text:
Call for an instant quote
0345 90 80 161
Open Mon to Fri 09:00 - 17:30 | Sat 09:00 - 16:00 (GMT)
18 March 2016 09:16
The Chancellor has proposed a new Sugar Tax
Health campaigners and charities have given the thumbs-up to George Osborne's so-called "Sugar Tax".
The Chancellor announced a levy on extra-sugary drinks in Wednesday's Budget (March 16).
High sugar consumption can increase the chances of people developing heart disease, diabetes and bad teeth.
And Mr Osborne reckons that the UK economy loses £27 billion every year due to obesity.
Holiday peace of mind
People suffering from heart conditions can be left to relax and concentrate on having a great holiday by taking out heart-related travel insurance.
This covers travellers with heart-related conditions from irregular heartbeats to cardiomyopathy.
As well as covering unexpected medical complications when tourists are abroad, it can also cover flight cancellations, trip delays, stolen luggage and lost travel documents.
What the new tax means
The new levy is due to be introduced in April 2018. The measure is likely to bring in £520 million to the Treasury.
The cash will be diverted towards doubling sports funding among primary schools. Secondary schools will be urged to provide extra sports lessons in an extended school day.
The higher rate of tax will apply to drinks containing over 8g of sugar for every 100ml of drink. A lower tax will apply to those containing 5g per 100ml.
It is estimated that consumers could have to pay anything from between 18p and 24p more for their fizzy beverages, although the rates have yet to be finalised.
The Government hopes that the tax will encourage drinks firms to lower the proportion of sugar and sweeteners in their drinks.
What the experts say
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver called the action "profound" on social media. He says he never expected the idea to be made law.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens described the tax as a "welcome" and "bold" move.
Children's Food Campaign co-ordinator Malcolm Clark says the levy is a key triumph for the health of children.
Soft drinks manufacturers' shares dipped after the announcement.
26 October 2016
People could be at a bigger risk of having high blood pressure if their home is close to a busy road, research has suggested.
25 October 2016
Almost 200 ill youngsters have been given the chance to enjoy a holiday of a lifetime thanks to the annual Dreamflight trip.
22 October 2016
A "perfect storm" of the falling value of the pound and security fears means holidaymakers are avoiding travel in Europe during October half-term.
21 October 2016
A union is warning of travel chaos over the Christmas period at four major UK airports, unless a baggage carrier transfers staff to other companies.
20 October 2016
Thousands of passengers faced travel chaos yesterday after rail service through the Channel Tunnel was suspended because of a power failure.
19 October 2016
People planning holidays from Gatwick Airport in the run up to Christmas could face travel chaos as unions threaten to strike over a pension dispute.
18 October 2016
Eurostar has said it will cut 12 services from London St Pancras to Paris and Brussels.
15 October 2016
Tourists in Thailand are being advised to "behave respectfully" and wear "sombre" clothing as the country mourns King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
14 October 2016
Holidaymakers are being warned to buy currency in advance as exchange rates being offered are as little as 0.96 euro to the pound at airports.
13 October 2016
Scientists say there is strong evidence air pollution and vitamin D deficiency can cause dementia.
12 October 2016
More people are going on holiday than at any time in the past five years despite terror attacks and the impact of Brexit, according to a study.
11 October 2016
People from across North Carolina had to be rescued from their homes as the downgraded Hurricane Matthew blew out to sea - leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.


text:
Starting with iOS 7, iPhone and iPad apps have been able to run in the background, refreshing even while not in use (prior to this only location services and music playback would run in the background). This allowed apps to update often instead of only updating when opened, so for example, you could get notifications from apps like Twitter and Facebook Messenger without having to launch them.
iOS 11 adds several features aimed at optimizing storage space on the iPhone and iPad, such as Messages on iCloud and the ability to offload apps.
Instagram continues to expand the Explore tab, giving users new ways to find interesting content. According to the Instagram blog, the latest update brings location and hashtag Stories to the section. The change is one of many that Instagram has rolled out over the past five years since the Explore tab first launched.
Hot on the heels of Amazon's Alexa coming to iOS, Siri has more competition in the voice assistant department. The Google Assistant can now be installed as a stand alone app on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. While the Google Search app for iOS includes voice capabilities, the full-blown Google Assistant is more sophisticated and powerful.
Periscope has offered live 360-degree broadcasting capabilities for some time. Now the streaming video company is rolling out panoramic video broadcasting support to iOS users. This means anyone with an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can create videos with a "LIVE 360" label, using a panoramic camera such as the Insta360 Nano.

domain: news


text:
Around four years ago, a newly pregnant woman living in New Jersey took a shopping trip with her mother in search of maternity clothes — and returned with little beyond disappointment in what she saw.
“It was such a chore,” Stephanie Manganelli said. “We had to significantly drive out of our way — like an hour and a half — to find a maternity store, and when we got there the selection was just not anything that we wanted. The design was just horrible — just really not flattering. The fabric was horrible, the customer service was horrible — there was nothing good about this trip.”


text:
MUMBAI: 2014 was a good year for TV advertising in India and its continued growth will see it overtake print in the next four years according to a new report.
The Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2015, produced by consulting firm KPMG in association with trade body FICCI, said that TV ad revenues had grown 14% in 2014 to reach a total of Rs 154.9bn. This compared with print's 8.5% uplift to Rs 176.4bn.
But TV's projected compound annual growth between 2014 and 2019 is 14.1%, or roughly 50% greater than that for print (9.7%), so it is expected to overtake print as the largest advertising medium in 2018.
Together these two media currently account for 80% of all advertising revenues in India. Digital is growing fast, however – up 44.5% in 2014 – and its current share of 10.5% will almost double by 2018, most of that gain coming at the expense of print and TV.
Election spending in 2014 was a significant factor in TV's performance, with the Business Standard noting that "electoral spends were among the highest in the world, second only to the 2012 US presidential election."
Other reasons cited in the report included a positive shift in the macroeconomic environment, the general election spends, and "the emergence of e-commerce as a significant new advertising spender".
In print, most of the growth was seen to come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities where regional language editions outperformed national editions and English-language dailies.
KPMG said that the print sector was not yet following the global trend where revenues have been cannibalised from digital media, but it added that "it is clear that the time has come for players to embrace digital strategies that complement the existing physical product and support brand building and penetration efforts".
That reflects the rapidly growing numbers of internet-enabled smartphones in use – predicted to almost quadruple in the next five years from the current figure of 116m – as well as the government's Digital India programme to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
Data sourced from KPMG, Business Standard; additional content by Warc staff


text:
Mumbai: Flipkart.com said on Friday that it has exclusively partnered with Reliance Jio Infocomm to sell two mobile handsets of from its LYF line—WIND 3 and FLAME 8— a move that could help India’s largest e-commerce platform strengthen its star category—smartphones.
The news comes in at a time when Flipkart is striving hard to meet its ambitious targets of achieving monthly gross sales of Rs.3,700-3,800 crore by expanding sales of smartphones, large appliances and fashion.
Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has already captured substantial market share through the sale of its LYF phone devices even before it has launches its operations commercially, Mint reported in June.
According to a 17 June report by Cyber Media Research and Services Ltd, LYF was India’s third largest selling mobile phone brand in the March quarter with a 12.6% market share, behind Samsung and Lenovo.
Until now Lyf sold devices—Flame, Earth, Water and Wind, in the price bracket of Rs.5,490 to Rs.19,999 through various offline and online channels.
The new devices however will be made available exclusively on Flipkart.
“Flipkart, the largest seller of smartphones in India currently leads the 4G adoption with about 60% share of LTE (4G enabled) devices sold in the country. Further, the company’s partnership with Reliance is a validation of the brand’s commitment to drive the 4G acceptance in India.” said Ajay Yadav, Vice President – Mobiles, Flipkart, in a statement.
Earlier on August 9th, Mint reported that Flipkart’s two key product categories of mobile phones and large appliances, which together contribute more than half of its sales, have reduced. Given this partnership with Reliance LYF, it can be viewed as a step forward to revive the company’s star category.
Additionally, the company aims to achieve three key targets by September. They include generating monthly gross sales of Rs.3,700-3,800 crore by expanding sales of smartphones, large appliances and fashion; achieving a net promoter score (NPS), a key metric of customer satisfaction, of 55 partly by improving the speed and consistency of product deliveries and improving its product returns management and breaking even at the gross profit level by cutting staff costs, discounts and other expenses.
Separately, Flipkart has also set a broader goal of generating Rs.6,000 crore in monthly sales by March.
Achieving these targets will flow into strengthening Flipkart’s valuation to raise its next round of funds.


text:
Remodeling Market Index Reaches Highest Levels in Four YearsApril 28th, 2011 by Editor
The Remodeling Market Index has reached its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI), released today.
The remodeling market is heading into recovery with an increase to 46.5 in the first quarter of 2011 from 41.5 in the fourth quarter of 2010, says the NAHB. An RMI below 50, however, indicates that still more remodelers report market activity is lower (compared to the prior quarter) than report it is higher.
The overall RMI combines ratings of current remodeling activity with indicators of future activity like calls for bids. Current market conditions for the first quarter of 2011 rose to 46.1 from 43.3 in the previous quarter. Future market indicators climbed to 46.8 from 39.7 in the previous quarter.
Regional break downs for current remodeling market conditions showed growth in all but one area: Northeast 46.1 (from 38.8 in the fourth quarter), South 46.1 (from 45.8), and West 46.1 (from 39.7). Only the Midwest experienced a decline to 47.1 (from 54.3).
“Home remodeling continues to slowly increase and continued growth through the year is expected,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The fact that some indicators are breaking 50 means remodelers are seeing improving activity in their markets. While credit scarcity and economic uncertainty continue to weigh down remodeling, signs of increasing consumer interest are promising.”


