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By Chuck Collins | McClatchy-Tribune News
Published July 27, 2010
These days, the local businesses in your neighborhood probably pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than U.S. Fortune 500 companies.
Over the last two decades, multinational companies have taken advantage of huge tax loopholes, moving income and assets between foreign subsidiaries to dodge taxes. Responsible Main Street businesses and individual taxpayers are stuck with the tab, paying the taxes that contribute to a healthy business climate and economy.
Yet these global corporations quickly turn to the U.S. courts when someone steals their intellectual property. They’re happy to use our public infrastructure of transportation, energy and education institutions. And they’re huge beneficiaries of our country’s remarkable system of property right protections, law enforcement and taxpayer-funded investments in technological and scientific research. They just don’t want to have to pay their fair share.
One way that U.S. companies avoid taxes is by creating subsidiaries in a tax-haven country such as Bermuda, Luxembourg or the Republic of Mauritius. In the Grand Cayman Islands, more than 19,000 of these subsidiaries have set up legal addresses in one building.
These companies shift earnings and assets between these subsidiaries so that profits appear to be generated overseas, while losses are deducted from U.S. taxes. Because of the lack of transparency it’s hard to assess just how much tax revenue is lost, but estimates range from $43 billion to $123 billion per year.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a fierce advocate of tax-haven reform in the House of Representatives, said, “I always find it impossible to explain why a pharmacist in Bastrop, Texas, or a small retail store in San Marcos is having to pay higher rates on the income that their hard-working small business owners are earning than some multinational that can duck and dodge taxes in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.”
A growing number of small businesses, however, are pushing back. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of local economies,” said Frank Knapp, president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “We pay our fair share of taxes, shop locally, support our schools and actually generate most of the new jobs. So why do we have to subsidize multinationals that use offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes?”
Knapp and 400 other business owners have launched Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse, a signal that Main Street is getting fed up with how porous the global corporate tax rules have become.
They argue that overseas tax havens foster an unlevel playing field where taxpaying enterprises are forced to compete against tax dodgers. For example, a local retailers selling groceries, clothing, appliances or hardware is forced to compete against a big-box conglomerate that can take advantage of subsidiaries in tax havens to reduce its taxes. A community bank that provides financing for local businesses and homeowners and pays federal taxes must unfairly compete against global Wall Street giants whose profit model is built on reducing taxes through tax havens.
Main Street business leaders argue these funds could be better used for public infrastructure and support to small businesses, which generate over 65 percent of new jobs. Recovered funds could pay for initiatives like the recently introduced Small Business Jobs Act, as well as the seed capital for a $30 billion small business lending program through community banks.
“As a small business person, I’m incensed that other companies in our country are able to game the system and force the rest of us to take up the slack,” said Debra Ruh, founder and CEO of the Virginia-based TecAccess, a small business that adapts technology to be more accessible to people with disabilities. “When they avoid their normal tax obligations, that puts more of a burden on responsible and sustainable businesses like mine.”
Many local businesses already pay their fair share of taxes. The fact that profitable multinational corporations aren’t is a standing affront to basic fairness. Taxes are the price we pay to do business in our nation.
Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-author of “The Moral Measure of the Economy.” Readers may write to him at IPS, 1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036; website: www.ips-dc.org.


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Google is Prepping a Tabletop Good Monitor System to Rival Amazon’s Echo Clearly show
The Google machine is internally codenamed “Manhattan” and will have a screen measurement very similar to the 7-inch Echo Clearly show, stated two sources, one of whom reportedly received info instantly from a Google worker. The machine is stated to run a variation of Android, meaning it could be able of running third-bash applications, with Netflix staying mooted as a likelihood.
Equally sources assert the machine will provide access to Google Assistant, Google Images, and YouTube – which would go some means to describing why the latter video clip services was unceremoniously pulled from Amazon’s Echo Clearly show on Tuesday.
Google’s machine will also reportedly function as a wise hub for managing other linked wise property gizmos and appliances, very similar to Amazon’s new Echo In addition speaker unveiled previously this week.
According to TechCrunch‘s sources, the original focus on start day for the Manhattan machine was mid-2018, but Google is evidently under extreme force to get the solution out the doorway just before the stop of this calendar year, given that the Echo Clearly show is by now on the sector. Google has a components party scheduled for Oct four, but it is unclear if the machine will make an look.
