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– as Police investigate suspected murder/suicide at WilliamsburgThe lifeless body of Indrawattie Totaram was discovered by a relative lying in a pool of blood on a bed in her Third Street, Williamsburg Corentyne home on Sunday at about 19:00h. There appeared to be several chop wounds about the body; while her husband, Krisha Latchman, was discovered hanging from a rafter in the same bedroom.Details are so far sketchy, but this publication understands that the discovery was made by a relative of the now dead woman after several calls to her cellular phone went unanswered.Guyana Times understands that the couple had lived together for several years; and while neighbours have reported that they did not hear any unusual sounds coming from the home, they confirmed that the couple would frequently go out and consume alcohol together.According to reports, after calls to the woman’s phone had gone unanswered, a relative visited the Williamsburg home where the gruesome discovery was made.The police were contacted, and an investigation has been launched. (More details in a follow-up report)
LAS VEGAS–The Winter Meetings are billed as the ultimate destination for baseball’s deal-makers, a hub where executives and agents lock themselves in hotel rooms late into the night to negotiate, strategize and take care of business.The reality, however, is far different from the public perception.If you’re the type that enjoys exchanging pleasantries, shaking hands and discussing over-priced restaurant options, the lobby of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino was the place to be this week.The …
Share Facebook Twitter Google + LinkedIn Pinterest China announced that it is placing pork on a list of U.S. products that could be subject to increased import duties — cause for great concern in the pork industry. The National Pork Producers Council warned that possible Chinese tariffs on U.S. pork could have a significant negative impact on rural America. China has indicated it will impose the duties in response to U.S. tariffs and restrictions being placed on a host of Chinese goods.“We sell a lot of pork to China, so higher tariffs on our exports going there will harm our producers and undermine the rural economy,” said NPPC President Jim Heimerl, a pork producer from Johnstown, Ohio. “No one wins in these tit-for-tat trade disputes, least of all the farmers and the consumers.”Last year, the U.S. pork industry exported $1.1 billion of product to China, making that country the No. 2 value market for U.S. pork.Many economists, including Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, have cautioned that tariffs on U.S. agricultural products could disrupt exports to China. Lost sales would have severe economic consequences for America’s farmers, who shipped nearly $20 billion of goods to the Asian nation in 2017.The U.S. restrictions on Chinese imports come after an inquiry by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) into China’s practices related to technology transfer, licensing and intellectual property rights. USTR’s Section 301 – of the 1974 Trade Act – investigation determined that U.S. companies have lost billions of dollars from being forced by China to disclose intellectual property and to transfer technology.“When it comes to trade, we expect all countries to follow international rules and to trade fairly,” Heimerl said. “We also expect all countries to resolve trade disputes in a way that doesn’t harm businesses, farmers and consumers.”National Farmers Union (NFU) supports aggressive efforts to fight unfair trade practices, but lamented the administration’s apparent lack of a plan to safeguard the interests of family farmers.“Our trade agenda for the past 30 years has been to promote free trade at all costs, ignoring countries cheating on intellectual property rights and currency manipulation. While we’re appreciative of the administration’s focus on creating fair trade between the U.S. and our trading partners, their ‘bull in a china shop’ approach to fixing our trade woes is dangerous,” saidRoger Johnson, NFU president. “Family farmers and ranchers are always the first to be hit by retaliatory tariffs, and in the case of China, significant exports markets are likely to be the first casualty. NFU is very concerned about the effects that China’s proposed retaliatory efforts would have on all agricultural products, particularly given our already burdensome inventories of grains. The President must have a plan in place to protect family farmers before seeking to remedy unfair trade practices.”
Does your startup need a lawyer? I can’t legally answer that question, of course. My background is in folklore and literature, so when it comes to lawyers I’m able to quote Shakepeare’s Henry VI or reference Madame Bovary, and that’s about it.Laugh all you want at my background, but I would wager a lot of first-time entrepreneurs aren’t certain of the answer to whether or not they need a lawyer either. So I called one – Katherine Moyer, an attorney who specializes in startups at Endeavor Law GroupWhen1. Forming a business entity2. Drawing up employee contracts and documentation (including internship agreements)3. Addressing compensation with equity4. Securing trademark and other applicable IP protections5. Drawing up contracts for strategic relations (vendors, key clients, consultants)6. Formalizing investor agreements7. Selling your businessThe thought of facing all these legal bills is pretty overwhelming. And that’s part of the reason why you want to find a good attorney, preferably one with knowledge of the intricacies of tech startups (Their advice and expertise might be different, for example, than a lawyer who specializes in setting up family businesses). In order to stretch your budget for legal fees, Moyer recommends getting quotes and estimates from lawyers. She also encourages you to talk frankly with your lawyer about your needs, and to be able to discuss with them, referring to the list above “whether it’s alright to just do 1 and 6 now.” But cost shouldn’t be the only factor in mind as you select legal counsel, because as the word “counsel” suggests, you do want good want good advice.Of course, that’s easier said than done. (See Scott Walker‘s “Top 10 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers.”) On Thursday, entrepreneur and professor Steve Blank wrote an explanation of “Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups.” As with most things you’ll find online about entrepreneurs and attorneys, it’s a cautionary tale, one of a lawyer nearly ruining one of his business deals. Blank offers the following lessons learned:1. Lawyers provide a service; they are not running your company.2. If you find a lawyer who talks about solutions not problems, hold on to them.3. In every company that gives you a contract there’s someone who wants a deal. When you run into contract issues, call them first for advice.4. Recognize whether you have a legal problem or strategy problem.5. The web has great blogs by lawyers who get it. Read them.Blank urges entrepreneurs to get a good lawyer but then “to know how to ask for [a lawyer’s’] advice and when to ignore it.” Thankfully there are a lot of legal resources out there to help you learn to do that. 8 Best WordPress Hosting Solutions on the Market Tags:#How To#start Related Posts Why Tech Companies Need Simpler Terms of Servic… Top Reasons to Go With Managed WordPress Hosting audrey watters A Web Developer’s New Best Friend is the AI Wai…
About the authorPaul VegasShare the loveHave your say Lampard delighted with response of fans to Chelsea youngstersby Paul Vegasa month agoSend to a friendShare the loveChelsea manager Frank Lampard is delighted with the response of the support to his young players.Lampard has reiterated that his young Chelsea side are taking positive steps forward and this has been highlighted in the past two performances at Stamford Bridge. The Blues lost to Liverpool before thrashing Grimsby in the League Cup.”I was happy because I think everyone in the stadium had the same feeling,” said Lampard.”Fans will always react to desire, fight and work ethic, and we were showing those things. They want to see players who give everything and want to play for this club. The young players have definitely brought a different dimension as well and there’s no doubt the fans are loving seeing them come through.”
Ohio State’s Kyle Snyder stands during the national anthem prior to the the dual-meet against Iowa on Jan. 21 in the Schottenstein Center. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo EditorThe No. 2 Ohio State wrestling team (13-1, 8-1 Big Ten) beat No. 4 Michigan (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten) 18-15 Sunday evening in a closely contested dual meet, despite senior heavyweight Kyle Snyder losing his first collegiate match since 2015. Snyder dropped his first match of the season 3-1 against No. 2 Adam Coon, who is listed at 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, 7 inches and 60 pounds larger than Snyder. The physical mismatch made this match interesting leading into tonight, but Coon stunned many by beating the Olympic gold medalist. Snyder had not lost in college since Iowa State’s Kyven Gadson beat him in the 2015 NCAA final at 197 pounds.In the third period of No. 3 Bo Jordan’s match against No. 6 Myles Amine at 174 pounds, he took the lead with a takedown, and gained the riding time advantage point after preventing Amine from escaping. Eventually, a stalemate was called before Amine got the escape. Jordan led 5-4, essentially because of riding time.As the clock wound down, Amine needed a two-point takedown to win, and he got it in the final seconds. Initially, the referee did not award any points, but Amine found the correct positioning for the takedown before the clock hit zero. This moment gave Michigan their first lead of the meet, 12-11, with three bouts remaining.Michigan remained close with the Buckeyes, but Ohio State received solid performances from two of its highly ranked heavyweights. Ohio State’s No. 2 Myles Martin won 5-3 against No. 5 Domemic Abounader.The Buckeyes’ No. 1 Kollin Moore bounced back after his first loss of the season against Penn State with a major decision win against No. 12 Kevin Beazley 17-6 at 197 pounds. Moore registered two takedowns late in the first period to take control, and dominated in the second and third with Beazley losing energy. Another undefeated Buckeye went down when No. 5 Stevan Micic upset No. 2 Luke Pletcher 11-4 at 133 pounds. Pletcher is now 22-1.Michigan’s No. 9 Logan Massa beat No. 14 Te’Shan Campbell 6-2 at 165 pounds to hand Campbell his sixth-straight loss. His last win was 8-2 against Maryland’s Brendan Burnham on Jan. 5.Ohio State’s No. 5 Micah Jordan also lost, falling 12-7 to No. 7 Alec Pantaleo in an evenly matched bout. No. 4 Nathan Tomasello won via technical fall against Michigan’s No. 9 Drew Mattin 20-5. Ohio State’s No. 7 Joey McKenna beat Sal Profaci 6-2 at 141 pounds in the only match in which both wrestlers weren’t ranked. Buckeyes’ No. 6 Ke-Shawn Hayes won 9-2 against No. 18 Malik Amine.Ohio State’s next meet will take place on Feb. 18 at No. 6 North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was left impressed by what he saw from Wolverhampton Wanderers last seasonNuno Espírito Santo’s side finished nine points above their nearest challengers at the top of the English Championship table last season on their way to securing promotion back to the Premier League.Wolves even held City to a goalless draw in the EFL Cup before yielding on penalties.The Wanderers are now set to meet City for the first time since being promoted later today and Guardiola feels that his side must be ready for Wolves’ attacking threat.“Wolves destroyed the Championship,” said the Catalan, according to Birmingham Mail.Solskjaer praises Harry Maguire after Man United’s 1-0 win Andrew Smyth – September 14, 2019 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer singled out Harry Maguire for praise after helping Manchester United keep a clean sheet in their 1-0 win over Leicester City.“They had an incredible season. They play attractive football and attack with good players.“We knew how tough it would be last season in the Carabao Cup and it was.”Being back in the big time has not got off to the smoothest of starts for Wolves with just one point from their first two games.Meanwhile, City have won both of their matches and sit at the top of the league table after thrashing Huddersfield Town 6-1 last weekend.
The final design for the Field House includes a 42,600 square foot metal frame building including a turf field and elevated walking/jogging track. The building would be adjacent and connected to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. This would increase the city’s sale tax rate from 3% to 3.5%. Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享The Soldotna City Council approved an ordinance at their meeting on Wednesday that will ask the voters if the city should borrow $10 million in a bond to build a proposed field house and increase the city’s sales tax by a half percent to cover the debt service on the 10-year bond. The total estimated cost of the project is $11.8 million dollars. The administration recommended that $10 million be financed through debt of a general obligation bond, with the remaining covered by grants, support from various foundations, and private donations. The question will go before the voters in a special election on March 5, 2019, for a 0.5% increase in the city’s year-round sales tax rate implemented for the 10-year life of the bond.
Tesla,Enlarge ImageIt’s all in a day’s work for the Jeep Cherokee, the most American-made car in 2019. Jeep With high trade tensions looming and increasing talk of tariffs, more and more consumers are looking to buy American. Cars.com has released its annual American Made Index, showcasing companies that use the most American-sourced parts and labor in their vehicles. The results may surprise you.Cars.com analyzed more than 100 US-built vehicles for five key data points: manufacturing location, parts sourcing, US employment, engine sourcing and transmission sourcing. You might think something like the Ford F-150 would top the list, but it drops from its No. 5 spot for 2018 and out of the top 10 completely. Even the first-place holder, the Jeep Cherokee, is a pretty global product. It’s a Jeep, sure, but that brand is part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, an Italian-owned business.Cars.com surveyed 1,000 people and found that half are concerned about automotive import tariffs, with 41% saying they are unsure if tariffs would make them more likely to buy American. Either way, we’re big fans of all the vehicles on this list. These days, buying American doesn’t necessarily mean sticking with a US-based automaker. Car Industry 50 Photos Now playing: Watch this: Acura RDXThe third-generation Acura RDX squeaks into the top ten list with larger proportions, plenty of interior space and better handling than its predecessor. Forward collision warning with collision mitigation braking, adaptive cruise control that works even in low-speed traffic, lane-keeping steering assist and road departure mitigation are all standard across the board. Like its MDX counterpart, the RDX is available with the A-Spec styling package.The RDX sports a 2.0-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine. Output is stated at 273 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, and it’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The new RDX is built in East Liberty, Ohio. Five real reasons people are buying Teslas Honda RidgelineAgain keeping the status quo, the Honda Ridgeline maintains third place on the American Made Index. This crossover-that-looks-like-a-truck provides a better ride than a traditional pickup and gets an awesome lockable trunk right in the floor of the bed. And it doesn’t do the truck stuff too badly, either, as it’s able to carry 1,860 pounds of payload and tow 3,500 pounds.The Ridgeline is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 good for 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. That is channeled through a six-speed automatic transmission with available all-wheel drive. It’s built in Lincoln, Alabama. Chevrolet CorvetteMoving up from the 10th-place slot last year is the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette. While we’ve all been ogling the new mid-engine Corvette, it’s easy to forget what a performance bargain the current-generation ‘Vette is. From the base trim to the Grand Sport to the bonkers ZR1, the Corvette is an American icon.My preference is for the Grand Sport, which strikes a perfect balance between everyday drivability and canyon-carving performance. The 6.2-liter V8 puts out 460 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. You can get it with a seven-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission, but the kicker is the borrowed chassis and aero parts from the beefier Z06. Like I said, perfect balance. The Corvette is made in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 2020 Hyundai Palisade review: Posh enough to make Genesis jealous 49 Photos 68 Photos Comments 2019 GMC Canyon: A fancier Colorado 2019 Honda Ridgeline: The commuter’s pickup truck Chevrolet ColoradoMaking its debut in the top 10 is the Chevrolet Colorado. Shown here in the tough ZR2 Bison off-road spec, the Chevy Colorado is an excellent truck and one of the two midsize pickups you can get with a diesel engine. Adding to the ZR2’s two-inch lift and front and rear locking differentials, the Bison gets beefier skid plates (trust me, that’s a good thing), steel bumpers and integrated recovery points. Heck, you can even get a snorkel.Base models get a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual transmission, but a more popular choice is the 3.6-liter V6 gas engine with 308 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Meanwhile, the 2.8-liter diesel pumps out 186 horsepower and a delicious 369 pound-feet of twist and is mated to a six-speed automatic. The Chevy Colorado is built in Wentzville, Missouri. 71 Photos 2019 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport loves to hustle Honda PassportThe Honda Passport is a new (well, reborn) entry to both the Honda lineup and the American Made Index. This midsize crossover comes to the fray with great driving dynamics and plenty of tech like the standard Honda Sensing suite of active safety features. An available 8-inch touchscreen gets Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as a Wi-Fi hotspot.Under the hood is the stalwart 3.5-liter V6 producing 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. However unlike the Ridgeline, the Passport sends that power through a nine-speed automatic transmission. Having said that, just like the Ridgeline, this is the only powertrain available. The Honda Passport is built in Lincoln, Alabama. 5 General Motors Chevrolet Honda Jeep Acura 2019 Honda Passport: A well-rounded midsize offering 2019 Acura MDX adds new features and an A-Spec model 2019 Honda Odyssey offers plenty of room and features for families 2019 Honda Ridgeline review: Light duty, heavy punch Tags More From Roadshow 26 Photos 81 Photos 18 Photos 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison: A tougher off-roader 2019 Acura RDX A-Spec: Sharp handling, sharper looks 10 Photos Tesla 3:32 Honda PilotDropping down to seventh place for 2019 is the Honda Pilot. Like its two-row Passport sibling, the three-row Pilot offers parent-focused technology like Cabin Talk as well as myriad standard driver-assistance features through the Honda Sensing tech suite. Honda’s largest crossover offers up nearly 84 cubic feet of cargo space. Honda’s 3.5-liter V6 engine shows up again, making a serviceable 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. Touring and Elite trims get a nine-speed automatic transmission while lower trims have to make do with a six-speed auto. The Honda Pilot is made in Lincoln, Alabama. 2019 Honda Pilot Elite: A smoother, tech-rich crossover SUV Share your voice 2020 Kia Telluride review: Kia’s new SUV has big style and bigger value Enlarge ImageChinese-produced Model 3s could be significantly cheaper to buy in that country than their California tent-built siblings. Elon Musk via Twitter In the past, Teslas that have been imported into China for sale there have been expensive. Like, shockingly expensive — pardon the terrible pun — relative to their prices in the US, thanks to various import tariffs and taxes. That has affected sales for the brand in the world’s largest car market.Now though, Tesla is getting closer than ever to having its Chinese Gigafactory up and running, and once Model 3s start rolling off the line there, the pricing game could change dramatically, as could the brand’s sales. But how much will a Chinese-built Model 3 cost if you live in the Middle Kingdom?According to a report published on Monday by Bloomberg, we might be close to having a definitive answer to that question. Estimates currently put the base price for a Chinese-built Tesla at 300,000 Yuan, or around $43,400 before EV subsidies, and that’s pretty damned reasonable, considering that the current cheapest imported Model 3 is listed at 377,000 Yuan (or $54,555).Tesla is planning on making an announcement about its future Chinese-produced cars on May 31, though it’s unclear if the pricing of those cars will be among the items discussed.Tesla didn’t immediately respond to Roadshow’s request for comment. Share your voice 69 Photos 12 Photos Tags GMC CanyonIf you’re looking for a slightly fancier version of the Colorado that’s more focused on luxe than dirt, check out the GMC Canyon. The top Denali trim gets standard heated and ventilated front seats as well as a heated steering wheel. Maximum payload capability is 1,665 pounds while max towing is a fairly healthy 7,600 pounds.The Canyon is available with the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, 3.6-liter V6 or 2.8-liter diesel as the Chevrolet Colorado. It’s also built in Wentzville, Missouri. 52 Photos Acura MDXMoving up one slot to sixth place on the American Made Index is the non-hybrid variant of the Acura MDX. With its SH-AWD system, the MDX is one of the better handling midsize luxury crossovers, and for 2019 the company gives us the A-Spec treatment with a new front fascia and side skirts, 20-inch wheels, wider exhaust tips, unique gauges, a new steering wheel, carbon fiber trim and various Alcantara interior touches.However, both the standard and A-Spec models get a 3.5-liter V6 engine, rated for 290 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque going through a nine-speed automatic transmission. The Acura MDX is made in East Liberty, Ohio. 2019 Jeep Cherokee can handle the rough stuff Tesla Model 3 barrels through the snow in Track Mode 2020 BMW M340i review: A dash of M makes everything better More From Roadshow 2019 GMC Sierra Denali review: So close to greatness Honda OdysseyThe feature-rich Honda Odyssey minivan also retains its number-two slot from last year’s list. While the 2019 model doesn’t see any changes from last, it’s still a darn good choice for families on the go with reconfigurable seats, Wi-Fi and an excellent rear-seat entertainment system. The Cabin Watch video system lets parents keep an eye on their little darlings without turning around in their seats, while Cabin Talk amplifies their voice so no yelling is required.The Odyssey is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 rated for 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. Most trims get a nine-speed automatic but the top Touring and Elite trims now use a 10-speed automatic with stop-start technology. The Honda Odyssey is made in Lincoln, Alabama. 3 Comments 2019 Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison: An off-road animal Car Industry Electric Cars Jeep CherokeeKeeping its top-of-the-list placement, the Jeep Cherokee is 2019’s most American-made car. Refreshed for 2019, the compact crossover now features more tech, better cargo space and a slightly tweaked look. It’s available in no fewer the nine trims, including the off-road specific Trailhawk and a fancy-pants Trailhawk Elite.For 2019, the Cherokee gets a new 2.0-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine with 270 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, though naturally aspirated I4 and V6 choices are also available. Regardless of engine, a nine-speed automatic transmission gets the power to the pavement — or dirt as the case may be. The Cherokee is made in Belvidere, Illinois.
A volunteer holds electoral materials in support of the Servant of the People party led by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during an event ahead of the parliamentary election in Kiev, Ukraine on 18 July 2019. Photo: ReutersUkrainians go to the polls on Sunday, with president Volodymyr Zelensky’s party “Servant of the People” set to win the biggest share of votes in the ex-Soviet country’s early parliamentary election.Here are five facts about the country that in recent years has been shaken by uprisings, war and loss of territory.Russia ties “Ukraine” literally means “on the edge” and its history has been closely tied to that of its giant neighbour, Russia.Modern-day Russia and Ukraine are thought to both trace their origins to the ancient state of Kievan Rus, which at its height stretched from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea.Much of what is now Ukraine was part of the Tsarist Russian empire although the western regions belonged at different times to various neighbours, including the Austro-Hungarian Empire.The country later became part of the USSR. In the early decades of Soviet rule it suffered during a devastating famine known as the Holodomor caused by Joseph Stalin’s policies.Tensions between Kiev and Moscow have flared in the decades following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.After a pro-Western popular uprising led to the ouster of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula and supported separatists in the east of Ukraine.The conflict has so far cost around 13,000 lives.Economic troubleWith the start of the 2014 crisis, the Ukrainian economy went into freefall. That year, GDP dropped by more than six per cent, and the following year it fell almost 10 per cent. In 2015, inflation hit more than 40 per cent.The economy has since shown some signs of recovery but the country of 45 million people remains one of the poorest in Europe.An average monthly salary is $395 (350 euros).The country relies on transit fees for Russian gas towards Europe and Kiev has expressed concern it will be bypassed by new Russian energy projects.During disputes in 2006 and 2009, Moscow cut supplies to Ukraine during the winter, sparking knock-on shortages in Europe.- Corruption -Corruption is endemic in Ukraine and the Servant of the People” party says its primary task after the elections is to finally defeat it.Transparency International puts Ukraine at 120 out of 180 countries in a ranking of public perception of corruption — better than its 2014 rating of 142, but well below its EU neighbours.According to a Gallup poll, just nine percent of Ukrainians have confidence in their government, the lowest in the world.There is public frustration at what is seen as an out-of-touch, corrupt political elite — which explains the meteoric rise of Zelensky and his party.Anti-corruption campaigners regularly suffer physical attacks. Activists say they have recorded around 100 such attacks over the past four years.Chernobyl The world’s worst nuclear accident took place in Ukraine on 26 April 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power station.Thirty people were killed in an explosion and many hundreds died of related illnesses, though the exact figure remains disputed. Soviet authorities initially tried to cover up and then play down the disaster.Eventually 350,000 people were evacuated from within a 30-kilometre (19-mile) radius around the plant, an exclusion zone that remains uninhabited, apart from some 150 elderly residents who returned despite an official ban.Authorities now say it will only be safe for humans to live there again in 24,000 years.In recent years the site has become a tourist attraction, with the success of HBO’s mini-series “Chernobyl” boosting the tourism industry even more.- Borscht and Chicken Kiev -While some in the West think of borscht as synonymous with Russian cuisine, Ukraine claims the beetroot-based soup with cabbage as part of its national heritage dating back to the 14th century.A number of other dishes are contested by Russia and Ukraine, including Chicken Kiev. Some versions of its history attribute the invention of the dish to a Russian chef.