text:
A new retail and e-commerce report finds inflation is affecting the shopping habits of 85% of Americans, leading most to reduce their purchases and feel unhappier buying online.
In the report published Thursday, Morning Consult found that 77% of Americans are shopping less to save money. Only 41% said they enjoyed online shopping in June, down from 50% in March.
The report warns against blaming supply-chain issues for the trend. It notes that Americans, especially the millennials who make up most online shoppers, have less money to spend as consumer prices rise.
“Online shoppers are reporting fewer delayed orders, but as consumers begin deferring discretionary purchases because of inflation, shopping for fun isn’t what it used to be,” the report stated.
Many shoppers also are coping with inflation by looking for discounts and shopping at discount stores, Morning Consult reported.
Some retailers say the findings are spot-on.
“We sell pet


text:
Rocky Mountain Forest Products Increases Lumberyard Revenue by $26M in 4 years
Industry: Home & Residential
Colorado-based lumberyard realizes steep revenue increase since 2017 despite worldwide lumber shortages, pandemic restrictions, and supply chain interruptions.
Denver, CO (PRUnderground) October 5th, 2021
Since 1974, Rocky Mountain Forest Products has supplied homeowners and contractors in Colorado with high-quality fencing, decking, and siding products. Their extensive network of suppliers built over nearly five decades allowed them to fair better than most during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s revenue increased from $14 million in 2017 to $40 million in 2021.
This latest economic downturn is not the first major disruption RMFP has had to face. The recession in the mid-1980’s nearly forced them to close their doors, but it opened their minds to new business strategies. Diversifying their product lines, streamlining operations, and taking a proactive marketing approach allowed them to make RMFP the largest cedar wood supplier in Colorado and prepared them to face future economic challenges.
While consumer and commercial demands for lumber have skyrocketed in the past two years, supply has remained scarce, frustrating efforts by builders and lumberyards nationwide to keep up. “RMFP was able to weather the storms well because we were prepared,” stated Taylor Poole, Chief Growth Officer for RMFP. “We built relationships with suppliers and created a network within the industry that allowed us to anticipate shortages and respond quickly to customer demand. Our success over the last four years shows just how resilient the company can be.”
RMFP serves over 1 million Colorado customers, including over 2500 building contractors. Because they are a larger lumberyard, they can offer a wider variety of wood and synthetic wood products, including composite fencing, reclaimed wood, beetle kill pine, as well as popular cedar and redwood decking options
Educating DIYers and mom-and-pop startups about best building practices is integral to the RMFP business model. Their podcast, “The Mill,” highlights different aspects of the industry to help expand the skill set of individuals and contractors alike.
To learn more about Rocky Mountain Forest Products and their products, visit www.rmfp.com or call (303) 647-9185.
About Rocky Mountain Forest Products
Rocky Mountain Forest Products is the largest supplier of lumber in the state of Colorado. They import lumber directly from the mills and sell it wholesale to retail customers. For more than 40 years, RMFP has been helping builders and homeowners complete their projects under budget.


text:
It's crucial for digital marketers to stay up-to-date on the latest digital marketing tools and techniques.
TORONTO, ON and MONTREAL, QC (PRWEB) October 28, 2014
Digital marketers and search marketing professionals in Toronto and Montreal are invited to attend two events in November presented by Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) along with Bing Canada, Acquisio and gShift. These educational events feature leading-edge insights and trends from Canada’s top entrepreneurs and search marketing leaders.
“Digital marketing technology and tactics are evolving at lightning speed and Canada has impressive thought leaders in paid search, social media and content marketing,” says Krista LaRiviere, Ontario Chair of SEMPO Canada and Director of SEMPO.org. “The SEMPO Toronto and Montreal events will feature the best and brightest thought leaders from owned, earned and paid digital media.”
Bing Canada, the events’ major sponsor, is dedicated to SEMPO’s focus on education and standards in search marketing. Andrew Yang, Search Evangelist at Bing says, “It’s crucial for digital marketers to stay up-to-date on the latest digital marketing tools and techniques. The content that will be delivered in both Toronto and Montreal will be extremely valuable.”
Toronto: November 12th from 5:15 to 8:30 at the Intercontinental Hotel (#SEMPOYYZ)
The first event entitled: “The Digital Marketing Ad Tech Ecosystem in Canada” will take place in Toronto on November 12th and is sponsored by Bing, gShift and Acquisio. The ecosystem in Canada is abundant with innovative companies and entrepreneurs. The evening will feature presentations from Bing and Acquisio followed by a panel of entrepreneurs representing Atomic Reach, InNetwork and SqueezeCMM all innovators in Social Media and Content Marketing. The Toronto event is free to all attendees. Seating is limited.
Register & Read more: http://www.sempo.org/events/event_details.asp?id=509393#ixzz3GzsCdExO
Montreal: November 13th from 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM at the Notman House (#SEMPOMTL)
The second event entitled: “2015 SEMPO Digital Advertising Outlook” will take place in Montreal on November 13th and is sponsored by Bing, gShift, Acqusio, PlanningMedia, JMMA, Google and TubeMogul. The event is a joint initiative from SEMPO, Planning Media, and The John Molson Marketing Association. We are very happy to welcome you to the 2015 Digital Advertising Outlook. Whether you are an advertiser, an agency, or a Marketing Student, this conference will cover a lot of great, relevant and useful digital advertising content.
Register & Read more: http://www.sempo.org/events/event_details.asp?id=514908&group#ixzz3GztWYGTc
SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search and digital marketing industry and the marketing professionals engaged in it. Its purpose is to provide a foundation for industry growth through building stronger relationships, fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research, and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing. SEMPO includes thousands of professionals across 50 countries. The organization's mission is to represent the common interests of companies and consultants worldwide and provide them with a voice in the marketplace. SEMPO's education and outreach initiatives are funded in part by Google, Baidu, Digital Brand Expressions and WordStream and supported through partnerships with SES, OMS, and MediaPost.
For more information or to join the organization, visit http://www.SEMPO.org/
For More Information Contact:
Krista LaRiviere, Chair SEMPO Canada


text:
The British Retail Consortium, which publishes its figures today say that May was a 'good' month for sales, with clothing and DIY helping total sales to rise 3 pct amongst its retailers.
The BRC which often publishes its results ahead of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) say that its Retail sales monitor covers up to 60 pct of actual sales in the UK and provide a good 'real-time' indicator for economists ahead of ONS results published on or around the 20th day of each month.
Warmer weather as well as the distorted April figures were said to have been contributing factors in boosting clothing, footwear and outdoor DIY and leisure and overal sales were up like-for-like by 0.8 pct.
BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: "The sunnier second half of May provided a welcome boost to overall sales. The warmer weather combined with discounts and promotions encouraged spending on clothing, footwear, outdoor DIY and gardening.
"The run-up to the World Cup helped sales of televisions, though this was largely discount-driven. With the tournament getting closer, there should be a further uplift and to other football merchandise such as flags and replica kits. After April's dip, food sales growth returned to more normal levels."
The BRC also added that online and mail order sales were still ahead by double digits compared to last year.
Online sales have grown substantially year-on-year with April's figures up 15.9 pct and May figures up 21.9 pct as consumers went online for bargain prices.


