
But the vested interests in sustaining traditional animal husbandry and the jobs it creates are undeniable.
The upshot is that alternative protein makers have to work doubly hard to get their products to market and into people’s stomachs. So the growth challenge is real — even as the potential for scaling looks massive as policymakers everywhere look for ways to shrink carbon emissions. (A 2021 study reported by The Guardian found that meat production accounted for nearly 60% of the greenhouse gases associated with global food production — which itself is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases generated by human activity — which means that greening how we eat generally, and meat specifically, is essential if we’re to avoid climate catastrophe; no ifs, no buts.)
Investors backing alternative proteins are calculating that humanity will, over the long haul, make the switch to alternative protein sources, whether gradually then suddenly or slowly and steadily — as food production systems and policy incentives are reconfigured and reformed.
“It is an honor to partner with Planted in its mission to revolutionise the way meat and protein-rich foods are consumed globally,” said Michael Farello, a managing partner in the Growth Fund of L Catterton, in a statement supporting Planted’s Series B. “Not only are their products inspired by nature but they are also free of unnatural ingredients, scalable, and able to be easily incorporated into consumers’ daily lives as well as traditional meat supply chains. With food as a strong lever to promote human health and environmental stability, Planted directly contributes to creating a healthier and more sustainable food system. We have strong conviction in the company’s continued growth, as more people across the globe continue to adopt alternative proteins into their lives.”
The European Commission has a flagship ‘green deal’ policy with the goal of shrinking the bloc’s carbon emissions to net neutral by 2050 — which includes attention to agricultural reform, under a so-called “farm to fork strategy” (to transition to “a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system”, as the EU’s PR puts it). Although oxymoronical talk of “sustainable livestock” at the EU level suggests the thinking may not be nearly bold nor ambitious enough to deliver the slated eco transformation.
In the meanwhile, the reality is current EU agricultural subsidies are among those skewing the global food production playing field by propping up an environmentally unsound status quo. (A reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, adopted at the end of last year for the 2023-2027 period, was billed by lawmakers as combining “higher environmental, climate and animal welfare ambitions with a fairer distribution of payments, especially to small and medium-sized family farms as well as young farmers” — with no high level message about the need for farmers to transition beyond animal protein production as yet, as commissioners shy away from a message that many traditional farmers may find hard to swallow.)
A Commission proposal for a “legislative framework for sustainable food systems” (aka, FSFS) — slated to be a flagship component of the F2F strategy — is due to be adopted by the EU’s executive body by the end of 2023 so, it remains to be seen what else is coming down the pipe, in terms of harder food system reforms, but the pace of the EU’s creeping policy change is already lagging the protein disruptors.
“There are subsidies and also the way the regulations work — which work against us,” agrees Jenny, when asked about the policy picture. “We welcome that alternative proteins are mentioned as part of the green deal — but ‘sustainable livestock’ is also a cornerstone so… ”
Despite a patchy policy picture on home turf, he still sounds confident that traditional meat’s baked in competitive advantage is shrinking — and will shrink further in the coming years — as alt protein players scale up production, optimize their processes and tap into better economies of scale. And, also, as harsher economic conditions bite.
“As we scale up — and [remember] animal farming has been around for centuries and has been totally optimized — so as we’re scaling I think we’re also A) finding better technology, more efficient technology to produce but B) also have large scale obviously — so we can optimize costs quite a bit,” he predicts.
He also points to “adverse inflation” working against animal protein production as it gets more expensive to produce meat — given animals must be fed protein to produce the meat humans eat and that’s a far less efficient means of producing edible protein for humans than getting it direct from plants. “Overall we see meat prices rising as they’re way more prone to inflation given their lower conversion ratio of protein than alternative proteins — and I think that is one of the key measures [we’re] improving.”
“Last but not least, one of the tricky [issues] to overcome is that animal meat is typically used by retailers as a way to get customers in the door so typically they put lower margins on animal meat vs alternative proteins which typically are used as higher margin products by retailers,” he adds — hence that’s why Planted does direct distribution, b2c, to customers (and presumably also explains its early focus on building relationships with restaurants so they’re supporting the product in how they’re putting it on their menus).
“Working on these three things we see the gap shrink quite quick over the next couple of years,” he continues, emphasizing that the team is certainly not hanging around waiting for policymakers to roll out a red carpet for green foodtech but is strategizing hard to make growth happen despite all the ingrained challenges. “What we focus on is what we can impact day by day. We really focus on optimizing our production processes, and simplifying things and making sure that we don’t rely on any policymakers to make the changes — but rather we put ourselves in a position to get to prosperity.”
More problematic than policymakers being slow in serving up their fulsome support, Jenny suggests, is the role of meat industry lobbyists working actively against reform of the food system by trying to undermine adoption of alternative proteins. “The bigger issue is that lobbyists, very strong nationalist lobbyists — on the animal farming side — try to counteract us on a day to day basis, doing that on the European level or in local government,” he tells us. “A good example is the amendment 171 they wanted to pass to forbid plant-based milk.
“France for example is super aggressive that you cannot relate to any animal what we’re doing. So I think that’s the fundamental issue. Then the subsidies that come out of these policy struggles. So I think we find ourselves, on a day-to-day basis on the legislation side, rather in a back-and-forth — rather than moving forward and fixing the broken food system together. And we’re losing time day by day to really reduce our food’s carbon footprint on that side.
“That’s the daily struggle and the reality. So while the green new deal sounds promising the daily struggle with lobbyists and the economical power of the animal farming system is the reality.”
As well as competing with unreasonably cheap animal-derived meat — and fending off vicious attacks from the meat lobby — Planted is also of course competing with a growing number of alternative protein startups.
Plant-based rivals include the likes of Beyond Meat (mock chicken, burgers etc), Heura (mock chicken), Future Farm (fake mince, sausages, burgers), Impossible Burger (faux bloody burgers), and Juicy Marbles (vegan steaks), to name just a few meat-challenger startups in an increasingly-packed-like-sardines but branded-like-fancy-chocolate playing field (yes, plant-based fish is also a thing).
As if that wasn’t enough, there are also lab-grown meat plays trying to disrupt traditional animal farming by growing meat from cells to sell cruelty-free meat. (Aka, lab-grown meat or cultured meat). As well as liquid meal replacement purveyors, like Soylent, pushing the notion that there’s no need to even chew dinner… So the competition for disrupting traditional protein sources is colorful, plentiful and growing.
That makes differentiation between disruptors another potential challenge. How to make your fake chicken or faux pork stand out from other vegan alternatives?
Albeit, the size of the global meat market is more than massive enough to accommodate many different brands and approaches, given every human has to eat (and people’s food tastes will differ). So this should be a case of a rising appetite for alt proteins growing the size of the pie rather than a winner takes all scenario. Just so long as consumers can be convinced, en masse, to chow down on proteins that haven’t demanded animals are reared for slaughter as the price of eating dinner.
“We focus on the message,” says Jenny, when asked how Planted is approaching differentiation amid the growing gaggle of alternative producers. “We just founded the company in 2019 and the reception we get per market is very positive — because I think people do start to twist the pack around and look on the ingredients. So I think one of the most important communicators for us is the back of the pack and making sure that it’s clean.
“The second thing that comes out — if you do it clean and you do it proper — is that the taste profile is very, very good. So I think our repurchase rates are much higher than the industry standard. And that is very important when you get to sell the product because otherwise you’re just spending marketing money and you don’t get repeat purchases. So that’s a metric we focus on very strongly. And where I think we’re second to none.”
This report was updated with a correction: We originally stated that Planted’s investor, L Catterton, is the private equity arm of LVMH; in fact they are linked in a partnership arrangement which also includes Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of Bernard Arnault. We also changed the name of the quoted investor from the fund — from Liz Gordon to Michael Farello — on their request, after we were informed that there had been a last minute change to the press release vs the version we were sent