Other rumors floating about propose the tech huge is readying an upmarket variation of its Google Home wise speaker to rival Apple’s forthcoming $350 HomePod. Known internally as “Google Home Max“, the “top quality” machine is stated to feature stereo speakers housed in a superior-top quality style and design.
Thanks to leaks, we by now know that Google will announce a mini variation of its Google Home speaker at its components party, alongside new Pixel smartphones and a rebranded Google Pixelbook. But there is certainly also speak of $159 Google-branded Bluetooth earbuds on the way with Google Assistant constructed-in.
Whatsoever the exact line-up of products and solutions the enterprise drops on Oct four, remain tuned to MacRumors for a complete summary immediately adhering to the party following week.
Thanks for read our publish Google is Prepping a Tabletop Good Monitor System to Rival Amazon’s Echo Clearly show

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tv BBC Business Live BBC News August 29, 2018 8:30am-9:01am BST
this is business live from bbc news, with ben thompson and sally bundock. deal or no deal — the pressure is on canada to agree to the reformed trade pact that's been brokered between the us and mexico. live from london, that's our top story on wednesday, 29th august. president trump warns canada he could go it alone with mexico — which would leave america's northern neigbour facing hefty tariffs if it fails to come onboard. also in the programme, google, facebook and twitter in the firing line — mr trump warns the firms to be very careful, amid a row over perceived bias. financial markets in europe have
been trading for half an hour and most of them are heading higher. revving up for a london listing — car market aston martin confirms plans to list on the london stock exchange. “ car —— car maker. its boss is here — we'll speak to him a little later in the programme. and working out a profit — they had just $35 left in their bank account, but they turned it into a global giant. we meet one of the founders of a sports nutrition firm that's become a multi—million dollar company, selling in more than 100 countries. hello and welcome to business live. we start in north america, where pressure has been mounting on canada to agree to a revised trade deal with the us and mexico ahead of a friday deadline. trump has warned he could proceed with a deal with mexico alone, and levy tariffs on canada if it does not come on board with the revised trade terms. canada's foreign minister, chrystia freeland, is in washington for talks — but will she agree to
the new terms of the pact? nafta, or the north american free trade agreement, is one of the biggest in the world accounting for $1 trillion in trade every year. but president trump has been unhappy with the deal, blaming it for a fall in the number of us manufacturing jobs, particuarly in the auto industry. under the new terms agreed by mexico and the us, 75% of vehicles would need to be made in north america to qualify for tax—free treatment — that's higher than the existing deal. and to discourage firms from moving production to lower wage mexico, between a0 and 45% of a car would need to be made by workers earning at least $1 per hour. that is what we know so far.
with me is christophe bondy, trade lawyer at cooley llp, former trade adviser to the canadian government. he led negotiations with canada on ceta deal. welcome. sally has run through the issues at stake. a really big day today. preliminary talks. a lot still to be done. what do you think will happen? i think canada will look of the deal on the table. this isa look of the deal on the table. this is a preliminary agreement. to determine whether certain aspects area determine whether certain aspects are a good dealfor canada. if they don't think that, they will push back and the talks may continue. what is at stake for both sides? ultimately they are close trading partners and there is a lot of money riding on this decision? canada is looking for a sensible update to the nafta. for the us, looking for a sensible update to the nafta. forthe us, canada is looking for a sensible update to the nafta. for the us, canada is its biggest foreign trading partner. 35
states have canada as their biggest single foreign market. the north american auto industry in particular is deeply integrated. to have a deal that canada is excluded from doesn't make any sense for the us from an economic point of view. the us president is looking for a victory to say he has achieved something on nafta and so is trying to put the pressure on to say he has achieved something by friday. canada feels a little bit bruised on this. a divide and conquer approach from president trump until now. we know what happened in the g7 lorik canada feels isolated. will that be weighing on the minds of canadian leaders when they go into these negotiations? canadians representing the country in these negotiations are highly skilled, highly experienced, they are adults, there are sensible. they are seeking an
outcome that would be in the best interest of the country in the long—term. ca nada's interest of the country in the long—term. canada's relationship with the united states is a lot deeper than one administration. it will go on a lot longer. that's what they will be keeping an eye on. the person leading the negotiations for canada led the negotiations for canada led the negotiations for canada europe. the minister has been doing a greatjob. this week they will continue that. they are not walking into these discussions cold. one to watch. thank you for explaining what's at stake. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. president trump has warned google, twitter and facebook they are "treading on troubled territory", amid a row over perceived bias. an aide said the administration was looking into the issue of regulation. google says its search engine set no political agenda and is not biased towards any political ideology.