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Meet the 'born multi-tasker' bringing Startup Grind to Raleigh
Research Triangle Park, N.C. — The latest program in several geared to helping entrepreneurs launch and grow businesses in the Triangle is Startup Grind. The global group, backed by Google for Entrepreneurs, is launching a Raleigh chapter led by local entrepreneur Dannielle Williams-Prades. And she is bringing a lot of energy to the job, as she explains in an exclusive Q&A with WRAL TechWire....
WRAL TechWire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…
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I have blogged in the past about the fact that perhaps the FDA is taking too long to approve much needed life saving medical apparatuses, especially devices that are simply advancements of devices that are already in use. Well, it seems that most consumers don’t agree with me. In fact, according to a recent Consumer Reports Poll, more than 8 in 10 people surveyed allocated more importance to avoiding safety problems in devices, as opposed to encouraging innovation or to getting them to market faster.
Other highlights from the report include:
- 91 percent said each implant should be safety tested before being sold even when similar implants were in use.
- 71 percent said that a new device should not be allowed to be sold based on its similarity to an existing implant that has a safety problem or has been recalled.
- 94 percent indicated that medical device makers should be required to do long-term monitoring of implants if there are safety concerns or problems with a particular device.
- 95 percent said that effective consumer protections for medical implants should include a nationwide system for tracking medical implants so patients can be notified about safety problems or recalls. No such system currently exists in the U.S. even though it was required by Congress’ previous reauthorization of the law.
- 66 percent indicated a high level of concern about safety decisions or recommendations made by expert committees that included doctors who had current financial relationships with medical device makers.
Frankly, I’m torn. I still believe that a lengthy and tedious FDA approval process can lead to lives being lost as people await life saving devices, some of which are actually already in use in other countries. I also understand the consumer’s concern for the highest safety standards possible on any kind of mechanism that could make the difference between life and death for its recipient.