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Besides making a return to the music scene this summer with their long awaited mini-album, 2NE1 will also be launching a new eye makeup line for Etude House! Etude House expressed on the 14th that their new eye makeup line was based on 2NE1's cool and funky image and you can make your eyes look just like them too. This new makeup line will have four concepts namely Dara's funkiness, CL's chic, Bom's shine and Minzy's bright colors. Fans will be able to catch a sneek peek of 2NE1 filming their CF on April 15th through an interview on SBS Midnight TV Entertainment.
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It wasn’t because of a government subsidy for alternative energy. In Chile and a growing list of nations, the price of solar energy has fallen so much that it is increasingly beating out conventional sources of power. Industry experts and government regulators hail this moment as a turning point in the history of human electricity making..
This device features the magnificent multi touch technology and an attractive graphical user interface. It is the first ipod that came with wireless iTunes Store and Apple App Store access. It is a device with many attractive features that anyone would like to buy it.
Cheap but lucrative offerings like “Annabelle” can help the studios fund more expensive, award winning productions. That’s important in an increasingly risk averse industry that likes to bet on huge franchises like Disney’s “Frozen” and 20th Century Fox’s “X Men” series. To ensure a movie will do well in global ticket sales, produce sequels and sell t shirts and theme park rides, studios are focused on what they call “tent poles” that can support a whole mini economy..
King’s dream speech was partly planned and partly improvised, as Taylor Branch reported in “Parting the Waters,” his book on the early King years. One reviewer of the speech, a principal target of King’s persuasion, pronounced it a success. “He’s damn good,” President John F.
Everyone has a smartphone, Sung said. Of using a $30 or wholesale china jerseys $50 attachment that students might use only once or twice, they could use this. Now, researchers are wholesale nhl jerseys producing the lenses by hand, using a hand built device that functions similarly to an inkjet printer.
A good tax pro will ask you to bring your tax returns from prior years to see if they’ve been prepared and filed correctly. Jackson Hewitt says nearly half the self prepared returns it reviews often have missed deductions and credits. Surprisingly, it says it also finds additional tax savings in about 25 percent of prior year returns that were prepared by another pro..
Stands of live oaks were spreading their loving black arms over St. Charles Avenue and Napoleon to shelter cheap mlb jerseys the mansions with their glittering leaded glass doors from the oncoming heat cheap nba jerseys of summer. And down by the river, a X ing sign made me smile, a reminder that flying demons secretly own this Garden of Eden, that all this haunting lushness coexists with rot..
Mai is the jumping off point for trekking, elephant tours and other outdoor adventure. A friend and I booked an ecotour trek and cheap nhl jerseys overnight home stay in a village some 4 hours away in the Mae Hong Son region. The Karen ethnic group lives there, farming rice and cabbage on vibrant green hillsides.


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The Grain of Sail, a seven-sail vessel that arrived at the Navy from Brooklyn Bridge Park after a 27-day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Photo courtesy of Grain de Sail
Bringing back the days of wind-propelled freighters, a unique 72-foot sailing schooner, loaded with 15,000 bottles of organic French wine and chocolate bars, arrived at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Marina after an adventurous 27-foot crossing. days across the Atlantic Ocean. .
This is the second crossing of the Atlantic for the ecological cargo ship of the French company Grain de Sail, which left from the north-west region of Brittany.
Grain de Sail, a coffee bean and chocolate company, says the seven-sail ship “isn’t your great-grandfather’s sailboat,” but is part of the company’s green supply chain. While the sails are propelled by the wind as before, the electronic and navigation needs of the ship are supplied by wind turbines, photovoltaic panels and hydroelectric generators.
After dropping off its cargo in New York, the ship (also named Sail’s Grain) will head to South America to pick up coffee beans to bring them back to Europe. It will make two round trips per year; each round trip lasts about three months.
The evolution of the city’s waterfront
Bringing back a sailing freighter to the same Brooklyn shore historically dedicated to navigation reflects the evolution of the city’s waterfront, Estelle Lau, CEO of ONE ° 15 Brooklyn Marina, said to Brooklyn Eagle. Grain of Sail “brings traditional shipping, sustainability and education to the New York waterfront, while recreational interest in the waterfront is emerging,” she said.
Sail’s Marina and Grain have been working there for over a year, but due to Covid restrictions, the ship had to dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in January after its maiden voyage across the Atlantic.
Lau added that she spoke to a woman who tasted one of the wines on the expedition, which came from her region in France. The bubbly strain she sampled was “fantastic,” she told Lau.
Visitors to the ship “are quite impressed that the sailors are crossing the Atlantic on this large sailboat but small freighter!” said Matthieu Riou, director of American wines and spirits at Grain de Sail.
The Grain of Sail has attracted the attention of other ship owners docked at the marina, he said. “Lots of other owners came to ask what this freighter was about.”
Shortly after docking at the marina, a huge rental sailboat docked right next to Sail’s Grain, he told the Eagle. “Now that there is a gigantic sailboat right in front of us [and] it feels a little smaller, but it’s still amazing to be in brooklyn with the world’s first modern cargo sailboat!
Visitors can book a visit to the ship this week. About 100 people have already booked, said Riou, “and most of the slots for the week are full!
The company plans a fleet of cargo sailboats
The artisanal niche occupied by the company’s products is well suited to its green delivery system, said Sam Barrett-Cotter, dockmaster at ONE ° 15 Brooklyn Marina.
“By harnessing only the power of the wind and increasing revenue while doing it, Grain de Sail demonstrates that you can have a business model that is both environmentally and economically sustainable,” he said.
“The growth of the company and the market demand for their exciting product are clear – they are currently building an even larger vessel with double the capacity for their next transatlantic voyage,” Barrett-Cotter said. The company’s turnover has grown from around 350 euros five years ago to around 5 million euros today.
According to the company, plans for an entire fleet of wind-powered freighters are in sight.
“Our vision is to operate the world’s first modern sailing cargo ship routes between Europe and the Americas. By harnessing the power of the wind, Sail’s Grain can produce and sell excellent, low-carbon gourmet products to transatlantic consumers, ”the company said.
The company calls its “old is new again” approach “retro-innovation”, which combines ancestral techniques with modern technologies.
The concept is also about adventure, said Grain of Sail. “Grain de Sail is both an adventure and a company that unites around the same values. Goulwen Josse is the captain of the ship; Thierry Monnerie is second; Julia Guérin is a deck officer and François Le Naourès is a sailor and “mediaman”.


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By Operation Rainfall Contributor / July 8th, 2016
Koei Tecmo has revealed the release date for a special update coming to their vacation-volley ball game Dead or Alive Xtreme 3.
The update will be for players to experience the game in VR using the PlayStation VR. During the Dead or Alive Festival, Producer Yosuke Hayshi announced that the update will come on October 13. This is the same day as the launch of the PlayStation VR.
An additional update will add a feature that makes the girls look at the camera, as well as, a new mode that lets the player pose the girls while taking their picture.
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is available now for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
dead or aliveDead or Alive Xtreme 3


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Mafia Trilogy is being remastered for PS4, Xbox One and PC
2K Games and Hanger 13 have announced Mafia Trilogy, a remastered collection of the classic gangster series coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Well – today’s news is technically an announcement for the announcement, which is set to take place on Tuesday, May 19 over on the official website.
The announcement was also accompanied by a teaser trailer you can check out below. We imagine next week we’ll be provided a glimpse at gameplay, new features and a potential release date for later this year.
The Mafia Trilogy has stretched multiple generations at this point, having launched across three individual lines of consoles since its inception. This all started with Mafia back on the PS2, Xbox and PC in the early noughties.
Since then, two sequels have spawned which have all been met with critical and commercial success. Now, it seems 2K Games and fledgling studio Hanger 13 are keen to bring the franchise back into the limelight.
We sadly weren’y very positive on Mafia 3, describing it as the “biggest dissapoitment” during the year of its release. “Mafia 3 is the biggest disappointment of the year. It’s a game with masses of potential, but unfortunately that potential is wasted on by-the-numbers open-world game design.”
“The first few hours tease the game that could have been if it hadn’t succumbed to the open-world bloat. This is a solid eight-hour game stretched far too thin.” Despite our 2.5/5 review, a remaster could provide 2K and Hanger 13 an oppurtunity to improve upon its weaker aspects, while also providing a bunch of new content and visual enhancements. We’ll find out more next week, and will be reporting on all the latest as it happens.