text:
Are you prepared to go without turkey this Thanksgiving? Yes, it might actually get that bad. So far, the worst outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history has claimed the lives of more than 20 million turkeys and chickens, and the pandemic continues to rage wildly out of control. Once one bird becomes infected, this particular strain of the virus is so virulent that it can virtually wipe out an entire flock in just a matter of days. At this point, scientists think that this virus is being spread by wild birds, but they have no idea how it is getting inside barns and other enclosed facilities so easily. Considering how important turkey, chicken and eggs are to our food supply, it is quite alarming that scientists don’t really understand what is going on. If this bird flu outbreak is not brought under control, how many birds will eventually die? Right now, it is already in the tens of millions. Could the total eventually reach into the hundreds of millions?
Minnesota is the top producer of turkeys in the United States, and Iowa is the top producer of eggs, and that is why it is so alarming that both of these states are right at the heart of this current outbreak…
Virulent H5 avian influenza strains have spread to 14 states in five months and affected about 24 million birds so far, mostly egg-laying hens and turkeys, according to USDA.
That tally is expected to grow, as U.S. authorities confirm pending cases. The outbreak, which is also affecting two Canadian provinces, shows little sign of slowing.
In Minnesota, the largest producer of U.S. turkeys, state officials said almost 5.5 million turkeys and egg-laying chickens have either died from the flu virus or are set to be killed in an effort to contain the outbreak.
In Iowa, the top U.S. egg producer, state agriculture officials said an estimated 20 million chickens and turkeys have been affected there.
So just in those two states alone, we are talking about more than 25 million chickens and turkeys that are already dead or that are scheduled to be killed in an attempt to slow down this outbreak.
Things have already gotten so bad that some in the industry are already projecting that this may cause a shortage of turkeys at Thanksgiving…
And now, with Thanksgiving just seven months away, farmers say they may be running out of time to raise enough turkeys -the traditional centerpiece of holiday feasts – to meet the demand.
Once a farm has been infected, flocks must be culled, composted in barns, then disposed of. Buildings must then be thoroughly disinfected. The whole process can take up to three months before a new flock of turkey poults can be brought in, said Steve Olson, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association.
Of course any notion of “recovery” assumes that this outbreak will be shortly brought under control and that breeder farms are not being infected. But we have already had reports that some breeder farms in Minnesota have been infected.
Last year, the United States produced 240 million turkeys. Almost 20 percent of them came from Minnesota. So this outbreak in Minnesota is a really, really big deal.
And if you like to eat eggs, you should expect to start to pay more for them as well. As of now, this pandemic has already wiped out 6 percent of all “layer hens” in this country…
Egg producers have been hit hardest. In 2014, 362 million “layer” hens in the U.S. produced 100 billion eggs. With more than 20 million hens now in the process of being culled, nearly 6 percent of the nation’s population has been taken offline.
Even if this pandemic ends very quickly, and that is a huge if, the economic impact would still be huge. Food producers in the affected states are already starting to lay off workers, and prices for meat and eggs are already starting to rise.
However, what happens if this pandemic cannot be brought under control any time soon and we lose 20, 30 or 40 percent of our turkeys and chickens?
I am recommending that people consider stocking up on canned and frozen meat while they still can. Prices on those items are certainly not going to be going anywhere but up for the foreseeable future. And if you can afford it, a second freezer is often a good idea for many families.
The truly frightening thing is that this bird flu pandemic is coming at a time when the U.S. food supply is already under an unprecedented assault. Just consider some of the things that are currently happening…
-More than 40 percent of our fresh produce comes from the state of California, but thanks to the worst multi-year drought in the history of the state much of the region is turning back into a desert.
-Also due to the persistent drought, the size of the U.S. cattle herd is now as small as it was during the 1950s, and the price of beef has doubled since the last recession.
-Over the past few years, something called “porcine epidemic diarrhea” has wiped out approximately 10 percent of the entire pig population in the United States.
-Just off the west coast of the United States, a wide variety of sea creatures are dying in unprecedented numbers. For example, the sardine population along the west coast has dropped by a staggering 91 percent just since 2007.
-Down in Florida, citrus greening disease is absolutely crushing the citrus industry. Crops just keep on getting smaller year after year.
-There is a disease known as the TR4 fungus that is devastating banana production worldwide. In fact, it has been reported that this fungus could someday completely wipe out the variety of bananas that we commonly eat today.
Are you starting to understand?
Just because we have always been able to rely on massive quantities of extremely inexpensive food does not mean that it will always be that way.
At this point, scientists tell us that the strain of the bird flu that is hitting chickens and turkeys poses “little risk” to humans. But it does pose a tremendous risk to our food supply – especially if our scientists can’t figure out a way to bring this outbreak under control.
So why is all of this happening? Please feel free to tell us what you think by posting a comment below…
From our fields to our forks, huge corporations have an overwhelming amount of power over our food supply every step of the way. Right now there are more than 313 million people living in the United States, and the job of feeding all of those people is almost entirely in the hands of just a few dozen monolithic companies. If you do not like how our food is produced or you don’t believe that it is healthy enough, it isn’t very hard to figure out who is to blame. These mammoth corporations are not in business to look out for the best interests of the American people. Rather, the purpose of these corporations is to maximize wealth for their shareholders. So the American people end up eating billions of pounds of extremely unhealthy food that is loaded with chemicals and additives each year, and we just keep getting sicker and sicker as a society. But these big corporations are raking in big profits, so they don’t really care.
If we did actually have a capitalist system in this country, we would have a high level of competition in the food industry. But instead, the U.S. food industry has become increasingly concentrated with each passing year. Just consider the following numbers about the U.S. agricultural sector…
The U.S. agricultural sector suffers from abnormally high levels of concentration. Most economic sectors have concentration ratios around 40%, meaning that the top four firms in the industry control 40% of the market. If the concentration ratio is above 40%, experts believe competition can be threatened and market abuses are more likely to occur: the higher the number, the bigger the threat.
The concentration ratios in the agricultural sector are shocking.
-Four companies own 83.5% of the beef market.
-The top four firms own 66% of the hog industry.
-The top four firms control 58.5% of the broiler chicken industry.
-In the seed industry, four companies control 50% of the proprietary seed market and 43% of the commercial seed market worldwide.
-When it comes to genetically engineered (GE) crops, just one company, Monsanto, boasts control of over 85% of U.S. corn acreage and 91% of U.S. soybean acreage.
When so much power is concentrated in so few hands, it creates some tremendous dangers.
And many of these giant corporations (such as Monsanto) are extremely ruthless. Small farmers all over America are being wiped out and forced out of the business by the predatory business practices of these huge companies…
Because farmers rely on both buyers and sellers for their business, concentrated markets squeeze them at both ends. Sellers with high market power can inflate the prices of machinery, seeds, fertilizers and other goods that farmers need for their farms, while powerful buyers, such as processors, suppress the prices farmers are paid. The razor-thin profit margins on which farmers are forced to operate often push them to “get big or get out”—expanding into mega-operations or exiting the business altogether.
Of course the control that big corporations have over our food supply does not end at the farms.
The distribution of our food is also very highly concentrated. The graphic shared below was created by Oxfam International, and it shows how just 10 gigantic corporations control almost everything that we buy at the grocery store…
And these food distributors are often not very good citizens either.
For example, it was recently reported that Nestle is running a massive bottled water operation on a drought-stricken Indian reservation in California…
Among the windmills and creosote bushes of San Gorgonio Pass, a nondescript beige building stands flanked by water tanks. A sign at the entrance displays the logo of Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water, with water flowing from a snowy mountain. Semi-trucks rumble in and out through the gates, carrying load after load of bottled water.
The plant, located on the Morongo Band of Mission Indians’ reservation, has been drawing water from wells alongside a spring in Millard Canyon for more than a decade. But as California’s drought deepens, some people in the area question how much water the plant is bottling and whether it’s right to sell water for profit in a desert region where springs are rare and underground aquifers have been declining.
Nestle doesn’t stop to ask whether it is right or wrong to bottle water in the middle of the worst drought in the recorded history of the state of California.
They have the legal right to do it and they are making large profits doing it, and so they are just going to keep on doing it.
Perhaps you are thinking that you can avoid all of these corporations by eating organic and by shopping at natural food stores.
Well, it isn’t necessarily that easy.
According to author Wenonah Hauter, the “health food industry” is also extremely concentrated…
Over the past 20 years, Whole Foods Market has acquired its competition, including Wellspring Grocery, Bread of Life, Bread & Circus, Food for Thought, Fresh Fields, Wild Oats Markets and others. Today the chain dominates the market because it has no national competitor. Over the past five years its gross sales have increased by half (47 percent) to $11.7 billion, and its net profit quadrupled to $465.6 million. One of the ways it has achieved this profitability is by selling conventional foods under the false illusion that they are better than products sold at a regular grocery store. Consumers falsely conclude that these products have been screened and are better, and they are willing to pay a higher price.
The distribution of organic foods is also extremely concentrated. A little-known company, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) now controls the distribution of organic and natural products. Publically traded, the company has a contract with Whole Foods and it is the major source of these products for the remaining independent natural food stores. This relationship has resulted in increasingly high prices for these foods. Small manufacturers are dependent on contracts with UNFI to get their products to market and conversely, small retailers often have to pay a premium price for products because of their dependence on this major distributor. Over the past five years, UNFI’s net sales increased by more than half (55.6 percent) $5.2. billion. Its net profit margin increased by 88 percent to $91 million.
Everywhere you look, the corporations are in control.
And this is especially true when you look at big food retailers such as Wal-Mart.
Right now, grocery sales account for about half of all business at Wal-Mart, and approximately one out of every three dollars spent on groceries in the United States is spent at Wal-Mart.
That is absolutely astounding, and it obviously gives Wal-Mart an immense amount of power.
In fact, if you can believe it, Wal-Mart actually purchases a billion pounds of beef every single year.
So the next time someone asks you where the beef is, you can tell them that it is at Wal-Mart.
On the restaurant side, the ten largest fast food corporations account for 47 percent of all fast food sales, and the love affair that Americans have with fast food does not appear to be in danger of ending any time soon.
Personally, if you do not like how these corporate giants are behaving, you can always complain.
But you are just one person among 313 million, and most of these big corporations are not going to consider the ramblings of one person to be of any significance whatsoever.
Collectively, however, we have great power. And the way that we are going to get these big corporations to change is by voting with our wallets.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans seem quite satisfied with the status quo. So the population as a whole is likely going to continue to get sicker, fatter and less healthy with each passing year, and the big food corporations are going to keep becoming even more powerful.
Do you think that the price of food is high now? Just wait. If current trends continue, many of the most common food items that Americans buy will cost more than twice as much by the end of this decade. Global demand for food continues to rise steadily as crippling droughts ravage key agricultural regions all over the planet. You see, it isn’t just the multi-year California drought that is affecting food prices. Down in Brazil (one of the leading exporters of food in the world), the drought has gotten so bad that 142 cities were rationing water at one point earlier this year. And outbreaks of disease are also having a significant impact on our food supply. A devastating pig virus that has never been seen in the U.S. before has already killed up to 6 million pigs. Even if nothing else bad happens (and that is a very questionable assumption to make), our food prices are going to be moving aggressively upward for the foreseeable future. But what if something does happen? In recent years, global food reserves have dipped to extremely low levels, and a single major global event (war, pandemic, terror attack, planetary natural disaster, etc.) could create an unprecedented global food crisis very rapidly.
A professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University named Timothy Richards has calculated what the drought in California is going to do to produce prices at our supermarkets in the near future. His projections are quite sobering…
- Avocados likely to go up 17 to 35 cents to as much as $1.60 each.
- Berries likely to rise 21 to 43 cents to as much as $3.46 per clamshell container.
- Broccoli likely to go up 20 to 40 cents to a possible $2.18 per pound.
- Grapes likely to rise 26 to 50 cents to a possible $2.93 per pound.
- Lettuce likely to rise 31 to 62 cents to as much as $2.44 per head.
- Packaged salad likely to go up 17 to 34 cents to a possible $3.03 per bag.
- Peppers likely to go up 18 to 35 cents to a possible $2.48 per pound.
- Tomatoes likely to rise 22 to 45 cents to a possible $2.84 per pound.
So what happens if the drought does not end any time soon?
Scientist Lynn Ingram, who has studied the climate history of the state of California extensively, told CBS News that we could potentially be facing “a century-long megadrought” in California. If that does indeed turn out to be the case, we could be facing huge price increases for produce year after year.
And it isn’t just crops that are grown in the United States that we need to be concerned about. As NBC News recently reported, the price of cocoa is absolutely soaring and that is going to mean much higher prices for chocolate…
As cocoa prices surge to near-record highs on demand for emerging markets, chocoholics brace for a hike in price – and maybe even a different taste, as chocolate makers hunt out cheaper ingredients.
Cocoa futures are up 10 percent so far this year, hitting almost £1,900 on ($3,195) a ton in March. Last year prices rose 20 percent.
In fact, experts are now warning that chocolate may soon become a “high-end luxury item” because it is becoming so expensive.
Meat prices are also starting to spiral out of control.
A virus known as porcine epidemic diarrhea has pushed pork prices up to new all-time record highs. It has already spread to 27 states, and as I mentioned above, it has already killed up to 6 million pigs. It is being projected that U.S. pork production will decline by about 7 percent this year as a result, and Americans could end up paying up to 20 percent more for pork by the end of the year.
The price of beef has also soared to a brand new all-time record high. Due to the drought that never seems to let up in the western half of the country, the total size of the U.S. cattle herd has been declining for seven years in a row, and it is now the smallest that is has been since 1951.
If the overall price of food in this country increases by just an average of a little more than 12 percent a year, it will double by the end of this decade.
What would you do if you suddenly walked into the grocery store and everything was twice as much?
That is a frightening thing to think about.
Meanwhile, all of our other bills just keep going up as well. For example, we just learned that the price of electricity hit a brand new all-time record high for the month of March.
If our incomes were keeping up with all of these price increases, that would be one thing. Unfortunately, that is not the case. As I wrote about earlier this week, the quality of our jobs continues to go down and more Americans fall out of the middle class every single day.
According to CNBC, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans with college degrees that are working for minimum wage right now…