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Just if you recall, we recently had posted a write-up about a Mobile Phone that will last forever.
For those who don’t have any idea about Phonebloks:
A smartphone built on Phonebloks is basically a compound of detachable bloks. The bloks are connected to the base which locks everything together into a solid phone, allowing the user to build their own mobile depending on individual requirements.
If a blok breaks you can simply replace it; if it is becoming stale just upgrade it.
You can read more about Phonebloks here.
Well, Motorola had started working on this very concept, which was unveiled just now. Motorolla calls it the ‘Project Ara’ that will let its users to customize their smartphones. Users would be allowed to switch between diverse hardware modules to assemble their desirable Mobile Phone, just like apps.
Led by Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for actualizing this highly modular smartphones. It values mentioning that this group is working with Dave Hakkens – a same person who set forth this notion through his Phonebloks Mobile Phone at first place.
Whilst Motorola already allows its users to customize some external design elements of its Moto X phones, the new project will grant users to choose the look as well as internals of their own phone, and even change it when they get bored.
Paul Eremenko had uncovered this on Motorola’s official blog on Monday, the company says it’s already “done deep technical work” and is initiating the process up to the public and volunteers to begin designing hardware modules, “Motorola is inviting people across the globe to become Ara Scouts.”
Anybody can volunteer the Project and can expect certain perks, the company says, “A hundred of the most active scouts will receive Project Ara at no cost when it launches, and all scouts will receive an exclusive discount.” (You can Sign Up here).
Hakkens has described his design as a “phone worth keeping” – with the capability to upgrade block by block and (hopefully) never encounter any obsolescence, again we’d call this idea a phone definitely worth building. But I still wonder if the waterproofing will be the possibility with such a design?
The post Project Ara: Motorola Efforts to Make a Detachable Smartphone to Last Forever appeared first on .