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Direct Solar of America Inks Partnership with the Fastest Growing My Hope Group
Direct Solar and My Home Group Partnership Provides Homeowners with New Value Add Services
Direct Solar, a subsidiary of SinglePoint (OTCQB ticker symbol SING), is pleased to announce the signing of a partnership with My Home Group Real Estate, LLC., the #1 fastest growing residential real estate brokerage in Arizona, the 2nd fastest in the nation, and has been named “A fastest growing company” by Inc 500 five years in a row.
For more information please call: 844.850.5909
With this new partnership, My Home Group Agents can provide alternative energy options for homeowners that are eco-conscious, searching for cleaner and alternative fuel systems, looking to reduce their reliance on the grid, and the search to reduce the burden of higher and higher utility bills.
Our first partnership action is to support 47 High Schools in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and Waco in their Fall sports programs through sponsorship. Our first gameday ad recently launched in many of the school’s Varsity Football Programs. Additionally, any solar system sold in these school districts, between August 1st and December 31st, 2019 will provide a $250 donation to the Fall Sports Booster Program.
My Home Group’s nationwide network of over 2300 real estate agents can encourage alternative energy solutions to their buyers and know that the solar installation process will be as seamless as the home buying process.
Quote, “To be competitive in today’s residential market, real estate professionals need to provide a best-in-class service to buyers providing more options during the buying process.” according to Aaron Pierson, Chief Marketing Officer. “This partnership enables homeowners to invest in upgrading the value of their homes immediately and make a long-term commitment to sustainability. This will enable our real estate professionals the flexibility to recommend solutions to the clients that want answers before the close on their new residence.” End quote.
My Home Group’s agents have the option to be cross-trained and certified in alternative energy options specifically solar programs available to homeowners in their area. “Alternative energy solutions such as solar power continues to expand as consumers, in the pursuit of energy liberation, progressively migrate toward cleaner, greener forms of power,” states Joe Hertzbach, National Marketing Director at Direct Solar. “One of the highest costs in the solar business and the real estate buying/selling business is the sales process and when you can increase your closing ratio through effective partnerships, a dramatic return on investment will transpire.
According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), in Q1 2019, the U.S. solar market surpassed 2 million installations – just three years after the market surpassed the 1 million installation milestone. The industry is expected to hit 3 million installations in 2021 and 4 million installations in 2023. This is a result of increased demand by consumers due to reduced installation costs as well as increasing environmental awareness which is driving the adoption of cost-efficient alternative and renewable forms of energy over conventional energy sources.
Direct Solar of America manages the end-to-end solar process for the consumer from finding the best and most affordable solar option, simple financing options at competitive rates, and ensuring complete installation satisfaction. Direct Solar of America safeguards the entire process of installation, to deliver the easiest and most expedient experience of switching to solar energy for the consumer when they need it, where they need it, and at the best price.
Direct Solar of America also promises savings to consumers who make the switch to solar energy in which consumers can save as much as 50% on their monthly electric bills, plus other savings in the form of tax and financial incentives. Quote, “When a My Home Group real estate professional recommends solar power and the consumer signs up with Direct Solar of America, not only do they get regionally vetted and highly rated installers, with over 3500 residential installations, they get the satisfaction of knowing that they are doing business with a company that shares their values,” end quote, states Pablo Diaz, CEO and Founder of Direct Solar of America and Direct Solar Capital.
To learn more about Direct Solar of America’s residential and commercial solutions, visit www.directsolaramerica.com or call 844.850.5909.


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Austin, TX, USA, April, 2019 -- Zoho announced at Zoholics Austin, its new comprehensive commerce platform, Commerce Plus. Built on top of Zoho One, the operating system for business, Commerce Plus is a fully integrated, end-to-end platform for the commerce vertical. From sales to fulfillment to customer loyalty, Commerce Plus leverages Zoho's customer experience, finance, analytics, and intelligence software to provide businesses an interconnected commerce experience platform.
"Businesses today are forced to navigate the technology jungle to figure out the right applications needed to run their operations—this is no different, and can be even more challenging, in commerce," said Raju Vegesna, Zoho's Chief Evangelist. "With Commerce Plus, we offer one platform to run an entire commerce business, allowing businesses to focus on what is important for success. Built on Zoho One, Commerce Plus is the operating system for commerce."
"The digital commerce landscape is extremely competitive. For organizations looking to successfully sell online, constant innovation and a superior customer experience are prerequisites to success," said Jordan Jewell, Research Manager, Digital Commerce and Enterprise Applications at IDC. "Zoho's new Commerce Plus product offers a unique approach to commerce as it offers native integrations with both front- and back-office applications, better equipping customers to achieve omni-channel commerce operations. The company’s international customer base also bodes well for Zoho Commerce Plus, since emerging markets will become the largest sources of growth over the next five years."
Comprehensive E-commerce Platform
Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
About Zoho Corporation:
Zoho Corporation founded in 1996, is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The company was founded and headed by Sridhar Vembu. who earlier worked in Qualcomm USA.
Published: Friday, April 12, 2019
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June 7, 2017
Producers 'cautiously optimistic' about sugar deal with Mexico
MANVEL, N.D.—Ag producers in the Red River Valley are "cautiously optimistic" about an agreement limiting U.S. imports of Mexican sugar,...
June 7, 2017 - 8:08pm
June 6, 2017
U.S., Mexico reach sugar pact without backing from U.S. producers
WASHINGTON - The U.S. and Mexican governments reached a new agreement to significantly shift their sugar trade mix, but U.S. sugar producers...
June 6, 2017 - 3:29pm
May 2, 2017
U.S. Commerce chief extends Mexico sugar deadline, sees impasse
The Mexican and U.S. governments have agreed to extend the deadline for negotiations over a sugar trade agreement to June 5, with U.S. Commerce...
May 2, 2017 - 8:37am
April 20, 2017
American Crystal Sugar's union back to negotiating with plant owners
MOORHEAD — American Crystal Sugar and its union are back at the negotiating table— something that tore the two sides apart just a few years...
April 20, 2017 - 10:35pm
March 10, 2017
U.S., Mexico launch new round of negotiations on sugar trade
WASHINGTON -- The United States and Mexico will launch a new round of negotiations to resolve a years-long trade dispute over Mexico's sugar...
March 10, 2017 - 4:26pm
March 7, 2017
Mexico cancels sugar export permits to U.S. in trade dispute
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico has canceled existing sugar export permits to the United States in a dispute over the pace of shipments, according to a...
March 7, 2017 - 2:16pm
February 16, 2017
American Crystal Sugar, union to talk in April
MOORHEAD, Minn. — American Crystal Sugar Co. in Moorhead, Minn., says it has settled on dates starting in mid-April for talks with the...
February 16, 2017 - 2:04pm
January 24, 2017
CHEF JESS: Sugar scrubs smooth skin
GRAND FORKS — Several years and a few children ago, a friend of mine introduced me to sugar scrubs. We sat on a dock by the lake and gently...
January 24, 2017 - 8:58pm
December 1, 2016
American Crystal discusses prices, farm bill
FARGO—American Crystal Sugar Co.'s super-sized crop is helping the farmers who got the high yields, but it's a tale of two crops — a poor...
December 1, 2016 - 9:25pm
October 26, 2016
Coca-Cola speeds up efforts to cut sugar in drinks
Coca-Cola Co. reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, and said it would step up efforts to reduce sugar in its beverages, amid growing...
October 26, 2016 - 11:26am
September 23, 2016
Sugar rushes higher on global shortfall
Sugar prices exploded this week, pushing over 23 cents per pound, the highest level in over four years. Prices have more than doubled during...
September 23, 2016 - 2:15pm
September 21, 2016
Sweet Figs: 3 Healthy recipes that need no sugar
Here's the challenge. Create a daily spa menu with 1,000-1,200 calories. Do not use refined sugar or salt. Use fresh fruit, vegetables, low-fat...
September 21, 2016 - 4:30am
August 24, 2016
Making sweet, airy French chouquettes
At one time, if I wanted a handful of airy, pearl-sugar-encrusted chouquettes, I'd have to either scrimp and save for a trip to France or break...
August 24, 2016 - 1:58pm


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Harry clocks up 1.8m sales in a day
The sales easily shattered previous records making Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix the fastest seller of all time.
Figures from industry body Nielsen BookScan show the fifth book about the teenage wizard sold 1,777,541 copies on Saturday.
His previous adventure, The Goblet Of Fire, managed just 372,775 copies when it went on sale for the first time in July 2000, breaking all records.
The third Potter book the Prisoner of Azkaban sold 68,159 during its entire first weekend - a colossal figure at the time of its publication in 1999.
Potter sales were racked up through shops, supermarkets and book clubs, as well as over the Internet. Figures for earlier releases have not included Internet buyers.
The latest figures do not take into account the masses of books which have been snapped up by libraries, schools and institutions.
In just one day it has narrowed the gap to just 878,000 copies behind Azkaban which has been on sale for almost four years.
The first four Harry Potter books now account for more than 13 million sales in the UK alone.
The first in the series, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, is the biggest seller after shifting 3,371,090 copies.
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LOS ANGELES — It used to be that the Detroit and Los Angeles auto shows took place at the same time early each New Year. While that may not seem a problem for show goers living in either the Motor City or the home of American car culture, it was a huge headache for the automakers, whose executives would do things such as unveil a new car in the morning in Detroit and then rush onto an airplane and fly to LA to showcase the same car later that same day.
Adding to the anxiety was that while the news might be made in Eastern Daylight Time, and for the global media that gathers each year at Detroit, no one could afford to ignore the potential sales volume in car-crazy southern California.
Several years ago, however, the schedules were adjusted with LA moving its show to Thanksgiving, give or take a few days either way, and with Detroit giving people a few days to recuperate from the year-end holidays with its show being now staged around the second week in January, again, give or take a few days.
This auto show season, the LA show opened to the public November 30 and what they saw inside the Los Angeles Convention Center included some new vehicles that are likely to sell in very high volumes, including the new Toyota RAV4 and a facelifted Honda Civic, and some hints that somewhere not too far down the road are electric-powered vehicles that will be fun to drive.
In the meantime, we’ll just have to make do with some other if more conventionally propelled fun-to-drive new rides such as the new Porsche Cayman and Jaguar F-type.
You’ll get to see all of those — and a lot more — come January 19 when the North American International Auto Show opens its doors to the public in Cobo Hall.