While a college degree might help get a job, it doesn’t necessarily mean a good salary. According to a report released last month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 260,000 workers with bachelor’s degrees and 200,000 workers with associate’s degrees are making the minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and the minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. Some cities and states have recently raised their minimum wage, but the BLS report defines only those making $7.25 an hour or less as “minimum wage workers.”
And according to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in the United States has dropped for five years in a row.
This is why so many families are financially stressed these days. The cost of living is going up at a steady pace, but for the most part our paychecks are not keeping up. Average Americans are having to stretch their money farther than ever, and many families have reached the breaking point.
So what is going on in your neck of the woods? Are you starting to see prices rise at the grocery stores where you live? Please feel free to join the discussion by leaving a comment below…
If the extreme drought in the western half of the country keeps going, the food supply problems that we are experiencing right now are only going to be the tip of the iceberg. As you will see below, the size of the U.S. cattle herd has dropped to a 61 year low, and organic food shortages are being reported all over the nation. Surprisingly cold weather and increasing demand for organic food have both been a factor, but the biggest threat to the U.S. food supply is the extraordinary drought which has had a relentless grip on the western half of the country. If you check out the U.S. Drought Monitor, you can see that drought conditions currently stretch from California all the way to the heart of Texas. In fact, the worst drought in the history of the state of California is happening right now. And considering the fact that the rest of the nation is extremely dependent on produce grown in California and cattle raised in the western half of the U.S., this should be of great concern to all of us.
A local Fox News report that was featured on the Drudge Report entitled “Organic food shortage hits US” has gotten quite a bit of attention. The following is an excerpt from that article…
Since Christmas, cucumbers supplies from Florida have almost ground to a halt and the Mexican supply is coming but it’s just not ready yet.
And as the basic theory of economics goes, less supply drives up prices.
Take organic berries for example:
There was a strawberry shortage a couple weeks back and prices spiked.
Experts say the primary reasons for the shortages are weather and demand.
And without a doubt, demand for organic food has grown sharply in recent years. More Americans than ever have become aware of how the modern American diet is slowly killing all of us, and they are seeking out alternatives.
Due to the tightness in supply and the increasing demand, prices for organic produce just continue to go up. Just consider the following example…
A quick check on the organic tree fruit market shows that the average price per carton for organic apples was $38 per carton in mid-January this year, up from an average of just $31 per carton last year at the same time. At least for apple marketers, the organic market is heating up.
Personally, I went to a local supermarket the other day and I started to reach for a package of organic strawberries but I stopped when I saw that they were priced at $6.99. I couldn’t justify paying 7 bucks for one package. I still remember getting them on sale for $2.99 last year.
Unfortunately, this may only be just the beginning of the price increases. California Governor Jerry Brown has just declared a water emergency, and reservoirs throughout the state have dropped to dangerously low levels.
Unless a miracle happens, there is simply not going to be enough water to go around for the entire agriculture industry. The following is an excerpt from an email from an industry insider that researcher Ray Gano recently shared on his website…
Harris farms has released a statement saying they will leave about 40,000 acres fallow this year because the FEDS have decided to only deliver 10% of the water allocation for 2014. Lettuce is predicted to reach around $5.00 a head (if you can find it). Understand the farmers in the Salinas valley are considering the same action. So much for salad this summer unless you grow it yourself.
The reason why the agriculture industry in California is so important is because it literally feeds the rest of the nation. I shared the following statistics yesterday, but they are so critical that they bear repeating. As you can see, without the fruits and vegetables that California grows, we would be in for a world of hurt…
The state produces 99 percent of the artichokes grown in the US, 44 percent of asparagus, a fifth of cabbage, two-thirds of carrots, half of bell peppers, 89 percent of cauliflower, 94 percent of broccoli, and 95 percent of celery. Leafy greens? California’s got the market cornered: 90 percent of the leaf lettuce we consume, along with and 83 percent of Romaine lettuce and 83 percent of fresh spinach, come from the big state on the left side of the map. Cali also cranks a third of total fresh tomatoes consumed in the U.S.—and 95 percent of ones destined for cans and other processing purposes.
As for fruit, I get that 86 percent of lemons and a quarter of oranges come from there; its sunny climate makes it perfect for citrus, and lemons store relatively well. Ninety percent of avocados? Fine. But 84 percent of peaches, 88 percent of fresh strawberries, and 97 percent of fresh plums?
Come on. Surely the other 49 states can do better.
Are you starting to understand how much trouble we could be in if this drought does not end?
About now I can hear some people out there saying that they will just eat meat because they don’t like vegetables anyway.
Well, unfortunately we are rapidly approaching a beef shortage as well.
On January 1st, the U.S. cattle herd hit a 61-year low of 89.3 million head of cattle.
The biggest reason for this is the 5 year drought that has absolutely crippled the cattle industry out west…
Back in the late fall 2013 there was a freak snowstorm that killed close to 300,000+ cattle. This is a major hit to the cattle market.
I know in Texas where they still have a 5 year drought they are dealing with, they are having to ship grass bails in from Colorado, Utah and other parts of the country just to feed the cattle. Ranchers are sending their female cattle to the slaughter houses becasue they can not afford to feed them anymore. It is the females that help re-stock the herd. SO if you are slaughtering your females, your herd does not grow. It is expected that the US will not see cattle herd growth returning until 2017, maybe even later.
This is a problem which is not going away any time soon.
According to the Washington Post, the U.S. cattle herd has gotten smaller for six years in a row, and the amount of beef produced is expected to drop to a 20 year low in 2014…
The U.S. cattle herd contracted for six straight years to the smallest since 1952, government data show. A record drought in 2011 destroyed pastures in Texas, the top producing state, followed the next year by a surge in feed-grain prices during the worst Midwest dry spell since the 1930s. Fewer cattle will mean production in the $85 billion beef industry drops to a 20- year low in 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
It would be hard to overstate how devastating this ongoing drought has been for many ranchers out west. For example, one 64-year-old rancher who lives in Texas says that his herd is 90 percent smaller than it was back in 2005 because of the drought…
Texas rancher Looney, who is 64 and has been in the cattle business his whole life, said his herd is still about 90 percent below its size from 2005 because of the prolonged dry weather. It will take years for the pastures to come back, even if there is normal rainfall, he said. About 44 percent of Texas was in still in drought in the week ended Jan. 7, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
And it isn’t just the U.S. that is dealing with this kind of drought. The largest freshwater lake in China that was once about twice the size of London, England has almost entirely dried up because of the ongoing drought over there.
Meanwhile, global demand for food just continues to rise.
If this drought ends and the western half of the nation starts getting lots of rain, this could just be a temporary crisis.
However, the truth is that scientific research has shown that the 20th century was the wettest century in the western half of the country in 1000 years, and that we should expect things to return to “normal” at some point.
So is that happening now?
Over the past couple of years, I have warned that Dust Bowl conditions are starting to return to the western half of the United States. Just see this article, this article and this article.
Now the state of California is experiencing the worst drought that it has ever gone through and “apocalyptic” dust storms are being reported in Colorado and Nevada.
Just because things seem like they have always been a certain way does not mean that they will always stay that way.
Things out west are rapidly changing, and in the end it is going to affect the lives of every man, woman and child in the United States.
Could that headline actually be true? Do Americans waste about 40 percent of all the food that we produce? That sounds like an absolutely crazy number, but it is actually quite accurate according to a study conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council. What the NRDC discovered is that approximately 40 percent of our total food supply is either thrown into dumpsters by grocery stores, is discarded by restaurants, never gets harvested on our farms, or is thrown into the garbage by consumers in their homes. Even though 47 million Americans are on food stamps and millions of children go to bed hungry in this country every single night, we continue to waste approximately 263 million pounds of food every single day of the year. One day people will look back and regard us as probably the most wasteful society in the history of the planet.
So where does all of that food go?
Well, according to a recent Seattle Times article, “food waste” takes up more space in our landfills than anything else does…
Last year, the NRDC found that Americans throw out as much as 40 percent of the country’s food supply each year, adding up to $165 billion in losses.
Food waste makes up the largest portion of solid trash in landfills, according to researchers.
Some $900 million of expired food is dumped from the supply chain annually, much of it a result of confusion. Misinterpreted date labels cause the average American household of four to lose as much as $455 a year on squandered food, according to researchers.
The expired food that gets wasted is one of my personal pet peeves.
I don’t do this a lot, but today I am going to share a personal story with you.
Earlier today I was out running errands and I decided that I wanted to pick up some mini-cupcakes from Safeway that I just love. I do try to eat a healthy diet, but I do also like a treat from time to time. So I got over to Safeway, and I noticed that the only mini-cupcakes that they had out were ones with chocolate frosting, but I wanted ones with vanilla frosting.
So I went up to the bakery counter and there was nobody there, but behind the counter I saw a stack of several containers of vanilla cupcakes. I waited until the bakery lady got back and I asked her if I could have them.
I was astounded when she very firmly told me that I could not buy them.
She said that it was against regulations.
I implored her to sell them to me. I explained that I had come over to Safeway just to buy them and I didn’t care if they were a little old.
Again she very firmly told me that I could not buy them.
I could not understand this. I knew that the cupcakes were just going to be thrown out, so I asked to speak to her manager.
After a few moments her manager came over and I was once again told very firmly that under no circumstances would I be able to buy the cupcakes.
So needless to say, I left the store with a sad look on my face and without any cupcakes.
Now of course I probably didn’t need the cupcakes anyway. They are not healthy for me. But big chains such as Safeway throw away massive amounts of very good food as well. The level of the waste that goes on is absolutely astounding.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans that are dealing with hunger and malnutrition grows with each passing day. I want to share with you an excerpt from a recent article authored by Jason Ford entitled “I Work On The Breadline“…
I work as a cashier at a nationally known discount store. I sell clothing, cleaning products, house wares and food. The people I sell to are people of all colors, races, ages and sex, but most of them have one thing in common; EBT cards. I would say about half of every transaction I do is paid for with an EBT card. Sometimes people will use three different methods of payment. They will use whatever is left on their EBT card, then use whatever is left on their debit card, and then scrape their purse to find the remaining balance, and sometimes they still don’t have enough.
Another common trait of the people I serve besides the poverty is the poor health. The food I sell is not healthy, by any stretch. I sell potato chips, candy bars, bread, canned food, ice cream, soda, packaged meat, cigarettes and alcohol. I noticed quickly that a common ingredient of most of the foods is sugar and grains. Sugar and grains are easy to grow and produce cheaply and are used as fillers in processed food to cut cost and mask the taste of other questionable ingredients. Grains work in conjunction with sugars to inflame the body and compromise the immune system. Grains and sugars also have no nutritional value besides calories, so on top of inflaming the body; they do not provide the sustenance the body needs to survive. As the functions of the body require these nutrients the diet lacks, the body sucks these minerals from the bones, teeth and brain. Bone loss, and tooth decay and decreased brain function are the unfortunate symptoms of malnutrition. The poorest of the customers I serve are also the sickest. I have witnessed toothless mouths in the young and old. Mental retardation is also a common trait among many of them. I have even witnessed one unfortunate woman whose skin was a pale green color. These people are dying a slow starvation and they don’t even know it.
Doesn’t that just break your heart?
People are living like that, and yet America discards 263 million pounds of food every single day.
Something is fundamentally wrong with the way our system works.
So what is society going to do as the number of hungry people continues to grow in this country and around the world?
Well, according to ABC News, some scientists plan to feed them with flour made out of bugs…
A team of MBA students were the recipients of the 2013 Hult Prize earlier this week, providing them with $1 million in seed money to produce an insect-based, protein-rich flour for feeding malnourished populations in other countries. The product is called Power Flour.
“It’s a huge deal because we had a very ambitious but highly executable five-year plan in place,” said team captain Mohammed Ashour, whose team hails from McGill University in Montreal. “So winning this prize is a great step in that direction.”
Ashour, along with teammates Shobhita Soor, Jesse Pearlstein, Zev Thompson and Gabe Mott, will be immediately working with an advisory board to recruit farmers and workers in Mexico, where a population of roughly 4 million live in slum conditions with widespread malnutrition.
“We will be starting with grasshoppers,” Ashour said.
Are you ready for a “protein-rich flour” made out of grasshoppers?
I know that I am not.
And in Japan, scientists have actually been working on a way to create meat out of poop. You can read more about that right here.
Perhaps if we just quit wasting so much food we would be able to feed everybody without resorting to such craziness.
These days, an increasing number of Americans are fighting back against the colossal waste that they see all around them. Some have even chosen to take advantage of the waste by regularly going “dumpster diving”. The following is how I described “dumpster diving” in one of my previous articles…
Have you ever thought about getting your food out of a trash can? Don’t laugh. Dumpster diving has become a hot new trend in America. In fact, dumpster divers even have a trendy new name. They call themselves “freegans”, and as the economy crumbles their numbers are multiplying. Many freegans consider dumpster diving to be a great way to save money on groceries. Others do it because they want to live more simply. Freegans that are concerned about the environment view dumpster diving as a great way to “recycle” and other politically-minded freegans consider dumpster diving to be a form of political protest. But whatever you want to call it, the reality is that thousands upon thousands of Americans will break out their boots, rubber gloves and flashlights and will be jumping into dumpsters looking for food once again tonight.
Who knows – perhaps some enterprising young dumpster diver will end up fishing the vanilla cupcakes that I wanted out of Safeway’s dumpsters this evening.
It is amazing what some of these dumpster divers are able to recover from “the trash”. In North Carolina, one man even takes his son dumpster diving with him…
A programmer by day, Todd takes to the streets of North Carolina by night, digging through Dumpsters at drug stores and grocery stores all around his rural neighborhood.
“You would be simply amazed at what businesses throw out,” he said. “I’ve only had to buy two loaves of bread all year. … Last week I had a trunk full of cereal, cookies, chips and ramen noodles.”
Todd slinks in and out of smelly places with low-light flashlights to evade rent-a-cops who will shoo him away. Most nights, his 14-year-old son comes along.
Unfortunately, dumpster diving is not as easy as it used to be.
As dumpster diving has soared in popularity, some grocery stores have responded by putting locks on their dumpsters.
And in some areas of the country, police have even started regularly arresting dumpster divers.
But in the end, dumpster diving was not going to be a permanent solution anyway.
A permanent solution would be to quit wasting so much food.
I applaud the grocery store chains that choose to donate their expired food to homeless shelters and food banks.
We need to see a lot more of that going on.
And in our own homes we need to find ways to give more food away and waste less of it.
All of this needless wasting of food does not have to happen. Let’s work together to find some solutions.