we'll have more on this later in the programme. shares of yum china holdings has been soaring after the fast food operator rejected a buyout. the operator of kfc, pizza hut and taco bell restaurants in china, has turned down a deal from a consortium of investors that valued the company at more than $17 billion. it would have been one of asia s biggest deals this year. a new study has found that shareholders are getting increasingly fed up with the behaviour of company directors and voting against their decisions. according to the investment association, significant shareholder revolts at ftse firms jumped by 25% in the year to 31 july. the trade group said investors had "shown their teeth" on issues like pay, performance and boardroom diversity. china's biggest ride—hailing firm, didi chuxing, has issued a public apology for safety lapses, after a second passenger was murdered in three months.
didi has suspended its carpool service and says it will stop using growth to measure the firm's success and prioritise safety instead. katie silver is in singapore with more. this is just the latest in the awful events that have transpired as a result of using this app. they have now issued an apology? they have. face it is a matter of ignorance and bright. they have suspended their ride sharing service after this second killing. we know that it was a 27—year—old driver who confessed to the rape and murder of his 20—year—old passenger. they have had a previous complaint against them. today in the statement they said
that their vanity overtook their original belief. they describe it as a tragic loss of life. name—macro has had huge growth since they first launched. —— didi. they even had expansion ambitions. now they are going to reinvigorate their business model entirely. it has been called for by the chinese transport ministry. they say they need better driver vetting and perhaps a system whereby passengers can call police through the app. they may be able to share their itineraries with friends and family. it is part a of wider call for tighter regulation of these right hailing services. thank you. keeping an eye on those stories. let's look at the markets. a flat day. investors looking for a new direction. they are keeping in mind the fact that although deals are being done on trade between the likes of the us and mexico, the big
issue of china and the us is a stalemate. let's look at the european markets really quickly. london up slightly. one of the big stories from london markets is the aston martin flotation story. confirming plans to list on the london stock exchange. we have the boss with us in the studio. we will talk to him very soon. but first, here is more on what donald trump had to say about google. here is deadly. —— david gleave. he's echoing something that we have heard from several members of congress in recent months, the suggestion that some of the silicon valley giants, the people based here, the tech elites, as many refer to them, are using their power, this immense power to somehow silence the views of conservatives and instead boost liberal views they are said to hold themselves. the companies of course deny it strongly, however donald trump, in his early—morning tweets, amplified some rather anecdotal evidence, it must be said, from a conservative blog that
suggests that as much as 96% of results when you search for "trump news" were from left—leaning outlets. it's very complicated to judge how reliable that kind of information is because of course everybody gets google results tailored to them personally. many experts don't give the research much credibility at all. google certainly doesn't. but regardless of what google thinks, it does have this new problem. well, an enhanced problem on its hands and it may be facing much more scrutiny about how its results are displayed in future. the same could be said for facebook and to a lesser extent twitter. dave lee in san francisco. joining us is kathleen brooks, research director at city index. good morning. what do you make of that? this isn't new, that president
trump can have direct impact on a lot of firms and particularly the markets. but very vocal in saying what he doesn't like about google? absolutely. it goes to show for other technology stocks that there have been attacked by the left for a potentially ruining hillary clinton's campaign, and now trump and hard—core republicans are attacking them as well. going forward they will come under a lot more scrutiny, get more regulated and a larger proportion of their profits are going to have to go to the compliant element. they will end up the compliant element. they will end up like finance world after the crash in 2008, or by all of a sudden complier is‘ department had to ramped up to beat off these accusations of being biased. some experts i have talked to say this is just president trump diverted all our attention away from the headlines that i really quite damaging as faras
headlines that i really quite damaging as far as he is concerned, onto something else. let's talk about regulating google, facebook and twitter. the media willjump on that bandwagon, and therefore we are not talking about the investigation into russian meddling in the election, what is going on with his former lawyers, campaign managers etc. yeah. the trump white house and magicians are doing that. he had a lot to say about different companies. the impact is very small. investors are wiser than that, to listen to just one politician. they all have their own personal bias. you do not base your investment decision on trump. we are in a new era where a president can have a direct impact of the line of the dow jones etc is having, in one tweet? investors are getting wise to that, there is more substance beneath that? trump is saying the us markets