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IntroductionObesity in children K-12 has increased in the last few decades in countries all over the world, with the main culprit being beverage companies. Soft drinks are a “$68 billion-a-year business in the United States and account for about 10% of the calories Americans consume” (Carbonated Beverages). With ingredients such as high fructose corn-syrup, sugar, and caffeine, children are having difficulty losing calories by drinking these substances.
This results in the global pandemic of childhood obesity. Fruit juices such as apple, orange, and grape juice are supposedly healthy and should be better substitutes to the sugary-drinks, but “..
.. some are found to contain higher quantities of sugar” (Carbonated Beverages). Beverage companies are too occupied with trying to improve their economic feasibility to care about the impact their sugar-filled drinks have with the children that are consuming their product.
The only way to prevent them from hurting children anymore is by putting government limitations on the ingredients used by beverage companies in order to create a better and healthier environment for them.Doctor Perspectives: Child Nutritionists According to nutritionists from The World Health Organization (WHO), an organization that monitors public health all around the world, “there were 2.3 billion people 15 years and older who suffered from obesity in 2015 and the numbers are only getting higher” (Tierney). This is due to the lack of a nutritious and health source with an abundance of saturated fats and sugars implemented by beverages. The WHO also says that sugary beverages are largely to blame due to their addictive nature, an excess amount of sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and saturated fat. To determine whether a child is obese is by calculating and looking at their body mass index (BMI).
This uses height and weight measurements to estimate a person’s body fat and determines if a person is put into one out of four different categories of size including underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese, with obese being the largest and most dangerous. In fact, as stated by Teen Health and Wellness, a support group with many distinguished awards that researches and helps teens across the nation, worldwide childhood obesity has nearly doubled since the 1980’s. However, larger increases were recorded in Ireland, Canada, and the United States even with their governments unsuccessful attempts of solving the problem.
Doctors and child nutritionists are now seeing children younger than ten years old with diseases commonly seen in people approaching sixty and agree that governments should add limitations on fatty ingredients used by food and beverage companies to solve the world wide pandemic. Beverage Distributors Perspective: Elementary SchoolsElementary schools are the primary educators of children K-5, but they’re also a primary source of fatty and sugary lunches resulting in unnourished and obese students. As stated by The Interplay of Public Health Law and Industry Self-Regulation, “beverage companies were given lawsuits because of placing obesogenic products in schools while having children continually be tempted to purchase these beverages, creating an illegal and unfair practice” (Farley).
Students are tempted by the highly addictive beverages to buy more of their product, which directly increase the companies number in sales. These schools also purchase the cheapest food and drinks possible at to create an enormous profit when selling them to unenlightened and tempted children. According to the Academic Journal Of Public health,” parents and school boards now propose having the federal government controlling and limiting what beverage companies can offer schools, but it currently largely relies on state agencies and school authorities to regulate school foods” (Mello).
This then unknowingly creates an enormous economic feasibility in the beverage company by having the government control their product as little as possible. Horrific practices such as these establish childhood obesity early in a child’s life making it harder for the individual to lose weight.Government Perspective: VietnamVietnam is an nation that has experienced a rapid Westernization of diet and increased consumption of sweetened processed foods and beverages. “59.6% of the children k-12 consumed soda or other sugary-drinks on a weekly or more frequent basis” as stated by the recent studies in “Vietnam persistent undernutrition in rural regions and increasing overweight or obesity in urban areas” (Linh). These products retail for very little and therefore are bought by the ubiquitous poverty states such as Vietnam. Beverage companies are making a move in Southwest Asia, using children as a means to create a profit.
Much like the United States and other westernized countries, obesity in children is now becoming one of their most prevalent problems. Ho Chi Minh, a city located in Vietnam that encompases all low, middle and high wealth classes, found that “5.3% of their children were overweight or obese” (Linh), and believes that sugary-pop drinks and salty snacks are the culprit. With local governments doing little to nothing trying to help and solve the epidemic in children, powerful beverage companies are selling their cheap and fattening drinks to low wage countries, such as Vietnam, to increase their economic feasibility and profits. Incorporating limitations on beverage companies and health services to not only wealthy countries such as the United States and Canada, but to low income countries such as Vietnam and Southeastern Asia will decrease the global pandemic of obesity in children.Government Interventions: The Expensive Truth When considering what limitations the government will give beverage companies the nation must understand that it will hinder the consumers. Although beverage companies use saturated fat, an abundant amount of sugar, and other unhealthy but cheap sources into beverages, replacing them with healthier options would help children’s health and empty their parents pockets in the process.
Beverage companies will end up making the same profit they’ve been making for years by charging more for their drinks and abolishing the availability of cheap drinks. In turn it becomes one sided allowing consumers who can afford the change to reap the benefits of living healthy lifestyles and leaving those who cannot afford it to suffer even more. Not only will the consumers suffer but the producers will as well. With governments and nutritionists bombing the ingredients used to make the beverage, the healthier option is also the most expensive option. This means that companies have to pay more for ingredients and less for workers. This can lead to a lowering in wages of workers or a potential downsizing of the entire company leading to a depression in the economy.
The RecommendationAlthough it is necessary thinking about the economic status and financial stability of household families, the lifelong health of an child is far more important than the money in consumers pockets. The health and happiness of every child in the world takes priority over the cheap and selfish methods of customers. Elementary schools and governments, such as Vietnam, must take initiative and listen to what nutritionists recommend how to help the worldwide pandemic.
Even though the product will become expensive and companies would experience downsizing, the entire world will see a significant decrease in childhood obesity and any medical problems that are linked to the preventable disease. Word count: Bibliography”Carbonated Beverages.” Teen Health and Wellness, Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. October 2016. Web. 12 December 2017. http://ezproxy.d214.
org:2127/article/525/carbonated-beverages. Accessed Dec. 17 2017.Eneli, Ihuoma U.
“Instituting a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Ban: Experience From a Children’s Hospital.” Explora, American Journal of Public Health, 1 Oct. 2014, http://ezproxy.d214.
org:2157/src_ic/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=ce8207c8-3500-41aa-8a4d-0f05b24120c9%40sessionmgr4009. Accessed Dec. 16 2017.Farley, Thomas A. and Deborah Dowell. “Preventing Childhood Obesity: What Are We Doing Right?.” American Journal of Public Health, vol.
104, no. 9, Sept. 2014, pp. 1579-1583.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302015. http://ezproxy.d214.
org:2157/src_ic/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=29&sid=9377cf31-d1f1-4f5a-905d-b789d70767bd%40sessionmgr4007. Accessed Dec. 17 2017.Journal of Pediatric .Psychology, Volume 41, Issue 6, 1 July 2016, Pages 670–679, https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/article/41/6/670/2580002.
Accessed Dec. 16 2017.Linh Ngo, Khanh, et al. “Early Childhood Caries, Mouth Pain, and Nutritional Threats in Vietnam.
” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 105, no. 12, Dec.
2015, pp. 2510-2517. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.
302798. Accessed Dec. 18 2017.Mello, Michelle M., et al. “: The Case of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Sales in Schools.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 98, no.
4, Apr. 2008, pp. 595-604. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2006.107680.
Accessed Dec. 17 2017. Tierney, Isabelle .
“Obesity.” Teen Health and Wellness, Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. September 2017. Web. 12 December 2017. http://ezproxy.
d214.org:2127/article/249/obesity. Accessed Dec. 17 2017.
Wake, Melissa, et al. “Introducing Growing up in Australia’s Child Health Checkpoint.” Family Matters, no.
95, July 2014, p. 15. EBSCOhost, search.
ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=101655304. Accessed Dec. 16. 2017.


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By: Chiu Po-sheng and Y.F. Low
Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Taiwan’s consumer confidence continued to weaken in September, dropping for five consecutive months, according to a survey released Tuesday by National Central University.
The survey indicated that the consumer confidence index (CCI) for September dropped 0.83 points from a month earlier to 85.32, falling for five months in a row, according to the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development.
The sub-index for consumer prices rose 0.5 points from a month earlier to 59.20, while the sub-index for the timing of equity market investment remained the same at 73.20.
The other four sub-indices all fell in September, with the local job market registering a 2.55 point drop to 113.20, and family finances sliding 1.2 points to 87.20. [FULL STORY]


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Homeward, II: The Feral Path — on iTunes
All appears stable after the release of Homeward, I: The Game Piece on iTunes. So it is time to expand offerings for Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga through our newest vendor.
Homeward, II: The Feral Path has been uploaded to the iTunes store and should be available soon for all iOS devices. Keep in mind that any device using iOS can also load apps for our other vendors. If you used one of those on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone, you do not need to buy this title a second time. And at present, there are no apps for non-iOS devices… not even a Mac.
We hope that last part changes in the near future, as we are big advocates of people being able to purchase and read ebooks without having to buy yet another device… unless they want to. Freely testing out reading ebooks for the first time is just as important as sampling ebooks themselves.
Tales Update – Change of Schedule
J.C. has been overwhelmed with two Noble Dead books in overlapping phases, our online pursuits and problem solving, and managing the situation with vendors and their portals. He is still working on Bones of the Earth, II: Karras the Cat when spare moments allow as the sequel to BotE, I: Karras the Kitten. So the “Tales” release for September will be Homeward, V: The Reluctant Guardian by Barb.
This last tale (for now) in the Homeward sequence should be available at all of our standard vendors by next weekend after its listing is established on our own site. And yes, some new tales sequences are in the planning phase even now. Any such will likely not debut until early next year after the release of S3B2: The Dog in the Dark in the Noble Dead Saga.
HW5 will not be up at iTunes until J.C. catches up on placing previously released tales at that vendor. But, since he has completed the final version of its cover (another of his duties), here is a little peek just to tease you.
That is all for now, dear readers, but keep your eyes open for further news by this coming weekend.


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A mother of six and a grandmother, Kathy Carpenter spends a lot of her time in the kitchen, cooking and baking. About seven years ago, she started working at Casseroles, a shop selling take-and-bake meals in Morningside. She’d often make sweet treats for the shop, and when the pandemic hit in 2020, her baking rose in correlation with her spare time.
“I was baking brownies from scratch and piling ice cream between them. Then I started adding my own cookie dough, crumbles, peanut butter cups, and organic strawberries to flavor the ice cream,” she says. “It was selling so well people said I should start my own business.”
In early 2021, Daydream Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches launched. Carpenter describes it as a family affair. One of her daughters oversees production, while another manages the website. Her son creates the packaging, and others fly in from out of state when business needs increase.
Today, Daydream’s ice cream sandwiches come in more than 10 varieties, including cookies and cream, coffee, chocolate mousse, and cinnamon churro—a special flavor designed in collaboration with Poco Loco. The brownies are made with high-quality cocoa, butter, and sugar for a chewy, moist, and fudgy texture. The ice cream creamy with high butterfat content, similar to a semifreddo. “It’s very rich, luxurious, and decadent dessert,” Carpenter says.
Why brownies? “Cookies have been done and overdone,” she says. “This is a combination of a brownie ice cream sundae and an ice cream sandwich. It’s a more substantial treat than a [cookie-based] ice cream sandwich but more portable than an ice cream sundae.”
Daydream is sold in seven Southern states and numerous independent markets and restaurants around Atlanta. Look for these $9, six-and-a-half-ounce creations at Souper Jenny Decatur, Savi Provisions, Sean’s Harvest Market, and the Candler Park Market, among others. Carpenter says she’s in talks with her distributor to take the company nationwide next year.
“[The popularity] has taken us by such surprise. We’ve had so much fun with it. We had no background in the food business, and we learn every step of the way,” Carpenter says.