text:
Yesterday, Adidas unveiled special postseason uniforms for Cincinnati, Louisville and Baylor. While Louisville’s ensemble does pay homage to Beach Gorgui with a fly set of board shorts, it has been met with ambivalence by writers and Louisville fans alike.
the guy in the Louisville jersey looks like he’s wearing a strapless dress with a red bra. —Paul Lukas at Uni Watch
I tend to agree with Paul. Also, did I mention that the home jersey is fucking orange?
So in light of these underwhelming threads, our team of fashion-forward designers at birdswag is rolling out some concepts more appropriate for this Louisville team.
headgear: what screams 2011-2012 Louisville basketball more than concussions? This look was created in the fall after Rick Pitino revealed that Elisha Justice was practicing in a helmet. Since Adidas has already demonstrated a propensity for recycling Nike gimmicks, we took the liberty of slapping a logo on the helmet to save them the R+D resources.
invisibility cloak: the very design that’s taken Brad Steven’s Butler teams to back-to-back title games (notice you never saw Matt Howard on the bench) could be the difference between flameout and champion. Let’s see Brandon Triche put it on the deck against 7 defenders. One size fits all (sorry Wayne).
laser guidance: Louisville is among the 50 worst-3pt-shooting teams in the country this year. If there’s anything that can get Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith back on track, it’s next level weapons technology. “Three goggles” will no longer be figurative.