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Porsche currently offers three plug-in hybrid models, the 918 Spyder and the Cayenne and Panamera S E-Hybrid models, but could Porsche release other plug-in hybrids? Porsche has placed emphasis on vehicle electrification, which means that the rest of Porsche's lineup could soon offer a plug-in hybrid system, including the new Macan.
Continue reading "Porsche Will Likely Release a Macan S E-Hybrid Plug-In in the Near Future" »
Porsche has released a new video of the 2015 Cayman GTS that shows off its handling capabilities on a go-kart track.
Continue reading "Porsche Takes the 2015 Cayman GTS to a Go-Kart Track [VIDEO]" »
A batch of patent photos of the upcoming Porsche 911 GT3 RS have leaked out, giving the world an early look at the top version of the 911.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Unveiled Thanks to Leaked Patent Photos [VIDEO]" »
Porsche has taken the wraps off the updated 2015 Porsche Cayenne. For 2015 the Cayenne will be offered in four versions in the United States: Cayenne Diesel, Cayenne S, Cayenne Turbo, and the new plug-in hybrid Cayenne S E-Hybrid.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Cayenne Unveiled: Plug-in Hybrid, New Twin-Turbo V6 and Updated Styling" »
Although the 2015 Porsche Macan only went on sale in May, Porsche its already sold out. If you were hoping to buy a Macan, you will have to wait at least six months or longer to get one. Because of the long wait Porsche is willing to give you a Boxster or Cayman to keep you happy while you wait.
Continue reading "Porsche Gives Short-Term Boxster and Cayman Leases to Macan Buyers" »
Porsche has yet to release any details about its widely rumored new four-cylinder engines, but a new report states that there are at least three four-cylinder engines in the works: a 1.6-, 2.0- and 2.5-liter.
Continue reading "Upcoming Porsche 4-Cyl Engine Range Includes 1.6L, 2.0L and 2.5L Versions" »
With Mercedes-Benz getting ready to battle the BMW X6 "crossover coupe" with a production version of the Concept Coupe SUV, its only a matter of time until other automakers jump on the bandwagon. Audi is reportedly also preparing a crossover coupe and now its being reported that Porsche is working on one as well.
Continue reading "2018 Porsche Cayenne Coupe Will Battle the BMW X6" »
Porsche has unveiled the 2015 Macan four-cylinder in the U.K., which is powered by a new 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be offered in the U.S.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Macan Four-Cylinder Debuts, but Don't Expect to See it in the U.S." »
Porsche's CEO Matthias Müller recently confirmed to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that the next-gen Porsche Boxster and Cayman will be getting a four-cylinder boxer engine. Müller says that following the 919 Hybrid race car, which also uses a four-cylinder engine, future Porsche road cars will also get four-cylinder engines.
Continue reading "Next-Gen Porsche Boxster and Cayman Will Get a Four-Cylinder Engine" »
Porsche has taken the wraps off the two most powerful versions of the Boxster and Cayman, the 2015 Boxster GTS and Cayman GTS. The new GTS versions of the Boxster and Cayman are the most powerful and fastest versions available.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Boxster GTS and Cayman GTS Officially Unveiled" »
Porsche is currently working on the second-generation Panamera, which is expected to launch in 2017. The next Panamera is going to ride on a new MSB platform that will likely be shared with Bentley, but the Panamera may get unique V6 and V8 engines.
Continue reading "2017 Porsche Panamera to Get New V6 and V8 Engines" »
With the arrival of the new 2015 Porsche Macan SUV, Porsche's annual sales could pass the 200,000 mark next year, which is three years earlier than expected. Most of the sales increases will come from models like the Cayenne and the new Macan, which Porsche could easily sell around 50k Macans this year alone.
Continue reading "Porsche Macan to Boost Porsche's Sales Past 200k, Macan GTS Planned" »
Porsche is currently trying to decide if it should introduce a new sedan below the Panamera that would compete with models like the Maserati Ghibli, BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Porsche boss Matthias Muller revealed to Autocar that it's a possibility.
Continue reading "Porsche Mulls a BMW 5-Series Competitor" »
The new Porsche 911 Targa has arrived, well at least it will by summer. Porsche has unveiled the 2014 Porsche 911 Targa 4 and Targa 4S, which are going to go on sale this summer starting at $101,600 for the Targa 4 and $116,200 for the Targa S. The 2014 911 Targa draws most of its inspiration from the original 1965 911 Targa 4 with its distinctive Targa roof bar, a movable front roof section, and a wraparound rear window.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche 911 Targa Arrives Next Summer and Starts at $101,600" »
The first official photos of the 2015 Porsche 911 Targa have leaked online, just hours ahead of its debut today at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. The 2015 911 Targa ditches the sliding glass roof from the last Targa and instead gets a design that draws cues from the original 1960s version.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche 911 Targa Leaked Ahead of its Debut Today in Detroit" »
The photos you see here are reportedly the patent photos for the 2015 Porsche 911 Targa, which is expected to debut sometime next year. The patent photos reveal that the next 911 Targa will now feature the retro removable top above the passenger compartment and thick B-pillar that the 911 Targa had in the 1980s.
Continue reading "Is This the 2015 Porsche 911 Targa?" »
Porsche just unveiled the 2015 Porsche Macan SUV last week at the LA Auto Show and now you can check out all the pricing details on Porsche's website. The 2015 Porsche Macan starts at $49,900, which isn't bad, but that price quickly shoots up once you start adding in the options.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Macan Online Configurator Powers Up, Pricing Starts at $49,900" »
The 2015 Porsche Macan baby SUV has been unveiled at the LA Auto Show ahead of its arrival next year. The 2015 Macan is now Porsche's fifth model line and will be offered as the Macan S and Macan Turbo here in the U.S., although the Macan Diesel is available in other markets.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Macan SUV Officially Unveiled" »
Porsche has announced that the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder is even faster than Porsche initially thought it was. Porsche recently completed the final tuning measures and the result is that the 918 Spyder is now even faster.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche 918 Spyder is Even Faster than Originally Thought" »
We're just a few days away from the world debut of the 2014 Porsche Macan SUV, but Porsche has just released another video of the Macan hitting the track in Weissach, Germany. The video gives us more footage of the Macan running laps on the track and also our first view of the Macan's interior.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche Macan Hits the Test Track in Weissach (Video)" »
We're only a few weeks away from the official debut of the 2014 Porsche Macan, but a brochure of the new baby Porsche SUV has already leaked online. These are the first camouflage-free photos of the 2014 Macan, which is going to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show later this month.
The 2014 Macan borrows its platform from the Audi Q5 and will be offered in S and Turbo versions. The Macan Turbo is reportedly going to be powered by a twin-turbocharged a 3.6L V-6 with 395 horsepower and 406 lb-ft. of torque. The less powerful Macan S is expected to get a twin-turbocharged 3.0L V6.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche Macan Brochure Leaked" »
Porsche has unveiled the updated 2014 Porsche Panamera Turbo S, which now packs 570 horsepower (+20-hp increase) and has a top track speed of 192 mph. In addition to the various other styling updates that the rest of the Panamera range received, the Turbo S also for the first time ever an Executive version of the Panamera Turbo S is also available with a wheelbase that has been extended by 5.9 inches.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche Panamera Turbo S Tops the Lineup with 570-HP" »
Porsche has yet to officially unveil the 2015 Porsche Macan, but that isn't stopping it from releasing several teaser videos of the baby Porsche SUV. This latest video shows the Macan hitting the sand in Dubai where temperatures were over 104 degrees.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Macan Shows Off in Dubai (Video)" »
Porsche has released another set of teaser photos of the 2015 Porsche Macan ahead of its debut next month at the LA Auto Show. These new photos show barely disguised Macan prototypes in the wild. Stay tuned for all the details next month.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Macan Shown Basically Uncovered in New Teasers" »
Porsche has powered up a new microsite for its the 2015 Porsche Macan, which is essentially a compact crossover, although Porsche is calling it a five-seater, five-door Sports Car. From these teaser photos its clear to see that the Macan will adopt many of its styling cues from the larger Cayenne and mostly just looks like a baby version of the popular SUV.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche Macan Teased Ahead of its Debut at the LA Auto Show" »
Porsche has just unveiled two new versions of the 911: the 2014 911 Turbo Cabriolet and 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. The debut of the 911 Turbo Cabriolet and 911 Turbo S Cabriolet coincides with the 40th anniversary of the 911 Turbo and both versions will debut in November at the LA Auto Show.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and 911 Turbo S Cabriolet Unveiled" »
In addition to the global debut of the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid, Porsche is also celebrating the 918 Spyder's record lap around Nurburgring Nordschleife. The 918 Spyder was able to complete the 12.8 mile lap around the track in less than seven minutes with a time of six minutes and 57 seconds. It cut 14 seconds off the previous Nurburgring record for a street-legal automobile, and 17 seconds from its run last September.
Continue reading "2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Debuts with New Nurburgring Record" »
The 2014 Porsche Panamera Diesel is getting a new more powerful 300-hp diesel engine. The new 3.0L diesel engine has 50 more horsepower than the previous engine, which means that the new Panamera diesel is also now faster with a 0-62 mph time of 6.0 seconds. It also has a faster top speed at 161 mph.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche Panamera Diesel Gets More Power" »
Motor Trend has named the 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S as its "Best Driver's Car" for 2013. The Best Driver's Car honor is decided after a yearly competition among the top new or improved performance cars available in the U.S. market. This is the second consecutive year that a 911 variant has won the award.
Continue reading "Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Named Motor Trend's Best Driver's Car for 2013" »
Porsche has unveiled the production version of the 918 Spyder today on Twitter. The 918 Spyder will be shown off this weekend in Pebble Beach.
Continue reading "Porsche 918 Spyder Unveiled on Twitter" »
After 11 years in production, Porsche has announced the production of the 500,000th Cayenne. When the Cayenne was launched back in 2002 it was unknown if Porsche fans would gravitate towards a Porsche SUV, but last year alone Porsche sold 83,000 units around the world. When it launched Porsche only produced around 70 units a day and today Porsche now produces five times that much due to the increased demand.
Continue reading "Porsche Builds the 500,000th Cayenne" »
Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic 911 with the new 911 50th Anniversary Edition. The special-edition 911 is based on the 911 Carrera S, but also features the wide body that is usually reserved for the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 models.
Continue reading "Porsche Celebrates 50 Years of the 911 with the 911 50th Anniversary Edition" »
It's being reported that Porsche will unveil its newest SUV, the Macan at this year's LA Auto Show in November. The Macan shares its platform with the Audi Q5, but the Macan uses more aluminum components, leading to a significant weight savings over the Q5.
Continue reading "Porsche Macan Will Debut This Fall at the LA Auto Show" »
Porsche has released a batch of new photos of the 918 Spyder and officially confirmed the specs for the hybrid supercar. The 918 Spyder has been designed, developed and produced by Porsche engineers who build race cars, in cooperation with series production specialists. A great deal of insight gained from the development of Porsche race cars for the 24 hours race in Le Mans in 2014 is thus integrated into the 918 Spyder - and vice versa. The 918 Spyder will also act as the gene pool for the Porsche sports cars of the future.
Continue reading "Porsche Confirms Specs for 918 Spyder Plug-in Hybrid Supercar" »
Porsche has unveiled the new 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo and 911 Turbo S models, which happen to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first 911 Turbo prototype. The 911 Turbo models get an new all-wheel-drive system, active rear axle steering, adaptive aerodynamics, full-LED headlights, and up to 560 hp from a 3.8L flat six-cylinder engine.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche 911 Turbo and 911 Turbo S Unveiled" »
It's been rumored for a while that Porsche is working on a new four-cylinder boxer engine and several of the rumors suggested that we would see it by this fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show. If you were excited about the idea of a small four-cylinder boxer engine, you will be disappointed to hear that it will not be unveiled this year. A Porsche official recently told Autocar that it is at least three years away.
Continue reading "Porsche Confirms New Four-Cylinder Boxer Engine, but it Won't Arrive Until 2016" »
For the 2014 model year, Porsche is introducing its first plug-in hybrid and two new extended wheelbase variants with the second generation of the Panamera. The new Panamera S E-Hybrid produces 416 total system horsepower and is joined by Panamera 4S Executive and Panamera Turbo Executive models in the revised Panamera lineup. S models are now powered by an entirely new 3.0-liter V6 engine with twin turbochargers.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche Panamera Plug-in Hybrid and Extended Wheelbase Variants Unveiled" »
Photos of the revised 2014 Porsche Panamera have leaked online ahead of Porche's official release. The updates to the 2014 Panamera are pretty small with the exterior updates only being new headlights and a front bumper out front and the rear getting new LED taillights, a new bumper and a slightly revised tailgate. Inside the changes are probably even smaller.
Continue reading "2014 Porsche Panamera Photos Leak Online Ahead of Its Official Debut" »
Here are the first official photos of the 2014 Porsche 911 Carrera GT3, which is going to debut tomorrow at the Geneva Motor Show. Compared to the 911 Carrera, the 911 Carrera GT3 adds a more aggressive front fascia, a redesigned rear bumper with a centrally mounted exhaust system and a large rear spoiler.
Continue reading "Photos of the 2014 Porsche 911 Carrera GT3 Show Up Before its Geneva Debut" »
The new Porsche 911 Carrera S has been named the 2013 Robb Report Car of the Year. The judges picked the 911 Carrera S due to its "agility, driving dynamics and balance". The 911 bested 12 other competitors for the award and will be featured on the cover of the March issue of the luxury lifestyle magazine.
Continue reading "Porsche 911 Carrera S Named Robb Report Car of the Year" »