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May 15, 2017 Newsdesk G2E Asia 2017, Latest News
Casino equipment maker and lottery services provider Scientific Games Corp is showcasing several new games at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2017, the firm said in a press release.
At the trade show, Scientific Games will present the third game in its “Da Fu Da Gui” near-area progressive link series for the Pro Wave slot cabinet, called “Eternal Happiness”. It includes Asian imagery, and features free games, mystery picks, multipliers and free games retriggers, according to the company.
Also debuting on the Pro Wave platform will be “Super 5 Treasures”, the third standalone game in Scientific Games’ “Fu Babies Super Series”. “This bonus-rich game features six free games [and] multipliers,” the release said.
Debuting at G2E Asia for the Dualos platform will be “Very Cherry – Dà Hóng Ying Táo”. The firm says it is its first non-jackpot game – and an alternative to standalone games – and is “designed to deliver action and frequent rewards for a highly engaging game-play experience”.
Making its G2E Asia debut on Scientific Games’ new Pro V27/27 dual-screen slant-top cabinets will be “5 Elements Blazing Dragons and Roaring Tigers”, a five-level multi progressive link featuring 50 lines and several bonus features.
“Our teams have been laser-focused on innovation, and that momentum will be evident at G2E Asia with major advances across our gaming portfolio,” Scientific Games group chief executive for gaming, Derik Mooberry (pictured), said in a statement included in the press release.
At G2E Asia, Scientific Games will also be highlighting its suite of slot and casino-management systems, including new offerings for the Asian market. These include the Chinese-language version of the Elite Bonusing Suite, a group of 12 applications that enable floor wide bonuses, promotions, tournaments, virtual-racing events, dynamic random bonusing, flexible rewards and video poker bonusing, among other features.
The company will additionally display its electronic table game offering, its proprietary table games and a range of casino utility products.
G2E Asia 2017 takes place from May 16 to May 18 at Cotai Expo at the Venetian Macao casino resort.
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Mar 21, 2023The Philippines is looking to raise circa PHP80 billion (US$1.47 billion) from the sale of its network of small, state-owned casinos, said on Tuesday the head of the country’s regulator the...
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”The [Macau] month-to-date run-rate represents an approximately 45-percent recovery versus pre-Covid-19 levels for headline gross gaming revenue”
DS Kim and Mufan Shi
Analysts at brokerage JP Morgan Securities


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Community college students are more likely to have extra demands on their time and attention, from jobs to family commitments. Anything colleges can do to relieve administrative burdens means more time that students can concentrate on their studies. At Houston Community College, the Information Technology office teamed with the Office of Student Financial Services and the Finance and Accounting office to move to paperless cashiering.
Prior to 2008, students had to submit a three-page payment plan form to the Bursar’s office, which created a lot of work for them, as well as staff members, who then had to manually review and key in the data, as well as issue payments and receipts to students. Storage issues and PCI compliance were also concerns.
In fall 2008, campus leaders implemented Higher One’s myPayment Plan, which integrates directly with HCC’s PeopleSoft registration system. “We’re an inner city college and students were complaining about the payment plans,” says William Carter, vice chancellor of Information Technology, adding that the system allows the institution to accept five or six payments. In addition to the students having a wider variety of payment options, since Higher One is processing the payments, the college no longer has to worry about PCI compliance. The combination of more payment methods and lower payments spread out over a longer time has eased the payment burden on students, resulting in improved access, retention and completion rates, Carter says.
With many of the transactions taking place online, lines at the Bursar’s Office have been reduced, allowing staff to deal with more complicated student issues. Security has also improved since there are no longer large amounts of cash or checks on campus, which has resulted in cost savings from no longer needing courier services or Brinks truck pick-ups, as well.
HCC staff saw a 68 percent increase in payment plans from fall 2007 to fall 2008. Since implementation, HCC has processed 111,172 payment plans (a 10 percent growth) for a return on efficiency of $1,667,580 in handling costs, Carter reports. “The process has saved $80,646 in supplies or 330,930 sheets of paper, 27.6 toner cartridges, 9.2 printer drums, and 40 trees.”
Bills and receipts no longer have to be sent out, either. “When you start thinking about 100,000 times the cost of a stamp and handling the paper and mailing it’s a huge, huge savings,” he notes.
While the classic line is that community colleges do more with less, Carter says the new paperless payment system allows HSS “to do a lot more with the same.”


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At Maheka Mirpuri’s fashion show (as part of a cancer awareness event), Tara Sharma put in an appearance wearing a Priya Awasty sari with a Shaina NC blouse. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she finished out the look with understated jewelry. Like what you see?
Tara Sharma Saluja At Move For Cancer Awareness Event
Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani


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Tor Browser is in great demand among people who do not want to disclose personal information when surfing on the Internet.
Previously, access to this anonymous network was available in the Android mobile operating system only through other applications or browsers, for example, Orbot/Orfox. According to the developers of the project, the browser for Android is not as complete as its desktop version.
“While there are still feature gaps between the desktop and Android Tor Browser, we are confident that Tor Browser for Android provides essentially the same protections that can be found on desktop platforms,” it is written in the blog.
In addition to that, the Tor team also announced the release of other new features, such as additional tabs, new logos and user interface upgrades.
The browser will still be unavailable for users of iOS devices since Apple still obliges browser companies to use its own engine.
We want to remind you:
Subscribe to The Coin Shark news in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coinshark/


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Johnson & Johnson Consumer and Vogue International LLC have been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the companies’ OGX-brand dry shampoo contains dangerous levels of the carcinogen benzene.
According to the 24-page suit, the manufacturers “knowingly,” or at least “negligently,” marketed and sold dry shampoo products contaminated with “dangerously high levels of benzene” to consumers across the country, putting thousands at risk from the known human carcinogen.
Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.
The case says that the chemical is “poisonous” at any level of exposure and that the companies “not only failed to properly test and quality-check [their] Products” but subsequently “concealed this fact [from] consumers.”
As the suit tells it, the presence of benzene in OGX dry shampoos—in particular the Extra Strength Dry Shampoo Coconut Miracle Oil variety—renders the products adulterated and misbranded—and thus illegal to sell under state and federal law.
Per the complaint, “[b]enzene is a component of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke” that has long been recognized by health organizations as a cancer-causing substance. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asserts that benzene should not be used in the production of drugs or consumer goods due to its “unacceptable toxicity,” the filing says.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both warn against direct exposure to benzene because of the chemical’s connection with harmful long-term effects on human health such as leukemia and other cancers, the lawsuit relays.
The presence of benzene in OGX dry shampoo was detected by Valisure, an independent laboratory established to test the quality of drug products and consumer goods, the suit says. According to the lawsuit, Valisure’s findings show that the level of benzene discovered in the products was almost double the concentration limit of two parts per million (ppm) determined by the FDA.
To test the products at issue, Valisure, the case explains, “directly [sampled] contaminated air after spraying dry shampoo products,” and stressed that the resultant risk of benzene inhalation was significant. Because dry shampoo products are typically sprayed indoors and in close proximity to the nose, mouth and eyes, the existence of benzene in OGX dry shampoo is “especially troubling,” the filing claims.
The lawsuit alleges that “no amount of benzene is acceptable” in products such as the OGX dry shampoos marketed and sold by Johnson & Johnson and Vogue International LLC.
Further, the complaint claims the defendants failed to warn consumers that the OGX products contained the carcinogen in amounts in excess of the FDA’s “emergency” concentration limit, in particular since there is no warning on the packaging and benzene is not listed in the ingredients. In fact, the case charges, the manufacturers “expressly” implied the products were safe for consumer use.
The defendants’ brands are well-established and trusted by consumers to honestly represent their goods and deliver safe products to shoppers, the filing contends.
The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased an OGX-brand dry shampoo product for personal use.
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Hair Relaxer Lawsuits
Women who developed ovarian or uterine cancer after using hair relaxers such as Dark & Lovely and Motions may now have an opportunity to take legal action.


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The prices of homes in the United States increased sharply in the month of August and this is discouraging potential buyers and thereby leading to a slowdown in sales. According to the S&P home price index, the prices of homes increased by 6.1% in August this year compared to the same period a year ago. A month earlier the prices had increased by 5.9%.
The index tracked 20 cities and in nine of them the annual price gains were faster in August than in July. This is being attributed to the fact that the number of Americans selling their homes has gone down as well as the fact that there aren’t enough new houses being put up to meet the rising demand. Consequently home buyers have been forced into bidding wars which has resulted in higher prices.
After declining for three months existing home sales rose in September though compared to 2016 the sales have gone down by 1.5% marking the first decrease year over year since July last year. This is per the National Association of Realtors.
Reduced wait time
The fall in the sales figures are however not a reflection of reduced demand. In September a typical home on average sold just a little over a month after getting listed. A year ago the average wait time was 39 days. Various surveys conducted also suggest that renters are of the view that this is an opportune time to purchase a home. At the same time a growing number of millennials have found jobs and are entering a phase when most Americans start buying homes.
The number of houses that are available for sale has gone down especially the less-expensive ones. In September this year available homes was 6.4% lower compared to the same period last year. The total number of available existing homes in September was 1.9 million which was the lowest figure since 2001. This has resulted in more Americans paying the list price and at times higher. A survey shows that this has happened with 42% of home buyers this year which is the highest number since 2007.