text:
Vencomatic Group at Sudan Poultry Expo 2015
From the 25th till the 28th of February, the Sudan Poultry Expo 2015 was held in Khartoum, Sudan. The Sudan Poultry Expo is an event dedicated to development of poultry, livestock and agricultural production in Sudan. During this edition of the Poultry Expo, NABC successfully organised a trade mission for Dutch companies and facilitated a Dutch Pavilion at the fair.
Many foreign companies presented themselves in the five halls of the fair. The Vencomatic Group had a nice booth were they got acquainted with several people from the poultry sector. Peter-Bart Lichtenbeld, Regional Director Africa: “We are glad we participated and had the honour to meet interesting people. These new contacts are the first steps to successful cooperation and a bright future for the Vencomatic Group in Sudan, an amazing and friendly country where we see many opportunities in the poultry industry.”


text:
BRUSSELS — The European Union is considering new rules to promote healthier competition among companies whose business models rely on collecting large amounts of data, the bloc’s digital chief said.
“We are exploring right now what concrete measures would suit the interest of European businesses best so that they can fully benefit from the opportunities that data-driven innovation has to offer to them,” the European Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger said in a speech late Wednesday. “The effort includes looking for ways to mitigate the existing imbalance between data-rich and data-poor companies.”
The concern is that Internet firms such as Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG, -0.43% GOOGL, -0.53% Google or Facebook Inc. FB, +0.17% compile huge data sets that could give them an unfair edge because they effectively shut out new competition. Incumbent firms might have developed sophisticated profiles of consumers that target advertising with such great precision, for example, that new rivals couldn’t catch up.
Oettinger said data has become a tradable good, using Google’s business model as an example where the search giant takes data from searches and sells it to advertisers.
The data economy could make up about 5% of Europe’s gross domestic product by 2020, “provided we take the right measures to foster this market,” Oettinger said.
Want news about Europe delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Europe Daily newsletter. Sign up here.


text:
Electronic Arts has decided to withdraw its plans to ship one of its biggest PC releases this year with digital rights management software installed.
There was an outcry from gamers when they discovered SecuROM copy protection would be included on Mass Effect, and that it would demand online key validation every 10 days.
The game will now only ask for online authentication when you install your PC copy, or when you download additional content for the game.
Bioware is the maker of Mass Effect, and had this to say in a statement on the game's forum: "Bioware has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them".
"To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us."
Mass Effect PC will continue to be playable without the disc in the drive, and can be installed on up to three separate computers.
Other sources suggest that Spore, also marked to be shipped with the DRM software, will have it removed too. The PC gaming world is once again at peace.


text:
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari announced today that Omologato has become an Official Partner of the iconic Italian circuit.
“To associate the Imola circuit with Omologato is a pleasure ” said Imola President Pietro Benvenuti. “We respect and honor the timeless traditions and history here at Imola and to partner with someone who shares our same passion for motorsports goes hand in hand with one of the World’s most historic racetracks.”
As part of the partnership, Omologato will create a limited edition Imola Acque Minerali Chronograph available for purchase and pre-order at www.omologatowatches.com/imola. Only 100 Premiere Editions will be produced and they arrive in stock on October 30.
With over 25 years watch making experience, the Windsor, England-based company designed and manufactured for a number of well-known watch brands before launching its own.
“Imola has always been one of the tracks that I’ve longed to visit let alone partner with,” said Shami Kalra, founder of Omologato. “It has one of the richest histories of any track in the world from Formula 1 to GT and Motorbike racing. Being a partner is a massive personal privilege for me. A boyhood dream.”


text:
Quality Performance Group’s (QPG) Jeep, the "Orange Beast," won the Dealers Choice Award at the Novajeeper’s Show and Shine Event in June.
Quality Performance Group, QPG, an automotive aftermarket company focusing on Jeeps, pickup trucks and off-road vehicles, recently opened on Draper Drive in Fairfax City.
The store also sells retail items such as WeatherTech and Justice Brothers products, among others, and plans to expand into fabrication and classic car restoration and updates in the future.
"We are excited to become an asset to the Fairfax City area and serve the many Jeep and off-road owners and enthusiasts in the region," said Scott Gilbert, QPG owner. "We work one-on-one with our customers to provide them products and services to meet their needs and specifications. Interest in off-road events and as a hobby continues to grow nationally and we are pleased to serve this market."
QPG is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and can be found on Twitter @QualityPerformG
For more information call 703-543-6433.


text:
Public get a nudge to dig into their shopping habits
Ministers hope millions will be able to view data held about their lifestyles and work out better deals
Andrew Grice has been Political Editor of The Independent since 1998. He was previously Political Editor of The Sunday Times, where he worked for 10 years, and he has been a Westminster-based journalist since 1982. His column, Inside Politics, appears in The Independent each Saturday.
Saturday 17 November 2012
Companies will be forced to hand over to their customers the information they hold about their buying patterns to enable them to shop around and get better deals.
Energy and mobile phone companies, banks and credit card firms will have to provide the data held about customers' transactions when they request them. If they fail to do so voluntarily, the Government will pass legislation making it compulsory – and extend the "consumer power" plan to other businesses.
The "midata" programme, to be announced today, is designed to correct the imbalance under which companies build up a mountain of data about people's purchasing habits and lifestyles to help them sell their products – but consumers are often left in the dark about the practice.
Twenty energy, finance and telecoms firms have already signed up to the scheme. Ministers hope millions of people will be able to view their data on computers or mobile phones and work out quickly which energy or phone tariff suits them better; compare the prices or look at the health benefits of their food consumption across all stores; and be told about new films, music or shows tailored to their previous choices and personal taste.
The programme, drawn up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skill, was based on evidence from Downing Street's Behavioural Insights Team, which has been dubbed the "nudge unit".
Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat Consumer Affairs Minister, said: "This is all about putting power into the hands of consumers. Many businesses reap huge commercial benefits from the information they gather from consumers' daily spending patterns.
"Why shouldn't consumers also benefit from this by having access to their own data to enable them to make better choices?"
She added: "It's great when your energy provider tells you how much gas or electricity you're using at any point in the year, or when phone companies tell you which one of their tariffs suits you best. But it's even better when consumers can use that information to get better-value-for-money deals or adjust their lifestyles. This is just one of many ways 'midata' can help, as businesses increasingly recognise sharing data as a means to deliver a better service for their customers."
Richard Lloyd, executive director of the consumer group Which?, said: "The 'midata' programme can help put consumers in the driving seat of the information revolution while boosting competition and supporting growth among companies that provide the best products and services."
He added: "We're pleased to see the Government putting in place measures to give people the right to data that companies hold on them.
"Giving consumers more power with their personal data will help them make better use of their money, and that's not only good for customer-friendly businesses, but good for growth in the economy."
The Government said it would consult business before making the programme compulsory.
- 1 A daily walk 'can add seven years to your life'
- 2 The nine most warmongering countries in the world revealed
- 3 Rules on 5p plastic bags likely to lead to arguments at the check-out
- 4 Blood Moon and Supermoon: September to bring brightest – and dimmest – full Moon of the year on same night
- 5 News agency criticised for describing Amal Clooney as 'actor's wife' in coverage of human rights trial
Bank Holiday Monday opening times: Are Tesco, Asda and other supermarkets open today?
Rules on 5p plastic bags likely to lead to arguments at the check-out
The nine most warmongering countries in the world revealed
VMAs 2015: Kanye West runs for president, Nicki Minaj calls out Miley Cyrus and the list of winners in full
Blood Moon and Supermoon: September to bring brightest – and dimmest – full Moon of the year on same night
Climate change: 2015 will be the hottest year on record 'by a mile', experts say
'Women only' train carriages: Jeremy Corbyn unveils radical move to tackle public harassment
Black holes are a passage to another universe, says Stephen Hawking
Tony Blair attacks Jeremy Corbyn's 'Alice In Wonderland' politics
Theresa May says migrants should be banned from entering the UK unless they have jobs lined up
Iain Duncan Smith 'should resign over disability benefit death figures', says Jeremy Corbyn
£28000 - £37000 per annum: Recruitment Genius: This is an opportunity to join ...
£22000 - £29000 per annum: Recruitment Genius: This company's mission is to ma...
£13832 per annum: Recruitment Genius: This 5 star leisure destination on the w...
£20000 - £32000 per annum: Recruitment Genius: A Sales Account Manager is requ...


text:
Litecoin’s Lee: Bank Deal Might Lead to New Crypto Services
Litecoin creator Charlie Lee could be made a board member at the German bank the Litecoin Foundation – the group in which he serves as managing director – recently obtained a stake in.
The deal for a 9.9 percent stake in WEG Bank AG resulted through a partnership with the crypto startup TokenPay, as previously reported. And while the response on social media seems to have been mostly positive, Lee nonetheless took to Reddit on Tuesday to offer “clarifications” on the nature of the deal, the foundation’s involvement and what benefits the arrangement could bring.
According to Lee, that best-case scenario would see WEG Bank attempt to launch crypto products and services – but that’s not a done deal by any means, the litecoin creator conceded.
“Best case is that with this bank, we are able to create and deliver crypto solutions like debit cards, merchant processing, and other innovative solutions. However, even with a stake and influence at the bank, it’s not guaranteed that this will succeed.”
Lee also clarified that the deal didn’t see the foundation spend any money, saying that the stake came “in exchange for technical work and marketing support for TokenPay, eFin decentralized exchange, and integration with the bank.”
“To be clear, LF did not pay any money for this stake in the bank. The plan is also for me to get a board seat at the bank,” he explained.
Lee noted that there are still some obstacles to overcome in order to launch a crypto debit card, writing: “People have brought up valid concerns that we still need to work with and be approved by players in the current financial systems like Visa and SWIFT.”
That being said, owning a stake in a licensed bank gives the Litecoin Foundation “a much higher chance of succeeding.”
Litecoin image via Shutterstock
You may be interested
Which Stablecoin Is the Riskiest? The Crypto Market Is Pricing That Inbtcethereumadmin - October 17, 2018
The market is starting to differentiate between stablecoins, even though these cryptocurrencies are all designed to trade 1-to-1 with fiat.…
Blockgeeks and WozU Announce Partnershipbtcethereumadmin - October 17, 2018
WozU, a tech-education startup created by Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and, Blockgeeks have partnered together to further the spread of…
With New Exchange Listings and Demand, New Stablecoins See Pegs Brokenbtcethereumadmin - October 17, 2018
Fresh on the market, the industry’s newest batch of stablecoins is having trouble striking a price balance. Amidst news of…