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Alcohol-free spirit from Fife hits shelves at Harrods
Harrods now stocks the Fife drink
Scotland’s first alcohol-free spirit made from land and sea botanicals, is now on sale at the Harrods department store in London.
Feragaia (/fe-ra-guy-a/), which was first produced in Fife a year ago, was brought to the attention of the store’s buyer at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show in January.
Bill Garnock, co-founder of Feragaia, said: “Our inaugural year has not been without its challenges, but it is wonderful that a conversation I had in January at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show in Glasgow, has resulted in a supply contract with Harrods.
“Our bottles are sitting prominently in a five-star display, rubbing shoulders with other leading drinks brands.
“I can’t quite believe that we launched a year ago, and have endured the worst pandemic of recent years, but we’ve had this success. It’s what dreams are made of!”
He added: “Exhibitions and events like this are vital in seeking opportunities in new and existing markets, and ultimately, it was meeting a Harrods buyer there, that led to this significant opportunity.”
The company will be hiring a business development executive, whilst focusing on upscaling production and operations, which in turn will allow for Feragaia to focus on bolstering its domestic market, as well as explore export opportunities in the Middle East and North America.
Fife Council’s Economic Development team supported the company. Ann Camus, enterprise and business development manager at the council, said: “Feragaia is a fantastic example of a start-up business, which has benefited enormously from our Trade Development Programme.
“Attending exhibitions, which allow for the showcase of products and services, opportunities to meet buyers face to face, and to develop brand awareness, creates the opportunity to expand domestically as well as internationally.”


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Cemex announces take-over bid for Trinidad Cement
Reuters is reporting that Cemex has announced a takeover bid for Trinidad Cement at 33.1% premium.
Cemex intends to consolidate Trinidad Cement Limited and its subsidiaries.
Full acceptance of the offer would result in a cash payment by Sierra of approximately US$89 million.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/06122016/cemex-announces-take-over-bid-for-trinidad-cement/
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The company has announced that it is participating in the construction of the S61 Via Baltica Expressway, a key component of a transcontinental transport route across Europe.


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Tips, news, how-tos, and troubleshooting help for the iPhone.
The iPhone 6 Plus is too big for everyone to love it, but it's Apple's best phone this year. If your budget and your pocket can make room for it, give the iPhone 6 Plus serious consideration.
Apple's CEO publicly discussed his sexual orientation for the first time in an effort to help anyone "struggling to come to terms with who he or she is."
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From the category of "what took so long" comes the Night Cable -- a 10-foot-long cord that just might end cable frustration forever.
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The space plane, designed for space tourism, crashed in California's Mojave Desert. One fatality and one major injury have been confirmed by Virgin Galactic.
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Apple Pay or merchants' CurrentC? Consumers will have to decide which mobile payments system works better for them.
Marvel Studios announces release dates for sequels to its Captain America, Thor, Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy films, plus first details on upcoming films for Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and the Inhumans.


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The two companies that own and operate Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park reported higher revenue and income in their most recent quarters, driven partly by a strong hotel market.
Walt Disney Co.’s parks and resorts division, which includes the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim had operating income of $738 million on revenue of $4.4 billion in the entertainment company’s fourth quarter, up 7% and 10%, respectively, compared with $687 million in operating income on $4 billion in revenue for the same period last year.
Cedar Fair LP, which owns Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, had net income of $164 million for its third quarter on revenue of $645 million. Income was up by 1% and revenue was up 8% higher year-over-year.
Both companies attributed some of their gains to higher spending on hotel stays.
Burbank-based Disney also said guest spending and attendance were generally higher at domestic resorts, which offset some lower results internationally.
Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair also said revenue year-to-date was up 7%, driven by a 5% increase in attendance, a 2% increase in guest spending, and a 10% increase in "out-of park" revenues, which includes hotel rooms.
Disney reported its full fiscal year totals along with its quarterly results. Its parks and resorts division had $3 billion in operating income, up 14% from $2.6 billion, and $16.2 billion in revenue, up 7% from $15.1 billion, in 2014.