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Leaked Verizon roadmap shows release dates for devices; Pre3 curiously missing
It's a regular occurance to see a roadmap for major US carrier networks leaked somewhere on the web ahead of time, but lately our eyes have been straining to find a mention of a certain special webOS smartphone in the masses of documents that are being passed around. Our sister-site AndroidCentral has come across one such document recently, a roadmap of devices to be released on Verizon's network between September 2011 and January 2012. Don't get your hopes up too much, though; there's not a single mention of a Verizon HP Pre 3 to be seen in that document.
To be fair, there are devices that will be released on Verizon that are not detailed in documents such as this one (like the iPhone 5, which is almost certain to come out on Big Red during those months), so there is a chance that the Pre 3 release is being kept secret until we get closer to the date. There is also the chance, as we've reported before, that the Pre 3 will be released in this month of August, putting it before the time period mentioned in that leaked document and sooner to reach our eager hands.
The third possible reality, which has been in the front of our thoughts since first seeing this document, is that the Pre 3 simply won't be released on Verizon's network. HP could choose to go to the only other likely carrier in the US for the release of the device, AT&T (which they're already courting to keep the HP Veer 4G and TouchPad 4G brands alive), and try for Verizon sometime in the future with other devices. Currently, Verizon does offer the Pre 2 for sale, so they'll be more inclined to update that line with the latest from HP. But we can't count on that for sure, so instead we'll just sit back and wait to see what is announced over the next few weeks.


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ANNAPOLIS - The state Senate wants Maryland to buy American.
The body passed a bill on Wednesday that would require contractors and subcontractors working on public projects to buy and use American-made goods. It also requires that any machinery installed in a public work be American-made.
The bill allows exceptions if the American-made goods are unreasonably priced (cost 20 percent more than a comparable foreign-made good), there isn't a sufficient quantity of the American-made good, or it goes against the public interest to buy American.
The measure now goes before the state House of Delegates.


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The newly-launched Aqua Style is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) device. It comes with a 4-inch (480x800 pixels) WVGA IPS display. The smartphone is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor clocked at 1.3GHz with 1GB of RAM. It comes with 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).
The Intex Aqua Style sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, while there is a secondary 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera also onboard. The rear camera features Panorama, HDR and Continuous shot options.
On the connectivity front, the smartphone includes 3G, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, GPRS/ EDGE, Micro-USB, A-GPS, and Bluetooth. It packs a 1400mAh battery. The Aqua Style will be available in Black and White colour variants.
The company at the event also announced actor Sudeep as the company's brand ambassador for Karnataka.
Commenting on the launch, Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, Senior General Manager, Mobile Business, Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. said, "The Aqua range has been widely accepted by our customers across India. The Aqua Style has been designed keeping in mind, the need for style and quality. With Aqua Style, we aim to empower youngsters looking for a mobile that speaks about their personality."


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Haven’t picked up Fast Travel Games’ Apex Construct, yet? You’ve got two more reasons to do so right now.
Fast Travel recently confirmed that its debut game will soon be getting new content. PR & Marketing Manager Andreas Juliusson confirmed as much over on Reddit, though didn’t go into specifics of what this new content would actually consist of. He did, however, confirm that it would be entirely free and should launch around June.
Also launching that month is a boxed edition of the game on PSVR. Until now, you could only grab Apex Construct over on the PlayStation Store but, thanks to a partnership with Perp Games, you’ll soon be able to get it on disc too. That’s just for the console version, though; the PC edition will remain digital.
If you haven’t heard of Apex Construct, it’s well worth checking out. The game offers a full single-player adventure in which players explore a post-apocalyptic world dominated by an AI construct known as Mothr. Armed with a bow and arrow, you team up with another figure known as Fathr to free the world from Mothr’s grasp. Though far from perfect, the game offers a lot of what VR fans have been asking for; we gave it 7/10 on PSVR and 8/10 on PC.


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Launched Photo and video sharing service Instagram feature (Rails) Reels in the month of last August on a large scale in order to compete with the famous service (TikTok) TikTok, then revealed that it is looking to generate income through this feature.
And today Instagram announced the launch of the shopping feature for Reels users around the world. Businesses and content creators will be able to set product price tags when creating short videos, and viewers can click on those price tags to purchase or save products.
Brand-specific price tags are also available to influencers who get paid for their posts. With this launch, Instagram now allows shopping in all parts of its service, including: homepage, stories, IGTV and Live.
Shopping is important to Instagram and Facebook, who are looking to distribute revenue. Advertising is the primary way for both platforms to generate income, but shopping provides an opportunity to profit from sales fees. And in the case of Instagram, users are looking for inspiration for what they want to buy, so giving them the option to buy directly from the app simplifies the process.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in 2019 that he expects commerce and payments to be the future of the company, and given the speed in rolling out successive shopping updates, he appears to fulfill that promise.
Meanwhile, Tik Tok is cooperating with Shopify to launch new shopping features, including: A test that will allow (Shopify) users to place a price tag on products in their videos using the Shopify button. Now.


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European finance ministers are fed up with companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter. The US internet giants are making more and more money from their European customers' data, but none of it finds its way into government coffers. Because the web firms have no headquarters in the EU, local tax authorities don’t get a look in.
But now the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, wants to change this and force web-based companies with global sales of €750 million ($916 million) or more to pay a digital sales tax. In an analysis of "taxation of digital activities in the single market," dated February 26 and seen by Handelsblatt, it says all transactions generated by the "exploitation of user data" should be taxed. This includes revenues from the sale of data such as personal details and the provision of advertising space in social networks or search engines. The revenues of online marketplaces such as Uber or Airbnb should also be subject to the tax, the document adds.
The Commission has already drawn up a tax rate, which, according to the document, could range from 1 to 5 percent and should be uniformly defined for the entire EU.
Some member states, including Ireland and Luxembourg, have already indicated that they do not believe in an internet revenue tax.
The initiative is not entirely voluntary. French President Emmanuel Macron has been putting massive pressure on the Brussels authority since he took office last May. "Small and medium-sized businesses have to pay taxes yet Google pays nothing. It cannot go on like this," said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire last week. Mr. Macron has declared the issue a top priority, and he plans to discuss it with his counterparts at the next EU summit at the end of March.
The Commission seemingly bowed to the massive pressure from Paris, although some in Brussels have voiced doubts. The document states that the Commission would prefer to take a global approach to digital taxation - within the OECD or G20 groups of wealthy nations. If this were the case, the profits of internet companies could be subject to corporate income tax. But the Commission concedes that it can take a very long time for the large industrialized countries and emerging economies to reach agreement. As a result, the document concludes that the EU cannot wait for this and must begin by seeking a "targeted interim solution."
This interim solution is primarily intended to tap into revenues generated from user data sources. This means companies selling content such as films, games, software, e-books or financial services on the internet would not be taxed. As justification, the Commission writes that transactions involving user data only play a minor role in the sale of such content. This may not be enough for the French government, however. Last week, Mr. Le Maire called for the "broadest possible tax base" for the new digital tax.
A single authority, which is not specified in the document, would collect the tax throughout the EU. The revenue would then be shared out among the tax authorities of member states, dependent on where the value added was derived from the user data. This means that cash flows between US companies could also be taxed. As an example, the Commission cites a Coca-Cola advertisement that Facebook shows its European customers. The tax should be deductible from corporate income tax in the EU.
It is still unclear when the Commission will present the draft directive on a digital tax. And it is especially unclear whether and when such a directive will be adopted. Tax laws must be passed unanimously in the EU, and some member states, including Ireland and Luxembourg, have already indicated that they do not believe in an internet revenue tax.
Ruth Berschens heads Handelsblatt's Brussels office, leading coverage of European policy. To contact the author: [email protected]


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GM Canada’s CEO is expressing apprehension over the way cheap auto loans are fueling vehicle sales in Canada.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, CEO Kevin Williams said
“Macroeconomically, there’s some reason for optimism [but] nobody in the industry had the industry pegged at this number,” Mr. Williams said. “Nobody had the industry running this high.”
2013 is expected to see a record 1.73 million new vehicles, but much of the growth seems to be stemming from long-term loans designed to keep payments low. According to a JD Power study cited by the Globe, 64 percent of Canadian car loans have terms lasting for 6 years or longer.
Consumer debt has been a controversial topic in Canada, with Canadians taking on accumulating record debt amid low interest rates and easily available credit. But the concern over easy credit in the auto sector is unlikely to become a systemic risk, even as interest rate hikes loom on the horizon.


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This is also will be applied to goods that are transported through customs border by individuals.
Kazakhstan invited businesspeople from Luxembourg and Belgium to take part in the AIFC work.
Analysts said that such opportunity will allow the attraction of significant investments flow in Central Asia region.
German businesspeople are planning to invest US$2.4 billion in Kazakhstan’s economy.
The trade volume between Kazakhstan and South Korea reached a record high of 66 percent.
Meat exports from Kazakhstan to China were temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the Government, the industry makes up 8.2 percent in Kazakhstan’s GDP.
Jewelry manufacturers expect great prospects from the project.
The European Union member countries are willing to invest in the economy of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan’s transit opportunities are increasing based on recorded transit figures.
The World Bank experts have announced results of study on Kazakhstan’s economic indicators for 2019.
According to latest data, more than 800 joint ventures operate in the territory of Kazakhstan.
Kazakh farmers will be able to export agricultural products to foreign markets without intermediaries.
Thus, eight domestic enterprises were modernized and put into operation.
Its production capacity is 70 thousand tonnes of manufactured goods per year.
Last year alone, the countries’ trade amounted to US$ 957 million, marking a 14.5 percent growth.
During the first meeting, topics on increasing volumes domestic products and expanding sales markets will be discussed.
Investments into Kazakhstan’s agriculture have been increased by almost 40 percent.
The economic union has reached significant results over the years and has outlined a work plan for the next five years.
The trade value between Kazakhstan and Israel amounted to almost US$1.5 billion in 2019.