text:
Ethiopia is known for its colorful and fragrant flowers which it exports around the world. Its horticultural sector is the fifth largest in the world. But it faces a major crisis due to escalating violence in the northern Amhara region. The conflict, which pits federal troops against local militias, has disrupted the operations of many flower farms, threatening their productivity and profitability.
Ethiopia’s floral industry generated more than $650 million in revenue in 2022, according to the country’s horticultural association. Most of its exports are fresh-cut roses, which are in high demand for occasions like Christmas and Valentine’s Day in Western countries. Last year, Ethiopia exported 2.7 million kilograms of flowers to the European market just for Valentine’s Day. The peak season for flower exports is from December to June. But this year, it risks being hit hard by the conflict in the Amhara region, which is home to many flower plantations.
Violence has raged in the Amhara region since August, when local activists launched a rebellion against the federal government, accusing it of marginalizing and oppressing the Amhara people. Federal troops responded with a fierce crackdown, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of displacements. The conflict has also disrupted supply chains, transport networks and the security of flower farms, forcing many to stop or reduce their operations. The Amhara regional government said it had lost up to $45 million, mainly due to flower exports, as well as mass layoffs, since the conflict began.
The floral industry is one of the pillars of Ethiopia’s economy and a key part of its growth and transformation plan, which aims to make the country a middle-income economy by 2025. The plan involves attracting foreign investors and industries, such as European flower producers. to businesses, offering incentives such as tax-free access, loans and subsidies for electricity and water. The aim is to create jobs and reduce poverty for Ethiopians, who mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Ethiopia’s flower export sector has seen strong growth over the past decade, with some of the world’s best flower companies operating farms across the country. These businesses benefit from the favorable climate, fertile soil and low-cost labor that Ethiopia offers. However, they also face various challenges, such as shortage of foreign exchange, political instability and human rights violations.
Over the past three years, some of the major foreign investors in the meat and textile export sectors have left Ethiopia due to these issues, as well as the country’s exclusion from the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade agreement with the United States that grants preferential access to African products. There are fears that flower growers will follow suit, especially if the conflict in the Amhara region persists or worsens.
Conflict often unbalances vital economic sectors, and Ethiopia has seen an unhealthy dose of it in recent years. In 2016 and 2020, at the height of the political crisis and the uprising against the government in Addis Ababa, several flower farms in the Oromia region were destroyed and forced to temporarily close their doors. The Oromia region is another hotspot of ethnic tension and violence in Ethiopia, where the Oromo people, the country’s largest ethnic group, are demanding more autonomy and representation. The Oromia region is also the main source of Ethiopia’s coffee exports, another vital sector.


text:
“You have to spend money to make money” seems to be the mantra being adopted by Backblaze.
The cloud storage and backup provider reported Q4 fiscal 2021 revenues up 28 per cent year-on-year at $18.7 million with a net loss of $9.6 million. B2 cloud storage revenues were 56 per cent higher at $6.6 million while Computer Backup revenues rose 16 per cent to $11.9 million. Full-year revenues were $67.5 million, up 25 per cent, with a net loss of $21.7 million.
The chart below only shows the information we have – Backblaze has not released the missing numbers. We can see, though, that losses are deepening faster than revenues are rising. Spending has risen.
William Blair analyst Jason Ader told subscribers: “While we expected this bootstrapped business to use its IPO proceeds to drive growth, management made clear that given Backblaze’s market opportunity ($91B cloud storage TAM in 2025, according to IDC), the time is right to step on the sales and marketing gas.”
Ader reckons “Backblaze is a pure-play on SMB cloud adoption, with investors getting a high-growth, independent cloud storage platform supported by a cash-cow computer backup business that can also drive cross-selling opportunities.”
Backblaze had 498,933 customers at quarter end versus 466,298 a year ago.
The outlook for the current quarter (Q1 2022) is for revenues between $19.0 million and $19.5 million, with $83–86 million full-year revenues.
As of 3 March, Backblaze will no longer offer USB flash drive restores. Small restores can be done over the internet with larger restores available on an orderable USB disk drive. Here are the full details on the Backblaze USB Restore, Return, Refund program.


text:
Microsoft Hikes U.K. Prices of Enterprise Products Amid Brexitby
Software, cloud for companies more expensive as pound slumps
Price increases as much as 22 percent, Microsoft says
Microsoft Corp. will increase the price of its enterprise software and cloud offerings in the U.K. by as much as 22 percent to adjust to the falling pound in the aftermath of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
From Jan. 1, prices of on-premises enterprise software will be hiked 13 percent, while those of cloud services will increase 22 percent, all to realign with euro-based contracts, the company said in a blog post. Consumer software or cloud products won’t be affected, Microsoft said.
The slump of the pound since the Brexit vote has translated into a series of price hikes for consumers in the U.K. In the technology space, British consumers found out last month they’d pay as much as 16 percent more for the latest iPhone models compared to previous versions, a bigger inflation than for buyers in the U.S. or Germany.
The pound has fallen more than 16% against the dollar since the Brexit vote on June 23 and has been struggling this month amid discussions on what the divorce will mean for Britain’s access to Europe’s single market.


text:
RIBBON CUTTING… Thom and Jamie Giguere hold the ceremonial scissors to cut the ribbon from the Chamber of Commerce for their new business. In attendance were local businesses and members of the Chamber of Commerce, officials from The City of Wauseon, as well as friends and family. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
All In One Sales and Service, located at 270 East Linfoot Street in Wauseon, held a ribbon cutting on Friday, May 13th. The ribbon cutting took place to celebrate new ownership of the business.
All In One offers numerous small engine services pertaining to all kinds of yard equipment. Some of these services include tune ups, oil changes, spark plug work, full engine rebuilds, and overhauls.
The business also sells outdoor equipment from brands like Husqvarna, Briggs and Stratton, DR Power Equipment, and Carlton.
The new ownership also includes the barber shop next store, run by Denny Rupp, and the self-storage lot that has been a staple in the community and has been known for their low prices.
All of these parts of the business were acquired by Thom and Jamie Giguere.
Their daughter Avery and son-in-law Elliot are also partners with them for the business. This family team has been working to provide the same expected service to their past and present customers.
Mr. Giguere explained that the inspiration to buy the business came to him one day while he was inside picking up his lawn mower.
“It was a Saturday morning, and I came in and picked up my lawn mower. When I was there, I was asked if I wanted to buy the place.”
“I went home and told my wife that I had been offered the business and she said that we were going to buy it.”
Not too many people get to partner with their children. My parents and son-in-law are also involved and so are our friends and family which is what gave us the courage to do it. The other part has been the community.”
Thom and Jamie Giguere would like to thank Bob and Jody Weber, their mechanics Jake Campbell and Cade Smith, Doug Shaw and Dave Gerken from Farmers and Merchants State Bank, Bob Bohmer and Mark Hagans from Rupp, Hagans & Bohmer, LLP, the Chamber of Commerce and all of their customers who continue to support them.
Jacob can be reached at email@example.com


text:
SHAPING CHANGE. A NEW CORPORATE IDENTITY FOR PMG.
PMG has been presenting itself with a new corporate identity since June 2021. Through a new logo and corporate design, the brand message "Passion drives us." and a brand new corporate website, the international automotive supplier clearly states that it will continue to be a driving force in shaping the transformation of the automotive industry in the future. … More
WHAT’S IMPORTANT? News from the PMG Group.
How can we support you?
Let's start with a conversation about your challenges.
YOU ARE WELCOME