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So, what really happened when two of the three hydrogen fuel-cell cars on Mercedes’s F-Cell World Tour ran out of fuel on an early leg? Previously we’d only heard the German perspective on events (not to mention Daimler’s non-telling of the story in the video above), but now TTAC Alum Jonny Lieberman has posted his extended take on the trip over at Motor Trend. Yes, you’ll have to give MT ten page-clicks to read the whole thing, but Lieberman goes into far more detail than any account of the mini PR fiasco yet published. Do give it a look.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles (FCVs) are enjoying something of a comeback lately, as everyone from Hyundai and Honda to GM and Daimler are talking about forthcoming production versions of test-fleet FCVs. And with EVs poised to both dominate the short-term green-car game and inevitably disappoint consumers, it’s no surprise that the perennial “fuel of the future” is enjoying a fresh look from automakers. But if high cost and range anxiety are the flies in the EV ointment, the FCV-boosters are finding their hydrogen cars tend to suffer from the same problems. Daimler says
By 2015, we think a fuel cell car will not cost more than a four-cylinder diesel hybrid that meets the Euro 6 emissions standard.
but that by no means guarantees its Mercedes FCV will be truly “affordable” by any reasonable standard, as diesel-electrics are considered one of the most expensive applications of internal combustion power. And then there’s the whole range issue. Yes, FCVs refuel faster than EVs, but even the most ambitious of Hydrogen-boosters, Daimler, are only pushing vehicles with a 250-mile range. Which is why we puzzled a bit over The Globe And Mail‘s assesment that
Three Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL models will make [a 125-day] global trek, which will seek to highlight the real-world benefits of fuel cells versus EVs – mainly their much further range
Flipping over to AutoMotorundSport, we find that the irony which completely escaped the G&M is threatening to overwhelm Daimler’s entire demonstration. And, as is only natural when things like this occur, there’s a bizarre TTAC connection…
More little steps on the hydrogen fuel cell front, part of the walk-up to the big 2015 launch: Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding with Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland to supply hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles to public organizations in a pilot program, The Nikkei [sub] reports. Read More >
Yesterday, I changed my base of operations to Tokyo for a month to escape the Chinese New Year festivities (i.e. one month of WW III worthy fireworks, combined with closed shops and restaurants.) If I would have stuck it out a few days longer, I could have enjoyed a ride in a fuel cell vehicle. Read More >
EVs are the darling of the media. In Europe, the Leaf is the COTY. In the U.S. and Canada, the range extended Volt is the COTY. Then why are most big European manufacturers (except Renault) and most Japanese manufacturers (except Nissan) dragging their heels when it comes to wholesale electrification of their fleets? Maybe because they are working on wholesale adoption of hydrogen. As previously reported, there are agreements between automakers and governments in Europe, North America, Korea and Japan to prepare for the mass introduction of fuel cell cars by 2015. Japan is ahead of the game. Read More >
The majority of car makers the world over think that for the next five years, electric cars will remain too expensive to stand a chance in the mass market. Their saving grace must be government subsidies. Without government money, EVs are priced out of the market. Read More >
We are picking up more and more signs of an impending revival of assumed dead fuel cell technology.
Here is another one: The Nikkei [sub] says that the Japanese government is supporting an initiative to draw a hydrogen from a surprising source: Oil refining. And they need to be ready by 2015. Read More >
Major players in the industry think that EVs are a stopgap measure at best. Volkswagen declared that nobody wants EVs, except governments. In Japan, Toyota and Honda are talking louder and louder about hydrogen. There must be something better than plugins: A revolutionary technology that powers the car from a renewable energy source in an environmentally responsible fashion.
BMW just found what the world needs. Read More >
Here in LA Mercedes took the wraps off the Mercedes B Class F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell vehicle for the US market. Never mind that nobody sells hydrogen, but should you get your hands on some of the liquid gold, your B Class will go almost 200 miles on a tankful. Sales information is of course limited but Mercedes did say they would only be available in Southern California and that hydrogen fuel is included in the lease. So if you are lucky enough to find one available, let TTAC know how much your lease payment is.
If you want to offer hybrid cars, but don’t have the money / time / run rate / wherewithal to do it yourself, who’re gonna call? Toyota. But who would have imagined that haughty Daimler picked up the phone, dialed 0081, and said: “Let’s talk?” Daimler considers joining the growing list of automakers that source their hybrid systems from Toyota City. Toyota is in talks to provide technology and core components for hybrid vehicles to Daimler, after having been approached by the Germans, says The Nikkei [sub]. Read More >
YNN reports that the Rochester, NY airport was closed for 50 minutes yesterday, when a hydrogen refueling station run by GM supplier Praxair was rocked by two giant explosions. Details of the explosion are still extremely sketchy, with YNN explaining only that
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks said it occurred during a tank exchange operation. Brooks said a driver from Praxair was doing the exchange when it appears that some type of arch occurred.
It’s not yet clear if GM’s Sequel hydrogen test fleet had been using the fueling station, but this is the most recent occurrence of the kind of disaster that has helped prevent the development of a large-scale hydrogen infrastructure. Two people were reportedly injured in the blast, but one can only imagine the result of such an explosion in a more urban environment, or in close proximity to a gasoline pumping station. The long awaited hydrogen future may have just slipped a little further out of reach…
There are already agreements between car makers such as ourselves and legislators in Europe, North America and Japan to build up to the mass production of fuel cell cars by 2015. Hydrogen production capacity and refuelling infrastructure will be improved. Pilot-scale production of 1000 fuel cell cars a year will begin for us in two years. Our first cars won’t be fully commercialised [they will probably be leased , not bought outright] but they will allow us to make the final stages of development progress before we begin commercial production of around 10,000 hydrogen cars a year in 2015
Toyota definitely keeps us on our toes. Last week, the tete-a-tete between Toyota and Tesla had the world speculating about an electric push by the world’s largest auto maker. That was last week. This week, it’s hydrogen. Read More >
Lithium-ion batteries aren’t the only automotive cleantech that appears to be getting cheaper. Toyota’s head of advanced autos, Yoshihiko Masuda, tells Bloomberg that the Japanese automaker has cut the cost of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) by 90 percent in the last five years or so. Mid-decade, Toyota’s per-car estimates for FCVs ran near a million dollars per car. With costs now closer to the $100k mark, Toyota says it plans to cut that number in half by 2015. If they can make that happen, Masuda says, a $50k hydrogen FCV will be on like Donkey Kong.
Which drive train will own the future? ICE, hydrogen, hybrid? BMW bets it will be all of the above. Autocar reports that BMW has mated a regular ICE with a fuel cell, electricity-storing supercapacitors and an electrically driven rear-axle. The reasoning behind this new type of hybrid is that BMW’s engineers believe that this power train will make the cars capable of switching to an emissions free propulsion system and switch back to ICE when needed. Now I know what you’re thinking at this point. “Cammy, aside from being the worst new writer of the year, why would anyone want to buy a car like this?” Well, the answer lies in Europe. Read More >


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|Bid||30.71 x 900|
|Ask||30.70 x 1200|
|Day's Range||30.33 - 31.08|
|52 Week Range||20.03 - 39.37|
|Beta (5Y Monthly)||1.31|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||47.29|
|Earnings Date||Nov 05, 2020 - Nov 09, 2020|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||N/A (N/A)|
|1y Target Est||37.33|
Global eCommerce transactions increased by 19 percent in July 2020 compared to July 2019, according to analysis by ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW) of hundreds of millions of eCommerce transactions from global merchants. The data also showed that sales of outdoor items saw the highest year-over-year (YoY) increase from nine percent in 2019 to 12 percent in 2020.
ACI Worldwide appoints Alvaro Monserrat as Chief Revenue Officer. Senior executive to accelerate global revenue growth for digital payments leader.
ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a significant share price rise of...