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In an attempt to encourage users to sign up for the companies upcoming new music subscription service, YouTube are set to increase the number of ads for people you use the platform for music streaming purposes.
The new proposed music subscription service will include exclusive videos, playlists and other perks such as these. At the moment it is already being tested by thousands of Google employees.
Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music, says it will “frustrate and seduce” users of its free service.
Cohen says that the company aims to make changes to become “good partners” to the music industry.


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We’re rapidly shifting to an era where phones are supplanting computers as the most popular way to get to the web.
Along with this rise in mobile usage comes a spike in the number of hackers looking for new ways to exploit these consumers. And just like some companies have more market share than others in retail or energy or any other sector, some hackers are responsible for a disproportionate amount of the hacking.
The security firm Lookout Mobile said in a talk at DEF CON 21 this week that a whopping 30% of all mobile malware apps come from just a handful of Russian companies. The company was able to trace the origins of mobile malware apps, which particularly plague the Android marketplace, to just 10 organizations based in Russia.
TechWeekEurope reports that these organizations act as custom malware designers for affiliate marketers that then create the malware apps on spoofed pages for Google Play and wage massive campaigns on Twitter to get users to download bad apps.
The main attack of choice for these hackers is toll fraud, which Lookout Mobile spotlighted in its 2012 State of Mobile Security. It claimed that toll fraud represents roughly 91% of all mobile malware. Once an unwitting victim downloads the malicious app, a virus begins to regularly send premium SMS messages to the hackers account and blocks notification for the user. Once the text is approved by the virus, the victim is directly billed on his phone bill, and then the process is repeated.
Russia has always been a popular den for hackers, and Akamai’s State of the Internet Q1 2013 report said that Russian servers accounted for 2.4% of all online malware traffic. But Lookout’s report indicates that the hackers are focused on capitalizing on mobile malware, and riding the wave of new smartphone users to bigger paychecks,
Lookout Security has declined to name any of the companies involved with malware, only giving their country of origin, saying: “We cannot comment on ongoing investigations with law enforcement. But we are very motivated to get them to stop.”


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Consumers rely on companies to protect their data, mass quantities of which are collected every day across sensors, services, and devices. Credit card numbers, bank account information, social security numbers—they're all for the taking, and companies that don't protect customer data can now be made liable for data breaches, as Target learned when it agreed to pay out $10 million in damages for the 2013 breach that affected 40 million customers.
The number of large-scale data breaches in 2015 illustrates the potential for even more widespread offensives that could be orchestrated by determined attackers. These attacks have demonstrated an increasingly sophisticated approach, sometimes involving multiple attack vectors. 2016 will require extra vigilance and a new approach to defending organizations' target areas as security threats evolve..
Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for image editing. While the price tag of $9.95 per month for a Photoshop CC subscription might seem enticing, not all website owners require the full functionality of the software every month. Many website owners or bloggers may prefer a simplified user interface that includes access to pre-designed templates and doesn't require downloading and installation.
Working from an office is sometimes a luxury when you're running a small business. Thankfully, your mobile device can help you do real work while on the go. Web-based platforms combined with mobile apps bring the office to the palm of your hand.
An editorial calendar can help your team plan content around your brand and stay on track. Spreadsheets are commonly used to create editorial calendars, but they aren't the only option available. Hosted collaboration platforms let your team communicate better and get reminders for upcoming content. If you're a team of one, you can use an editorial calendar to plan content ahead of time, strategize, and collaborate. Deadline reminders and task categorization can help you plan blog posts and social media promotion.
Smarter decisions start with better information. When it comes to asset performance management (APM), better information starts with sensors. But not just any sensor is suited to gathering data from industrial assets.


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A few months after raising a €10MM private sale and €32MM public sale the Austrian crypto exchange Bitpanda receives $ 52 million in series A funding – including PayPal founder and investor Peter Thiel.
The founders Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek and Christian Trummer of the Austrian crypto exchange were bursting with pride after they recently announced the Series A funding of their crypto community. The Viennese start-up was able to secure 52 million dollars from investors – the largest financing round to date for an Austrian start-up this year, led by Valar Ventures, the New York VC of the billion-dollar Peter Thiel. In addition to Thiel, the Austrian VC Speedinvest and other VCs provided some capital.
Series A round follows token sale
It was only in August last year that the Austrian Bitcoin broker collected 43.6 million € for its exchange token BEST via an initial exchange offering. In April of this year, the leading Austrian VC Speedinvest invested in the Vienna crypto company with an amount of less than ten million euros. The common goal of the two companies? To expand Bitpanda and its trading platform, on which you can buy cryptocurrencies as well as precious metals, worldwide. As a result, growth markets such as France, Turkey and Spain were targeted, where the platform launched in April.
Apparently due to the sharp increase in the number of new customers and the pan-European expansion, investors have now supplied the Vienna crypto exchange with fresh capital.
Expansion, expansion, expansion, …
Bitpanda wants to use the money to expand into other European countries and take on 70 new employees at the Vienna location by the end of the year. Around 130 people currently work for the fintech, which operates a trading platform for Bitcoin, among other things. Valar Ventures co-founder Andrew McCormack wants to turn the Austrian crypto exchange into Europe’s next “fintech unicorn”, ie a start-up with a valuation of more than one billion dollars.
Austrian Crypto exchange, Bitpanda, is jumping on the DeFi trend
The Austrian crypto exchange recently focused on the “Decentralized Finance” (DeFi) trend and listed 6 DeFi tokens on its exchange. This includes Uniswap (UNI), yearn.finance (YFI) and Synthetix Network Token (SNX). As a result, the start-up entered the booming DeFi area just in time and is celebrating this with a €55k promotion campaign for its traders.
Ex-Paypal, Thiel with focus on FinTech
The native of Frankfurt is sometimes viewed critically by the tech scene, as he has repeatedly been suspected of being an adviser to US President Donald Trump in the background. However, his knack for successful investments remains undisputed. Just a few years ago, the portfolio of start-ups was a colorful mix of companies from a wide variety of areas. In the meantime, his investments are almost exclusively focused on FinTech and InsurTech. In addition to transfers, investments were also made in Trade Republic, N26, Stash and Qonto. For the investor, this is a kind of “coming home”. After all, he began his career in 1999 by founding one of the most important fintechs of the dotcom era, the online payment service provider PayPal. In addition, he played a role in the game on Facebook right after the social media platform was founded.
At Bitpanda, we use industry-leading technologies to create innovative products that democratize the financial world. Our mission is to give everyone fair access to the financial market – regardless of their individual financial and cultural background.Eric Demuth, CEO @Bitpanda on his vision for the Austrian Crypto exchange
Series A round – deal structure
It is not yet clear how many shares of Bitpanda the investment vehicle of the tech billionaire has acquired. Currently there are no more details about the valuation for the company. However, the unicorn status – a billion-dollar valuation – that the Austrian crypto exchange was aiming for, was probably not achieved. As part of the investment round, Andrew McCormack of Valar Ventures will join the board of the crypto broker. With the injection of funds, the workforce is expected to grow to 300; around 70 positions are currently advertised.
Valar Ventures’ investment is a strong vote of confidence in the Austrian crypto exchange and our corporate vision – after all, it comes directly from one of the world’s most important investors in emerging technology companies,
Outlook – Have CEXes (centralized exchanges) a long-term survival chance vs. DEXes?
While centralised exchanges like Kraken, Bitfinex, Binance. or smaller ones like Bitpanda are still popular among crypto users – especially in terms of fiat trading, we have seen a rapid rise of decentralised exchanges (DEXes) in 2020 with Uniswap leading the race.
The long-term outlook mostly depends on the usability, regulatory and performance aspects of each type of exchanges. Retail investors/traders seem to finally get more comfortable with DEXes like Uniswap due to its very easy UI and due to the fact that it doesn`t require KYC. For algorithmic or HFT (High frequency-) traders where order execution times play a big role a DEX in its current form is not a viable solution.


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A new Amazon facility is heading to Wilson County.
The company is expanding its business in Lebanon, according to Amazon officials. They will open a new sort center, providing jobs to more than 500 full-time and part-time employees.
The facility will be over 200,000 square feet. It is scheduled to open later this year.
Officials said at this location that employees would sort packages before being transferred to a delivery station or last-mile delivery partner for final delivery to a customer.
With a starting salary of $ 15, Amazon provides full-time employees with industry-leading benefits from day one of employment, including full health, vision, and dental insurance.
Amazon has pledged to invest more than $ 700 million to provide skill-up training to 100,000 American employees for high-demand jobs.