text:
A native Kum and Go employee, who requested for anonymity for the sake of her job, stated Kum and Go will now not carry non-menthol or tobacco-flavored Juul pods when the inventory runs out. After the flavored pods run out, customers must legally buy them via the Juul web site. But the nationwide deterrence of vaping has been in motion for a yr. According to Juul’s website, last November it stopped the sale and distribution of its flavored pods to convenience shops throughout the country. This ban stopped the distribution of pods, but with so many shipped to retailers solely now are they beginning to run out.
Rather, it says it has merely decided that now could be the time to selectively enforce its energy towards some flavored pods — flavored pods like mint, however not menthol. Juul stated Thursday it’ll cease accepting retail and online orders for mint pods in the U.S. after absorbing the latest results of multiple research, including the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey. That research found “disturbing rates of e-cigarette use amongst each middle and highschool college students in 2019” and located that a majority of such users consumed Juul merchandise. There’s little concrete information on the safety of elements in e-cigarettes. In the US, to legally promote vapes and e-juice, corporations have to supply an ingredient list to the FDA—but they don’t need to make these lists public. As lengthy because the ingredients are usually considered protected by the FDA for use in food, medication, and cosmetics, the organization then authorizes these products on the market.
In an announcement, the corporate said it’ll “proceed to develop scientific proof to assist the usage of these flavored merchandise,” which it says helps grownup people who smoke quit traditional cigarettes. The e-cigarette business comes under menace from a Trump administration proposal to ban most flavored e-cigarette cartridges amid rising health considerations and a warning issued by the CDC towards utilizing the merchandise. Each pack comes with four Eonsmoke prefilled tobacco taste nicotine salt pods. Each pod accommodates 60mg (6%) / 40mg (4%) nicotine per 1mL, and equal to 1 cigarette pack. Enjoy as much as 300 puffs per cartridge along with your Eonsmoke or Juul pod vaporizer.
Juul Traditional Tobacco (pack Of
There are many adults who, like me, bummed a lot of cigarettes once they have been young and stressed or ingesting however, once they received older, either mostly or fully stopped. Adding to Juul’s woes, the e-cigarette industry has been under intense scrutiny since a mysterious vaping-related sickness, now generally known as EVALI, spread across the US, sickening nearly 1,500 people and killing 33.
Pods For Juul
- But the company is beneath intense stress to crack down on vapes.
- At the identical time, it stays at the mercy of the Food and Drug Administration, which has regulated tobacco merchandise since 2009.
- The firm’s valuation rose to sixteen billion dollars over the summer time; it now controls almost three-quarters of the e-cigarette market in the U.S.
You’ll get a pack’s value of puffs from every pod, which is two hundred puffs. Customers might order up to fifteen packs of pods each month. Only two different states — Massachusetts and New Jersey — have permitted comparable state regulations on flavored tobacco or vaping products.
The bill has garnered support from groups together with the NAACP and the state’s Legislative Black Caucus. At a information conference last week, advocates argued that flavored tobacco merchandise disproportionately have an effect on minority and lower-income youth. In contrast, the proposed Maryland invoice would include all tobacco products and ban any with flavoring, even menthol cigarettes. Under the legislation, distributors could receive as much as a $1,000 fine and/or 30 days in jail. Notably, the FDA claims this ban just isn’t really a brand new ban.
JUUL, for instance, makes use of a nicotine salt formulation—that’s, nicotine extracted from pure tobacco leaves. It packs almost the same punch of nicotine as smoking, but it goes down a lot smoother. That is, it doesn’t cause the same throat or chest irritation that occurs with combustible cigarettes, allowing individuals to inhale extra deeply or more incessantly, probably exposing them to even more nicotine. Not all vaping producers report how a lot nicotine is of their products, however even once they do, analyses show what’s inside the vape juice doesn’t at all times match what is said on the packaging. One research, for example, detected measurable amounts of nicotine in some vaping merchandise regardless of labels claiming the product to be nicotine-free. The tasty flavors often added to vaping merchandise have been a big part of their appeal, especially for young folks.
Kid-friendly flavors like cotton sweet or fruit punch have been notably in style amongst teenagers, who cited flavorings as the commonest ingredient within the vaping merchandise they use. Diacetyl is a chemical typically added to vaping products to create rich flavors like butterscotch or caramel. Food manufacturers use this flavoring chemical in a wide range of capacities—maybe most famously in microwave popcorn; diacetyl smells and tastes like butter. While vaping has been touted by some to be a less harmful various to smoking, the vapor created by digital cigarette units is far from innocent. JUULpods and different e-cigarette merchandise comprise components that lead to an aerosol that can comprise probably dangerous substances like nicotine, metals, and toxins. Many youth e-cigarette users incorrectly imagine they aren’t consuming nicotine when they vape. While less toxic than combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes could make youth more likely to use cigarettes and nonetheless contain toxins and the addictive chemical nicotine, which is harmful to adolescent brain development.
It doesn’t truly approve any tobacco product, vapes included, in acknowledgement that they are all inherently dangerous. The harmful substances found in some e-cigarette aerosols might not just affect those that vape. As of December 20, 2019, 21 years old is the brand new authorized age minimal for buying cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, or another tobacco products within the United States.
Juul will continue to promote the flavored pods by itself web site, although clients might be requested to verify that they’re over 21. Juul also mentioned it would deliver these merchandise again to stores that spend money on age-verification technology. You might order Juul pods on-line and each pack will come with four pods. Each pod will feature .7 milliliters of e-juice, with 5 p.c nicotine by weight.


text:
Boston-based burger joint Tasty Burger opened a new location in the Avalon North Station residences building (1 Nashua St., Boston, MA 02114) today. It’s Tasty Burger’s sixth location currently in operation (there are five in Massachusetts and one in Washington, D.C., and the company vends seasonally inside of Boston’s Fenway Park as well.) Tasty Burger recently closed its location in Roxbury’s Dudley Square; the space will reportedly be filled by a full-service restaurant with “a Southern flavor,” Soleil.
Tasty Burger’s new West End location serves the same menu as the other Massachusetts locations, and its beer and wine lists will rotate seasonally. This location features Tasty Burger’s biggest bar — it has 18 seats — and there are four big televisions.
Commuters will be happy to find a takeout window, and those dining in will be happy to find a free pool table. The dining room has space for 74 people.
Tasty Burger North Station is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Go see the Bruins, and go eat a Big Tasty.


text:
Energy giant British Gas has been fined £2.65 million by the regulator Ofgem for a variety of misdeeds and illegal practices.
Ofgem’s investigation into British Gas, which was opened in June 2017, resulted in the firm being required to pay out over £500,000 in compensation to customers overcharged on tariffs, nearly £250,000 to those affected by wrongly charged exit fees, and over £1 million in fines to Ofgem.
Among the issues cited by Ofgem were wrongly charging customers exit fees, automatically switching customers onto more expensive standard tariffs, and wrongly informing others about the possibility of exit fees. British Gas acknowledged the faults, blaming system errors and saying that those overcharged were “promptly refunded as soon as we identified the issue and were paid an additional goodwill gesture.”
Ofgem’s report found that the issue affected 94,211 customers who had attempted to switch providers away from British Gas, and either illegally charged them a certain fee for this or threatened to do so. The overall amount paid by these customers amounted to £782,450, all of which has been refunded by the Centrica-owned firm. Another 2.5 million customers were wrongly informed that exit fees would apply to their tariff if they chose to leave.
Ofgem has instituted a regulation 49-day period for provider switching, to allow customers to switch without being hassled by firms or being required to make a snap decision in order to avoid a fine. A customer who switches during this period, as opposed to midway through a contract, is legally protected from exit fees.
Anthony Pygram, Ofgem’s director of conduct and enforcement, said: “British Gas failed its customers who were coming to the end of their fixed contracts and switched supplier by unfairly penalising them and applying charges in error. Many more customers could have been deterred from getting a better deal due to the incorrect terms and conditions. Our enforcement action against British Gas sends a strong message to all supplier that they must respect their customers’ rights during the switching window and always treat customers fairly.”
Centrica, the company that owns British Gas, stated via a spokesperson: “A system error led to a small proportion of customers being incorrectly charged. We’ve apologised to the customers affected. Those who were charged too much were promptly refunded as soon as we identified the issue and were paid an additional goodwill gesture. Some customers were provided with initial communications containing incorrect terms and conditions – but all other communications they received were correct.”
British Gas has agreed to appoint an external auditor to review both its customer plans and internal policies regarding fines. It has also corrected its terms and conditions to make it clear that customers could not be charged exit fees if they switch during the 49 day window.
The destination of money fined directly by Ofgem is its consumer redress fund, intended to help citizens’ advocacy and awareness charities for causes such as home energy efficiency and renewables awareness.


text:
Limited edition sprays and skins teased ahead of opening ceremony.
It looks as though Blizzard has some Olympics-inspired content in the pipeline for Overwatch this summer (thanks Eurogamer).
Streamer LacedUpLaura received a goody bag from Blizzard this week which contained a number of images suggesting new sporty skins for Zarya, Tracer and Lucio. As for the other Heroes, there’s an assortment of sports-themed sprays that feature the rest of the character roster in competitive poses.
On NeoGAF, further details were uncovered via download information on the PlayStation Store. The description reads:
“Celebrate Overwatch’s inaugural Summer Games with special Summer Games Loot Boxes – available for a limited time!”
“Each contains four items, at least one of which is guaranteeed to be a Summer Games skin, spray, highlight intro, emote, victory pose, player icon or voice line. There are more than 90 Summer Games items to collect – they’re not available for purchase with in-game credits, so loot boxes are the only way to claim them.”
Blizzard typically likes to release new content for Overwatch on a Tuesday, so we could see the update land today. With the Olympics opening ceremony taking place this Saturday though, next Tuesday seems like a more likely release date.


text:
FRISCO, Texas – H-E-B fans flocked to Frisco on Wednesday morning as the beloved Texas grocery chain opened its first store in the DFW metroplex.
Hundreds of people lined up for the grand opening as a high school marching band performed in front of piles of pumpkins at the store’s entrance.
Frisco is located about 25 minutes north of Dallas and shoppers have been anticipating the store opening for more than a year.
It’s H-E-B’s first flagship store in the area, though six Central Market stores have been serving DFW-area shoppers for more than two decades.
Another H-E-B will open in Plano later this fall. The company also announced that a store is coming to Mansfield and has plans for future stores in the DFW area.
The 118,000-square-foot H-E-B Frisco store will have a True Texas BBQ restaurant, full-service pharmacy and a Home by H-E-B home decor department.
“Opening our flagship H-E-B format in the DFW area has been an aspirational goal of ours for many years, and the company has a long-term commitment to serve a broad range of customers and communities across North Texas,” said Central Market Division President Stephen Butt.
In true Texas fashion, the Frisco location will also serve specialty items like the DFW sushi roll, made with avocado, cucumber, spicy tuna, and salmon that’s seared and topped with spicy mayo and green onions. The store is also offering a new Café Ole coffee blend, Taste of DFW, which is medium-bodied with caramel, chocolate, and pecan flavors.
“The DFW Metroplex is among the most competitive markets in the nation, and our H-E-B Partners are committed to work hard every day to earn the trust of our customers,” Butt said.
H-E-B also incorporated art installations from several local artists, which are featured throughout a two-acre green space next to the store.
The grocery chain is the largest privately held employer in Texas and will employ roughly 750 partners at the new location. More than 85% of the employees were hired from the Frisco area, according to a news release.
“H-E-B is a company known for its steadfast commitment to Texas, and we’re excited they’re now a part of our community,” said Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney. “So, let me be the first to say, Frisco, welcome to My H-E-B.”
The store will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. It’s located at 4800 Main Street in Frisco.