are at record highs because of him. however, the bond market... you may be building this now but your policies will cost a massive bust. a slowdown in us growth. it would be interesting to see what he says then. what goes up has to come down, ben. lovely to see you. it may be a cliche but it is definitely true! still to come, ff revving up for a london listing. car market aston martin confirms plans to list on the london stock exchange. its boss is here — we'll speak to him injust a few minutes. you're with business live from bbc news. british newspaper publisher johnston press's half—year revenue fell 10% after major european changes to data privacy rules dented online advertising sales. still, the publisher of the scotsman and the yorkshire post did report a pre—tax profit compared with a substantial
loss a year ago. let's get more details from our business correspondent, theo leggett. tell us a bit more about the numbers, because whenever you say the words newspaper publisher you assume they are struggling?m the words newspaper publisher you assume they are struggling? it is a cold, harsh environment for a newspaper publishers. the circulation of traditional print titles is falling. that is the long—term trend. everybody is moving into digital. it is a highly competitive environment and it is ha rd to competitive environment and it is hard to make profits. taking that into account, johnston press' latest results do not look too bad. they make a profit, including an operating profit. but you also have to ta ke operating profit. but you also have to take into account the fact that a large proportion of its pre—tax profit was made a up with a re—evaluation of the value of its bond. it is not in a sense that it is doing a lot better, it is merely
an accounting peculiarity that has helped to boost the bottom line figure. that said, one of its titles, the cut price daily the eye, has been doing very well. that has been getting plenty of sales. and on digital the company has been doing reasonably well in terms of circulation. in terms of advertising revenue, sadly not. the reason for thatis revenue, sadly not. the reason for that is because google and facebook have been changing their algorithms. for example, facebook has been given more prominence to things people post about friends and family and less to news items. that is taking a toll. revenues are down by 10%. that has to be worrying. thank you. much more on the business live page. some we re more on the business live page. some were “— more on the business live page. some were —— someone has more on the business live page. some were —— someone has been number crunching about ashton martin. it would be valued at between £4
billion and £5 billion. we talk to the boss in a second. that would put it at the top end of the ftse 250. it would be ahead of companies like travis perkins and william hill, and hot on the heels of m&s. there is also a great story about scallop wa rs also a great story about scallop wars between french and british fishermen in the channel. you're watching business live. our top story — canada is under mounting pressure to agree to a revised trade deal with the us and mexico ahead of a friday deadline. president trump has warned he could proceed with a deal with mexico alone and levy tariffs on canada if it does not come on board with the revised trade terms. luxury car maker aston martin has announced its intention to go public,
a move which will make it the first uk car—maker to be listed on the london stock exchange in years. if successful, it will cement a turnaround for the company, which has returned to profitability in the last couple of years under the leadership of chief executive andy palmer. andyjoins us in the studio now. nice to see you. welcome. good morning. way now? -- why now? we have been in a mid term turnaround plan which began in 2015. it is broken into three time phases. the first was stabilisation, basically stopped the company bleeding. the second phase was replacing the existing model line—up. and then the third phase is about widening the
portfolio. we are at the end of the second phase. we are at 7000 units, which is maximum capacity. we are opening a new facility in wales, which gives us a further 7000 to go. it seems like the right time. in ru nway it seems like the right time. in runway behind us, enough runway in front of us to make the listing attractive. —— enough runway. front of us to make the listing attractive. -- enough runway. you have turned aston martin around. i found it surprising that it was bleeding for a long time. i'm not an expert when it comes to the financial history of aston martin but it is a brand everybody knows, it is in the james bond movies. how could it not be making money?m wasn't and it wasn't free years. what it needed was a real sheik, professional management. thank you for saying that i turned it around. in fact it is we. we run a meritocracy. we have a flat management structure. the management got behind the plan. it is easy to