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CoreLife Eatery, a new Polaris restaurant, wants its customers to enjoy a healthy meal - bowls stacked high with premium ingredients - as part of an active lifestyle.
Call it a bowl with a goal.
CoreLife Eatery, a new Polaris restaurant, wants its customers to enjoy a healthy meal — bowls stacked high with premium ingredients — as part of an active lifestyle.
“This market, we believe, has a lot of attributes for being a very active community,” said Mitch Churchill, district manager of Syracuse, N.Y., -based CoreLife Eatery.
And although customers have a lot of options to choose from, you can forget the burritos. No wraps here.
Customers have a choice of three bases: greens, grain or broth bowls, starting at $5.95. From there, customers load up with a choice of 20 vegetables, 10 house-made dressings and a protein.
Three house-made soups also join the lineup.
Most options with protein are $9 or less. For example, the Southwest grilled chicken and wild-rice blend is $8.45. Another is the steak, bacon and blue cheese at $8.95. The restaurant recently added raw tuna, which is $10.59 in a bowl. There are plenty of vegetarian choices, too, such as tofu and falafel.
Portions are generous, but nothing is meant to be heavy, Churchill said.
“When you’re eating it, it’s energizing,” he said.
Each dish’s calorie count and the potential allergens it contains are listed on the menu.
The healthy theme extends to the beverage offerings. Don't expect to see sodas or alcohol. Instead, customers can choose from fresh-squeezed juices, teas and cold-brewed coffee.
The Columbus location is seventh store overall. The first Ohio CoreLife is located in the Cleveland suburb of Strongsville.
The interior is meant to be open, light and inviting, with large windows and a minimalist design, Churchill said.
“The music is a little louder than in most places,” he said. “To me, it’s motivating.”
The chain got its start in 2015 when Larry Wilson, John Caveny and Todd Mansfield came together on the concept. They later brought Jeff Coughlin and Scott Davis into the restaurant group. Meanwhile, Wilson and Mansfield own Moe’s Southwest Grill franchises, which brought them to Ohio.
They have an ambitious growth plan: 100 corporate-owned stores and 200 franchise-owned stores over the next five years.
There are plans to add restaurants in Michigan, North Carolina and Florida.
“Really, everything is open in terms of franchising,” Churchill said.
CoreLife is located at 8742 Sancus Blvd., in the same building that houses Firebirds Wood Fired Grill. The 5,000-square-foot interior can seat 100; 40 can be accommodated on the patio.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. For more information, call 614-827-3376.
Dispatch restaurant reporter Gary Seman Jr. can be reached at email@example.com.


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From roll tickets, thermal tickets, wristbands and any other printed media, Kadok Press has been synonymous with delivering cost effective solutions to Australia and New Zealand markets for over 25…read more
China’s middle class driving fitness industry growth
With annualised growth of 12% from 2012 to 2017, China’s fitness industry is on course to generate US$6.31 billion in income this year, driven by increasing disposable incomes and health awareness among China's growing middle class.
IBISWorld’s newly released Gym, Health & Fitness Clubs in China: Market Research Report explains that there are today over 415 million millennials - those born in the 1980s and 1990s - in the country, more than the entire working populations of the United States and Western Europe combined.
Having grown up with social media, Chinese millennials put a greater premium on looking good, and a good physique is now associated with virtues such as perseverance and self-discipline.
Market analyst Julian Chow recently told the China Daily "there is a cultural trend towards sexy six-pack figures, and there is middle-class anxiety about the costs of ill health and peer pressure to look better.
"You want to prove you can afford to hit a gym to stay active."
A recent research note from Euromonitor International suggests that Chinese consumers are also more willing to pay for gym memberships and brand-name sporting apparel, making fitness one of China’s top 10 drivers of the consumer market alongside leisure and food.
Gym memberships in China have doubled since 2008 to hit 6.6 million last year, according to the China Business Research Academy.
Running has also become a popular pastime, with more than 100 marathons held last year - against 51 in 2014 while the number of yoga practitioners is estimated to have grown from four million in 2009 to more than 10 million today.
According to a White Paper released last month, from less than 500 fitness clubs in 2001, there are now more than 37,000 gyms around the country.
With the Chinese Government having instituted regulations on club establishment that increase barriers to entry - for example, clubs must meet minimum standards for indoor environment and ventilation facilities have to reach certain standards – barriers to entry into the fitness club market are rising.
However, according to IBISWorld “existing chains enjoy economies of scale that allow them to meet the various demands of customers (while also having) advantages in terms of uniform management and systemised services.”
These opportunities have seen international chains looking to enter the market, with US franchise group Anytime Fitness announcing in June that it aims to open as many as 500 gyms in China in the coming years.
New Zealand-based group exercise giant Les Mills is also positive about market potential.
Chief Executive Philip Mills recently told the China Daily "China's fitness market, including gyms and programme developers, needs consolidation after the fast growth.
"In the long run, we're confident the market size is really going to expand to a significant size."
Lower image shows Outdoor Fitness equipment on the streets of Guangzhou.
15th August 2017 - MINI GYMS LAUNCHED ON STREETS OF BEIJING
31st July 2017 - NEARLY 100,000 PARTICIPANTS SIGN UP FOR 2017 BEIJING MARATHON
29th June 2017 - ASIA’S LEADING FITNESS TRADE SHOW GROWS BY 30%
23rd February 2017 - ASIAN FITNESS CLUB MERGER SEES CREATION OF EVOLUTION WELLNESS
1st July 2016 - FIBO CHINA TO CREATE A BRIDGE TO CHINA’S GROWING FITNESS MARKET
22nd May 2016 - CHINA GRAPPLES WITH RISE IN CHILDHOOD OBESITY
The Complete Guide to Leisure Industry Products & Services.
AQUASPIN™ - Aqua Cycling Aquaspin™’s sessions have been specially designed by our Master Trainer to be challenging yet fun group cycling sessions. Each session is tailored to…read more
An integrated mobile wallet solution that enables effective customer acquisition and strong engagement through the creation of digital passes and campaigns according to a pass, profile and location,…read more
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LINEAR QUEUING QtracCF call-forward electronic queuing systems dramatically improve linear queuing by increasing service efficiency, decreasing average wait times, and adding advertising and…read more
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Hydrocare Pool Services Pty Ltd offer 25 years of experience in aquatic industry features, products and water treatment. Hydrocare Pools has undertaken water treatment for aquatic centres and…read more
NovoFit is an exciting and dynamic new company born from two of Australia’s leading commercial fitness equipment suppliers. NovoFit combines over 45 years of industry expertise, delivering state…read more
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Trump Keeps Pushing Tim Cook To Build Apple´s Products In The US
The U.S. president-elect- Donald Trump is keep trying to make Apple build its iMacs, iPhones, iPads and many of its products in the country, in order to create more jobs and decrease the misemployment rate, which has been one of his main promises during the campaign and the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. In order to do this, the Republican said in an interview that he told the Cupertino company´s CEO, Tim Cook, that he could build one big plant in America, instead of making it overseas.
Trump Wants To Incentivize Tim Cook Cutting Taxes And Many Substantial Regulations
According to Tech Times, Trump wants to incentivize Apple to make this happen, as he also stated that he could make substantial regulation cuts and very large tax cut, so the tech giant wouldn´t see as a bad idea to make its products in the U.S., giving the fact that it is a better business by keeping it in countries such as Vietnam and China. In fact, it was known that when Cook called Trump after he got elected, the president told him that he would consider a "real achievement" if Apple ended up building its plants in America.
Naturally, this represents an important appeasement in Trump´s discourse, considering that in the campaign he was more aggressive in his idea of making the Cupertino company to manufacture its products in the U.S., to the point in which he threatened to slap a 45 percent tax on products imported from China, which was clearly a dangerous declaration against the tech giant.
Moving Back To America Is Not An Impossible Scenario
According to Fortune, the Apple´s concern about moving back to the U.S. is the lack of workers with the proper skills to manufacture some of its products. However, as reported in a previous article, the company is already studying the possibilities of making this move back to America, since, its main manufacturer partner Foxconn Technology Group is analyzing the scenario, and it hasn´t rejected the idea of doing it.
Apple Achieves 91 Percent Of Global Smartphone Profits
This achievement sends a message to Apple´s competitors, giving the fact that it reached this position in a moment in which the iPhone sales haven´t been as good as expected.
Good Or Bad News? You May Not Be Able To Use Your Samsung Or Apple Phone While Driving Anymore
Using a smartphone while driving have caused a lot of accidents in the last year, so it is expected that this new feature could decrease the rate of these kinds of incidents.
Apple´s Most Underrated Products Of All Time
Of every single product that Apple releases, there´s always some that ended up being extremely underrated. Although you may not believe it, Apple launched a gaming console that could have change the history.
‘South Park’ Drops Donald Trump, Goes Back To Being Kids In Next Season
Trey Parker has revealed that they're ditching Donald Trump in the next season of "South Park" to bring back the old school fun of being crazy kids.
It's Official, Apple's Self-driving Cars Tech Is In The Works
Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that the company is working on developing its own brand of self-driving cars.
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New Retroreflective Material Could be Used in Nighttime Color-Changing Road Signs
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A thin film that reflects light in intriguing ways could be used to make road signs that shine brightly and change color at night, according to a study that will be published on Aug. 9 in Science Advances.
Top 5 Video Games to Play for a Truly Unique First Date
Video games have a way of taking us outside of ourselves and live in a fantasy world. It's even better when you're playing a game with someone special!