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Can Uber dig itself out of the #deleteuber hole?
Uber is facing a crisis this week after an ill-advised move over the weekend catalyzed many users to delete their accounts, and leaving Uber vulnerable to its scavenging competitors such as Lyft and Via.
After the ridesharing service was seen as attempting to undermine a strike from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the hashtag #deleteuber exploded in popularity. Within hours Lyft had capitalized on Uber?s weakness and attempted to poach its customers. Now, Uber is left on its own to attempt to salvage its reputation before it hemorrhages too many customers.
?When any company is presented with a choice to follow or not follow the convictions of the majority of their employees or drivers in a certain region for a cause that is sensitive and they choose to 'make a buck' from the situation vs doing what their employees believe is 'the right thing', they should be prepared for the fallout,? said Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis.
After President Trump enacted his highly controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, mass protests erupted around the country.
In addition to near-universal condemnation from human rights groups, lawyers, politicians and those in the international community, masses of citizens gathered at airports around the country to protest what seems like a thinly-veiled ban on Muslims.
The order has thrown thousands of lives into chaos with countless stories of immigrants, both citizens and not, being left stranded outside the country or detained indefinitely by airport security.
Source: Twitter user @legeros
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance joined the fray by staging a strike and not servicing the area around JFK International. The NYTWA cited its strong opposition to President Trump?s order and the large number of Muslims and immigrants that make up the work force.
It was then that Uber made the controversial choice to waive surge pricing in the JFK area.
While Uber has a policy of waiving surge pricing around special events or disasters, many were outraged that Uber seemed to be profiting off of and undermining the strike.
By making Uber rides cheaper and even more competitive at a time when taxi drivers were sacrificing time and money to send a message, Uber purposely or not undercut those drivers? ability to strike.
Within hours the ridesharing app faced the rising tide of #deleteuber, a campaign that arose on Twitter encouraging consumers to delete their Uber accounts and start paying for rides from regular yellow cabs or other services.
Uber hastily went into damage control, issuing statements in support of refugees and immigrants as well as claiming that its waiving of surge pricing was not meant to undermine or profit off of the strike.
Many remain unconvinced and the hashtag has been going strong ever since.
"Uber is not the first to face bad press or consumer revolt because of something done or said by an executive team member- and they certainly won?t be the last," Robyn Hannah, senior director of global communications at Dynamic Signal. "Uber will very likely recover, but they?ll have some work to do to rebuild brand trust.
"Their thousands of employees around the world telling their personal Uber stories of positive impact would be a great place to start," she said.
One of Uber?s main competitors, Lyft, capitalized on Uber?s weakness mercilessly, issuing statements of its own about its support for refugees and donation $1 million to the ACLU.
The hashtag is still going strong as of press time.
While many companies are used to offering hashtag campaigns that drive up positive awareness of the brand, they face a difficult irony when that same tool can be used against them.
Source: Twitter user @lubchansky
Uber is one such company who has used social media for gains, including a recent campaign with Manchester United (see story).
The ridesharing service has also worked with Atom Tickets for a similar brand partnership (see story).
But now, the same tools that have worked for Uber in the past are now working against it, perpetuating a negative campaign that has seen large numbers of users posting screenshots of them deleting the app.
Uber has responded with a flurry of promoted posts on Twitter directing users to a statement from CEO Travis Kalanick opposing President Trump?s executive order and trying to minimize the damage from the tweet.
?With social media in play this fallout is no longer contained to the region that was affected but now becomes a national backlash,? Ms. Troutman said. ?In other words: know your employees, know your customers, unless you want to give your competition a very significant "leg-up" you'll either have a darn good reason for not listening to those you pay and those that pay you or expect a dip in your clientele.?


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Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated when the shareholder vote would take place.
A longtime AutoNation Inc. shareholder’s proposal that would require the company's chairman to be an independent member of the board was voted down at the company’s annual meeting Thursday.
The shareholder, John Chevedden, also questioned the independence of the AutoNation's lead director.
An overwhelming majority – 95 percent – of AutoNation’s shareholders voted against the proposal, according to Marc Cannon, chief marketing officer.
Chevedden, a shareholder since 2000, requested in a proposal filed Tuesday that the AutoNation board adopt a policy that the chairman be an independent member of the board. The board said in a response to this proposal that it has already committed to having an independent chairman when current Executive Chairman Mike Jackson leaves the company.
Jackson, 70, was CEO and chairman for the better part of two decades before transitioning to executive chairman in March. His contract with the company expires in 2021, and his future with AutoNation beyond 2021 is undecided, the company said last year.
This was at least the fifth proposal Chevedden has made related to having an independent chairman of the board at AutoNation, he told Automotive News. Chevedden is known for being a prominent shareholder activist who frequently files such proposals with many companies in which he holds stock.
AutoNation's board opposed Chevedden's proposal and recommended that shareholders vote against it because the company already adopted a policy in February regarding an independent chairman of the board. When Jackson leaves the board, the chairman should be an independent director, the board wrote in its response to the proposal.
The board will continue to have a lead independent director until an independent chairman of the board is elected. "The Board believes that the adopted policy suitably addresses the concerns raised by the proposal in a practicable and enforceable manner, rendering the policy sought by the proposal unnecessary," the response said.


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| Mar 24, 2014
| 12:15 PM
Don’t get attached to the new plug-in hybrid Golf that Volkswagen is bringing to the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. But let yourself get a little excited about what’s under its skin.
Germany’s everyman brand will use its March 4 press...
| Feb 7, 2014
| 9:00 AM
The same cultural shift that makes us unable to not know how many steps we walked yesterday, or where the nearest free-range char cheddar burger can be had at 2 a.m. in Milwaukee, is shoving innovation into our cars faster than you can say "find parking...
| Mar 3, 2014
| 7:54 AM
Apple makes its next move in hands-free smartphone technology for car drivers when it unveils a new, integrated iPhone voice-control system at the Geneva Motor Show this week.
Apple's CarPlay makes its debut in Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo...
| Apr 8, 2014
| 7:38 PM
FRANKFURT, Germany — BMW, the world's biggest maker of luxury vehicles, is progressing with plans for a second North American factory to meet increased demand for its vehicles in the region.
"We will decide this in the next months," Harald...
| Mar 3, 2014
| 6:42 AM
Carmakers are tapping smartphone technology to spruce up low-cost city cars and try to get an edge in a market that has grown to account for almost 10 percent of new car sales in austerity-scarred Europe.
The Opel Adam Rocks, the new Peugeot 108, the...
| Mar 11, 2014
| 1:08 PM
Working to shore up its upscale Acura brand, Honda Motor Co. plans to split its sales and marketing efforts into separate divisions in the U.S.
Honda is looking to punch some energy into Acura, which has lagged its bigger Honda sibling in sales growth...
| Mar 13, 2014
| 11:23 AM
In 1989, the Japanese automaker Toyota launched its upscale Lexus brand with the LS400, a flagship sedan that aimed to take on the best luxury cars in the world. America looked at the V8-powered LS400 with suspicion. How could Toyota, builder of...
| Apr 21, 2014
| 10:58 AM
SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Global automakers are scrambling to meet the demands of China's young urban professionals, who want a car that makes them stand out, yet don't always have the money to splurge on a top-end model.
After nearly two decades of...
| Aug 15, 2013
| 7:38 PM
Autohaus on Edens is proud to welcome back sales consultant, Dave Cantin to the dealership. Cantin first worked for Autohaus on Edens in 1983, and left for a brief time but is back at Autohaus on Edens bringing his 30 years of Mercedes-Benz sales...
| Jan 16, 2014
| 12:37 PM
Schaumburg, IL (January 13, 2014) - Schaumburg Toyota/Scion today presented a new 2014 Toyota Highlander to Angel Wings Foundation as part of the Toyota 2013 Cars for Good program a major philanthropic initiative in which the automaker is giving away...
| Jan 21, 2014
| 6:43 AM
Mustang versus Camaro. BMW versus Mercedes. Camry versus Accord. These are among the biggest rivalries in the automobile world.
Get ready for the next epic battle: aluminum versus steel.
"This has become a real competition," said Golam Newaz, an...


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Even Semun Ho had to admit that she was an unexpected candidate when she decided to join the Textile and Fashion Federation (TaFF) as CEO a little more than three years ago. A veteran of the technology industry, she came on board with no background in fashion.
But sometimes, the unexpected candidate for a job could just be the right one, as Ho has since proven. “I have always liked consumer products,” she says. “I was the regional head for Motorola accessory products for more than two years and was doing regional product planning and marketing for mobile phones for eight years. All the experiences that I had gathered have helped me in my current role.”
What Ho has brought to the table at TaFF is an approach to growth that is more common in the technology start-up world. Under her leadership, TaFF established The Cocoon Space, a co-working space of sorts for fashion start-ups. Here, entrepreneurs can rent workstations, industrial-grade sewing machines and an event space for presenting their new collections. It’s also a place where a community spirit is fostered, with networking for members and programmes such as The Bridge Fashion Incubator, a 30-week mentorship to help jumpstart their businesses.
Ho is thankful for the organisation’s openness to change and its willingness to embrace technology, both of which she sees as essential to success in today’s world. “TaFF is a very established organisation, yet one that is still willing to evolve and do what’s needed to transform,” she says. Through her work, she hopes to keep at bay – at least in the fashion industry – one of her biggest worries for the local business environment. “That Singapore loses its competitive edge and that we, as Singaporeans, are not hungry enough.”


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Not a big chugger: NC 35th in beer consumption
- Staff Charlotte Business Journal
North Carolina ships more beer than most states, but hop heads haven’t exactly taken over the drinking scene here.
New data from the Beer Institute ranks North Carolina No. 9 for beer shipments (6.2 million barrels), but only No. 35 in per capita beer consumption (27.1 barrels).
The state-by-state statistical analysis comes as the beer business is in one of its strongest sales periods of the year. Last year, during the two weeks surrounding the Fourth of July, beer sales totaled $1.36 billion nationwide, more than any other food or beverage category tracked by Nielsen during that period.
U.S. beer consumption rose 1.5 percent in 2012. The Beer Institute said the increase was due, at least in part, to a rebounding economy and above-normal winter and spring temperatures.
For the record, the Beer Institute said the state with the highest per capita beer consumption in 2012 was North Dakota, followed by New Hampshire and Montana.
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