understand. it is seven cars in seven yea rs. understand. it is seven cars in seven years. one car every year. each car has a seven year life. cow. each car has a seven year life. copy, repeat, copy, repeat. it brings tempo to the company and as well it brings imagination. each of the cars, beautiful. that engenders a lot of energy and passion. that is what has turned the company around. we talk about it a lot when firms to their intention to list. it gives you a ccess their intention to list. it gives you access to a big funding pool, the finances you need to do other things. you want to expand your output, you want to make more cars. it also puts you under the scrutiny of shareholders. you have new responsibilities. they may not like what you do. are you prepared for that? actually, we don't need money. the plan is fully funded. all the proceeds coming from this are
secondary. we will not be consuming money. we are learning from the past. we are learning what went wrong when we would have individual owners come in and buy the company, they would invest in a car and walk away. the state you are going to sell, probably about 1 away. the state you are going to sell, probably about1 billion. that will generate four to 5 billion. who knows? we will list at least 25% of the company. the markets will determine the price. we are not there yet. we're simply today making there yet. we're simply today making the registration. i expect to publish the prospectus on the 20th of september. and then obviously pricing and listing comes after that. you were headhunted by aston martin from nissan. what are your thoughts on brexit and car manufacturing in the uk? for aston martin you are nowhere near as exposed as the likes of nissan and
toyota. if it is a hard brexit or no—deal brexit macro, what will it mean for car manufacturers in the uk? we are relatively impervious. we are an exporter. a hard brexit would tend to weaken the pound. that is good for us, i guess. we exported 25% of our cars into the eu. 30% into the united kingdom. you may have a downturn on one side but you getan have a downturn on one side but you get an upswing on the other. ferrari, for example, would be importing into the uk. it is pretty neutral. that is one of the reasons it makes it attractive as stock. if you talk about the industry as a general point of view, obviously most of the car companies based here are exporting into europe. any kind of trade tariff or indeed i think we all feared non—trade tariffs, is a concern. it will make the uk,
ta riffs concern. it will make the uk, tariffs in particular, will make it less competitive. andy, thank you for coming to talk to us. come back and see us when you see the prospectus. the 20th of september. i will make a date in the diary. thank you. in a moment we'll take a look through the business pages. but first, here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. stay up—to—date with all the day's business news as it happens on the bbc‘s business live page. there's insight and analysis from our team of editors right around the globe. and we want to hear from you, too. get involved on the bbc‘s business live web page at bbc.com/business. on twitter, we are at bbc business. and you can find us on facebook at bbc money. business live, on tv and online. what you need to know, when you need to know. we have been talking luxury fast ca rs. let's we have been talking luxury fast
cars. let's talk about healthy living, diet and exercise. so perhaps its no surprise that fitness supplements are increasingly popular, with one estimate suggesting the global sports nutrition market to be worth around $44 billion by 2021. north america alone accounts for over 40% share of the market, but asia—pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth from 2016 to 2021, owing to the increase in demand from countries such as india and china. with us now isjuliet barratt, chief marketing officer and co—founder of sports nutrition business grenade. nice to see you. welcome. there is a grenade on set but we shouldn't be concerned! that was your original product. you we re that was your original product. you were founded in 2010. the other side of the recession. what made you start this? we had a sports distribution business before. we we re distribution business before. we were selling other people's products. we knew what sold and didn't. we knew it was a crowded
marketplace. everything is generic. people couldn't remember what products were called. we wanted our own brand. we started buying the ip in 2006. we want our product to stand out. it didn't matter what language you spoke. you would know what it was called by the shape of the container. hence grenade. by we you are talking about you and your husband? that's right. you started with just a few dollars in the bank. you recently teamed up with a private equity company value in you at several million? that's right. we had an investment last year. it is valued at 72 million. it is the start for a grenade. something that was a hobby has turned into an obsession. you make it sound easy. i found this absolutely staggering. launched in 2010. you had $40 in your bank account by the time you invested. seven years later you get