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With Ivorian Ban Cashew Industry Will Be Hurt
With the cashew season drawing closer, cashew processors and buyers who import the raw material from Côte d’Ivoire say they are confronting hard times due to the Ivorian authorities’ ban on movement of the commodity through the land borders.
Ghana trades [processing and export] between 200-400 thousand metric tonnes of cashew per year. A greater portion of the raw cashew processed in the country is imported from Côte d’Iviore through the land borders to supplement local production, estimated at between 30-40 thousand metric tonnes.
But shipment is now the only approved route for buyers importing the commodity from Côte d’Ivoire. This is a major source of worry for the buyers, who have described the ban as “suicidal and unfriendly” to their operations, as almost all of them have their installations in the Brong Ahafo Region which is to closer to the Ivorian border than to the ports.
All the 12 cashew-processing plants in the country are located in the Brong Ahafo Region, and the buying companies also have their depots situated there. Complying with the ban will therefore raise their production costs, they say.
The government of Côte d’Ivoire late last year imposed the ban to improve monitoring the trade and help it maximise tax revenue from export of the commodity.
Unhappy with the situation, the Ghana Cashew Industry Association has petitioned government through the Trade and Industry Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, for intervention to mitigate hardship the ban will cause.
Mr. Winfred Osei-Owusu, acting president of the association, said the ban will severely affect the local economy at the border town of Sampa and surrounding communities. Cashew trade is the lifeblood of residents along that stretch of the border, he added.
The association wants the Ivorian government to allow at least 100,000 metric tonnes of the commodity to be imported through the border. It has proposed the establishment of a trading post along the border, where the Ivorian government can collect whatever duties are due it — rather than maintain the ban.
“Ghanaian cashew traders are prepared to pay any revenue due the Ivorian government at the border. La Côte d’Ivoire must recognise Ghana as a market for the commodity because we are a net-importer of cashew. It’s therefore important to make things easier for us as their reliable customers. This is a win-win deal as the majority of Ivorian farmers have their farms close to the border and they find it more convenient to trade with us there,” Mr. Osei-Owusu said.
Trade Minister HarunaI ddrisu meanwhile says government will take advantage of the “harmonious” diplomatic ties between the two countries to resolve the matter amicably.
Mr. Osei-Owusu said the development rekindles the need for various agricultural stakeholders to step up their efforts to boost production of cashew to meet growing demand. “Over the years, efforts and support to enhance cashew production in the country have not been consistent. There is so much potential in the sector; in the form of rural transformation, export benefits among others. Government must now commit more resources to the enhancement of cashew production.”
By Edward Adjei Frimpong, Sunyani
Do you have a story or an article to publish? Please email us to email@example.com.


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My chain alone costs $ 30,000 – Okesse 1. Ghanaian rapper Okese1 has once again bragged about his wealth after showing off his new necklace on social media. In a video making the rounds on social media, Okese1 brags that the new chain cost him $ 30,000.
He also threatened to hit anyone who comes on social media to brag about their wealth but is renting a house. His comments have been viewed by some fans as a diss to his rival Medikal. Check out the video below: My chain alone is $ 30,000 – Okesse 1.
OTHER STORIES: Download free mp3 music here
Get into politics if you want to go broke – NDC Youth Organizer


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That non-event he described is online poker’s battling a lot of money in various other states. Which’s also without condensing with various other states to raise gamer swimming pools. In some locations, you can also bet complimentary roulette before you find out the video game and also spend actual money right into the video game. A: If playing roulette online and most likely to the clinical institution or do another thing. This places you in with an opportunity of substantial victories! Perk wins topped at ₤ 400 etc. WSOP additionally introduced that its North American network has produced a timetable including one armband occasion a day throughout the whole month of July. Regulations obstruct American financial institutions from working with a few of one of the most relied on USA online casinos.
It ought to be kept in mind, however, that there are two kinds of mobile online casinos. You can most definitely get in touch with the client assistance group if you need any type of pc gaming help in the online gambling enterprises. Online poker was towered over by on the internet casino site’s profits of $39.4 million for the very same month, suggesting online poker represented a puny 4.1% of total pc gaming earnings. With activity unraveling in 5 reels and 20 paylines, Rainbow Jackpots by Red Tiger Gaming is an additional ports title with an Irish Theme that reaches our leading video games checklist. And 888 Blast online poker prize video games exist also. In the only significant United States market where managed on-line texas holds them exists, New Jersey, earnings proceed to let down. “I believe it is a bigger market possibility and is an item that does not exist.
“I believe everyone obtained worn down by it, and I simply do not believe anyone has the will to attempt to make online poker occur. If you’re still on the fencing, why not jump on and attempt AW8 online gambling enterprise Singapore today? Controlled on the internet drivers in markets fresh Jersey and also the UK usage online poker as an affordable client procurement device and also cross-sell gamers right into online casino and sporting activities wagering. What California isn’t doing have is liquidity to make a success of on-line texas hold’em. “It bandarqq is a political election year, and also the standard knowledge is that this is never an excellent time to make an initiative to pass gambling-related regulation. “I would certainly make on-line casino poker a big underdog for legalization in 2020,” Schuetz claimed. Without these various other items, on the internet texas hold, they shed a lot of its allure from a profits generation perspective.


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As a Dangerous and Defective Drug attorney, I am writing this opinion piece, regarding the latest US Supreme Court Generic Drug Decision, which in my humble opinion is disastrous to Patient Safety. The case is PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing.
On June 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Generic Drug Manufacturers cannot be sued for failing to warn consumers of the possible side effects of their defective products, as long as they use the same warnings on the brand-name drugs. This decision is absurd on its face; this means that brand-name drug manufacturers can be held responsible for their failure to warn consumers about the dangers, but generic manufacturers are now provided an all encompassing shield that brand-name manufacturers do not have.
The seriousness and ramifications of this opinion cannot be understated. The Court’s decision now prevents millions of Americans, who have been seriously injured by generic drugs, from seeking compensation for their injuries. Generic drug manufacturers have a huge business in the United States. This opinion immunizes those drug manufacturers from liability. Another win for Big Pharma, and the consumer gets it again.
The dissent, ridiculed the Court’s decision, stating, “As a result of today’s decision, whether a consumer harmed by inadequate warnings can obtain relief turns solely on the happenstance of whether her pharmacist filled her prescription with a brand-name or generic drug. The Court gets one thing right: this outcome makes little sense.” “In some States, pharmacists must dispense generic drugs absent instruction to the contrary from a consumer’s physician. Even when consumers can request brand-name drugs, the price of the brand-name drug or the consumers’ insurance plans may make it impossible to do so. As a result, in many cases, consumers will have no ability to preserve their state-law right to recover for injuries caused by inadequate warnings.”
In many cases, once generic versions of a drug enter the market, the brand name manufacturers stop selling the drug. A consumer may have no option but to use a generic drug, and then find themselves without a remedy if they develop a catastrophic injury.
This decision also means that brand-name manufacturers will be held to a different yet safer standard. The Supreme Court decided in Wyeth v. Levine, brand-name manufacturers are responsible for their warning labels and required to update them at all times.
Patients will now be taking generic drugs at their own risk. It is absurd that doctors and patients will have to make medical decisions knowing that only brand-name drug manufacturers – not generics – can be held accountable for their drugs’ dangerous side-effects.
Today, 70 percent of all prescription drugs are filled with generic versions, accounting for about 2.6 billion prescriptions every year. Additionally, the generic drug industry continues to expand – nine of the industry’s 10 biggest blockbuster drugs are going off-patent within in the next few years.
The ruling is an immense blow for consumer rights, equality and fairness, principals upon which the American legal system was founded.


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A pair of Subway workers, Cameron Boggs and Ian Jett have created commotion with the creation of a Subway instagram album (via weedpriest since deleted) which goes on to show what many have come to argue are disparaging antics.
Needless to say since the workers’ instagram album went viral the pair have found themselves relieved off their duties at Subway but that still hasn’t tempered customer anger that such antics could actually go on at the fast food franchise.
Tells one caption: “Today at work I froze my pee…” in a water bottle.
Tells another indelible caption underneath an image of one of the workers rubbing their private parts against a baguette:
“My name is @ianjett and I will be your sandwich artist today.”
Since the photos have gone viral, one of the workers, Ian Jett has gone on to tell that the photo with him rubbing his genitals against the baguette was never taken at work but only at home.
‘I would never do that at work — it was at home,’ he said. ‘This isn’t something I’d ever do at Subway. It was totally a joke.’
Forced to confront the latest dizzy array of antics, Subway have told the following: ‘This isolated incident is not representative of SUBWAY Sandwich Artists™. These actions are not tolerated and the franchisee took immediate action to terminate the two employees involved.’
What do you think kids? Are you game for an ultra friendly baguette snack this afternoon?
And then there were these comments on the web that made me wonder as well:
Don’t kid yourselves. Businesses pay unlivable wages so what do you expect?
UPDATE: Taco Bell and McDonald’s have issued a joint statement. “Our minimum wage workers are more artistic and creative than the Subway dolts – we use more body parts and fluids in our food than these guys.”
As time goes on Im coming more and more to the conclusion that eating out in any form is a gamble, not to mention expensive. The people that are working in these places, especially the fast food and pizza joints, are overworked, underpaid, probably with little or no insurance, probably unhappy and bored. Thats not the person I want to personally handle my food.