a buyer worth 72 million. that is incredible. in seven years you have gone from nothing to 70 million. that is a huge market and when you worked out how to tap into? that's right. we are in the right space. healthy eating is a boom sector. a little bit is down to timing. but it is also down to hard work. whereas we didn't have the budgets for the big brands, we knew we had to make an impact. in ourfirst big brands, we knew we had to make an impact. in our first fitness big brands, we knew we had to make an impact. in ourfirst fitness expo we drove into the nec with it tank. that really stood out. time is against us. thank you so much for coming in. congratulations. thank you. that's it from business live today. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live webpage and on world business report. thanks for your company. see you soon. thanks for your company. see you soon. bye—bye. hello there. it is going to remain
mostly dry in the next few days. we have got some rain this morning. some showers are affecting the south—east of england. and some rain affecting northern and western part of england and wales from this cold front moving its way south and east. that cold front will weaken. the rain pretty much disappears. it is just a pound of cloud this afternoon. showers in the south east will disappear. this afternoon it is looking drier towards the south—east. some sunny spells. sunny spells for south east england —— south—west england, wales, northern england, scotland and northern ireland. showers in western areas. for most, it is drier. waxman temperatures getting up to 17 to 18 degrees in the north. 21 degrees in the south east. through tonight with lengthy period spells, there could
be patty missed, shallow fog. —— patchy mist. it will turn chilly. look at the temperature map. some greens and blue in the north—east of scotland. in the countryside and the north—east of scotland temperatures could be a —— as low as two to three degrees. thursday start off on a chilly night. apart from that patchy mac —— patchy mist, low cloud will clear quickly. lots of sunshine through the morning on thursday. more cloud in the afternoon. the chance of an isolated shower in northern and western areas. for most thursday will be dry. temperatures similarto thursday will be dry. temperatures similar to today. 17 to 21 degrees. towards the end of the week high pressure is dominating. we have got some weather systems moving in from the west. they are being blocked by that area of high pressure. any rain that area of high pressure. any rain that does come in will be limited to the far west. this is friday.
foremost, a dry day. there will be some sunshine through the morning. a bit more cloud into the far north and west. a bit of rain perhaps moving in. temperature wise up a little bit. 17 to 21. into the weekend temperatures rise even further. by sunday, were widely into the 20s. perhaps the mid—20s in the south east. bye— bye. hello, it's wednesday, it's 9 o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire, good morning "your heart breaks every second". in herfirst british interview, the us mum of a nine—year—old boy who took his own life last week, because she says he was bullied for being gay, talks exclusively to us about her pain and heartbreak. do you want to know what it's like to be dead while you're still alive? lose a child. it's painful. your heart breaks every second. you can hear that full exclusive interview with leia rochelle pierce
at 10.10 this morning. have you or someoen in your family been bullied for being gay? have you or someone in your family been bullied for being gay? do share your experiences this morning. the app designed to stop you getting pregnant hasn't stopped some women getting pregnant. today, the advertising watchdog says the natural cycles app can no longer


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Tablet sales more than triple while consumer PC sales in Europe remain weak; Android grabbing market share
EMEA PC shipments contracted 20.2 percent in Q1 2013 as consumers divert spending to tablets, says IDC
Intel announces changes to ITP programme in recognition of changing channel
Fujitsu’s Michael Keegan sets out some key points for resellers competing for education sales
What do the industry experts believe will be critical in the networking and infrastructure space 2013?
The arrival of new devices, BYOD, cloud and virtualisation may bring a wave of fresh security threats in 2013
Can the channel benefit from 40 percent of all the world’s PCs that are still running Windows XP?
Does the death of the desktop herald the birth of BYOD or something better for the channel?
VIP's Dave Stevinson explains why channel partners should avoid the temptation to sell consumer ultrabooks to business customers
Distinctive design and reasonable performance; misses out on an award by a whisker
Apple revisits its top-end iMac, and reasserts its position as the best all-in-one bar none
Not all Apple’s additions offer good value, but the hardware is as enticing as ever, and the Ivy Bridge upgrade is worth having
© Copyright Dennis Publishing Limited licensed by Felden


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A Lamborghini’s roar is nothing short of music to the ears of a car aficionado. Here’s presenting the soon-to-be-announced 50th anniversary edition of the Italian supercar manufacturer’s flagship, the Aventador. The LP720-4 50 Anniversario Edition Lamborghini Aventador’s images were recently leaked online, and we’ve picked up a few for you to relish. The car, scheduled to launch at the upcoming Shanghai Motor Show, is swathed in a cheerful yellow and black. With 710 horsepower, this powerful bull is capable of touching the 62 miles an hour mark in well under 2.9 seconds, making it a car you’d want to strap your seat belt on at all times!
The Anniversario Edition Aventador can touch a top speed of 217 miles an hour, leaving behind most of its contemporary peers in a cloud of dust and embarrassment. Also, the new Lambo comes with a special carbon fiber aero kit, 50% more efficient than the regular Aventador. Only 100 of these cars will be built, and not every one of these will be available in the Giallo Maggio color we’ve caught pictured here!


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LONDON -- The FTSE 100 (INDEX: ^FTSE) had a good week this week, with news of the Federal Reserve's latest round of quantitative easing giving worldwide markets a nice boost. With that coming on top of the European Central Bank's commitment to a new bond buying program, the index of U.K. blue chips ended the week up 121 points (2%), to 5,916 points, for a new six-month high.
But which individual companies were rising and falling? Here's a few that made the news.
Royal Bank of Scotland (ISE: RBS.L)
U.K. banks had a good week this week in response to the overall brighter outlook, with the state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland heading them up. The bank, bailed out by taxpayers during the depths of the banking crisis, gained 26 pence (10%) on the week to reach 279 pence, and is now up 25% since September 5.
That's still way down on pre-crunch prices, but the bank should finally be back in profit this year, and forecasts for December 2013 put the stock on a forward price to earnings ratio of a modest nine.
Supergroup (ISE: SGP.L)
Online fashion retailer Supergroup, the owner of the Superdry brand, has had a volatile recent history, having reached the heady heights of over 17 pounds per share in early 2011. But, like many stocks that attract fad attention, Supergroup, which counts the likes of David Beckham amongst its customers, slumped to a low of 267 pence in June this year, after various operational problems emerged.
Since then, after a management reshuffle, it's powered on back up to 635 pence this week, supported by a 10% rise in first quarter sales that were reported a few days ago. It's still priced as a growth share, but far more modestly than in the past.
Burberry Group (ISE: BRBY.L)
Talking of the fickleness of fashion, Burberry Group suffered a backlash this week, as the company, whose clothes are so popular amongst the rising rich of China, warned that this year's profits are likely to come in around the lower end of current analysts' forecasts. The shock caused the market to dump the stock, and the price ended the week 280 pence (20%) down, at 1,094 pence.
Retail sales for the 10 weeks to September 8 were up 6%, but that was all due to new store space, as like-for-like sales were flat. In fact, Burberry told us that like-for-like sales had seen a "deceleration in recent weeks." Will Burberry bounce back from this setback? It's done it before, and I wouldn't bet against it this time.
Hilton Food Group (ISE: HFG.L)
Specialist meat packing company Hilton Food Group fell this week, after turning in first-half results, with the price losing 43 pence (14%), to end the week at 262 pence. Although turnover for the six months rose by 9.4%, to 543 million pounds, bottom line pre-tax profit was just 0.4%, up to 9.6 million pounds. But there was a net cash inflow, and the company got its net debt down from 24.8 million pounds to 14.9 million.
Full-year forecasts don't look bad, with a dividend yield of 4% currently expected, from shares on a forward price to earnings ratio of 10, which is a fair way below the long term FTSE average of around 14.
As usual, this week's FTSE trading provided some large share price movements -- and perhaps some buying opportunities. Indeed, legendary investor Warren Buffett has spent more than $1 billion buying the shares of one of the UK's most successful FTSE large-caps.
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The article FTSE Shares That Soared and Plunged This Week originally appeared on Fool.com.
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At last May's Met Gala, everyone was talking about Kim Kardashian's dress. What made the headlines as much as her choice of Marilyn Monroe's legendary dress was Kim Kardashian's slimmer body. Kim lost a whopping 16 pounds (about 7 kg) to wear this dress, and she even revealed the process on her reality show, The Kardashian Family. 'Skinny' Kim Kardashian, it felt like heralding the end of an era when her voluptuous body was considered beautiful.
Something is changing. Of course, this is not to say that this paradigm shift is due to a particular celebrity's diet. I don't know if it's an obsession to get back in shape before the pandemic, but the brand's attempts to introduce plus-size lines in the past have failed. Y2K fashion and low-rise emphasizing a skinny body have literally become mega-trends. In other words, people want a skinny body suitable for Marilyn Monroe's dress again, not thick thighs and healthy hips.
After New York Fashion Week ended, many plus-size experts and influencers wondered why plus-size models had disappeared. According to 'The Fashion Spot', which publishes a report on the diversity of fashion shows every season, the casting rate of plus-size models has steadily increased since spring 2016, and in spring 2020, 68 plus-size models, accounting for about 5% of the total cast, The model was cast and reached its peak. But what about the spring 2023 season? Although the report is yet to be published, it can be clearly stated that the diversity of sizes has decreased without reference. This phenomenon was especially noticeable at shows in Europe, such as Paris and Milan.<br>I was fully aware of the fact that trends could exist on my body, but the shock I felt was much greater. Aren't you tired of this fad? There are enough fads that you feel like you have to follow. With a plus-size body, I've never had a problem with my body in the last 10 years. This is because changes that were previously considered impossible are continuously taking place. Even Abercrombie, which seemed to forever remain a brand only for white people with a 'standard body type', developed a plus size line, and movements such as 'Health at Every Size', which regards a patient's weight as an unimportant factor in a medical context, are of course drawing attention. Plus-size celebrities like Lizzo, Adie Bryant and Jennifer Coolidge have emerged as fashion icons.


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MINNEAPOLIS, MN (RNN) - General Mills Inc. made an announcement Wednesday that will benefit growing families. The company is calling it an industry-leading leave policy for new parents.
General Mills says mothers will be given 18 to 20 weeks paid leave. While leave for fathers, partners and adoptive parents will be 12 weeks to care for a newborn.
The company’s original leave benefit included two weeks of parental leave and six weeks maternity leave.
“General Mills has been making food people love for over 150 years and our employees have always been our secret ingredient. We want to keep innovating in how we meet their evolving needs,” said Jacqueline Williams-Roll of General Mills.
In a release, General Mills announced it will also provide employees time off to handle other family issues like caring for sick family members and longer time away for bereavement.
According to the company’s website, “the new benefits will apply to both salaried and non-union production workers in the U.S. and are intended to help all General Mills employees live happier, healthier lives both at work and at home.”
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.


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Italian two-wheeler manufacturer Piaggio, on Thursday, launched its Vespa LX 125 scooter in India. The scooter would be priced at Rs.66,661 ex-showroom Maharashtra.
Addressing a press conference here, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd (PVPL) Chairman and Managing Director Ravi Chopra said the company was looking to create a premium category in the domestic scooter segment with this product. PVPL is a fully-owned subsidiary of Piaggio.
Vespa was first sold in India in the 1960s and the 1970s in collaboration with Bajaj Auto. After exiting that venture, Piaggio tied up with LML till 1999, when the LML-Piaggio venture ended.
“There is no premium segment in the Indian scooter market. We will not compete with the existing players, but will create a unique segment for the brand. There is no better time to be in the Indian two-wheeler scooter space with evolved consumers looking for lifestyle options that go beyond mobility,'' he said.
Piaggio will sell its retro classic, the gearless Vespa LX125 here. The launch marks the world-wide debut of a new engine developed for the Indian market.
“The new engine is eco-friendly and fuel efficient and will be produced in Piaggio's other manufacturing facilities in Europe and Asia,'' said Mr. Chopra.
Vespa will be rolled out from the Piaggio's new factory at Baramati near Pune. This facility will have an initial annual capacity of 1.50 lakh units. Piaggio has invested 30 million euro (around Rs.210 crore) for the integrated facility, making both engines and Vespa.
“We will double capacity to three lakh units annually by mid-2013 at an additional investment of 20 million euro (around Rs.140 crore). We will gradually ramp up to reach monthly production levels of 12,000 units by September-October and, thereafter, to 15,000 and 20,000 levels,'' said Mr. Chopra adding that the Indian scooter market was growing at 20 per cent CAGR and would grow in double digits in the coming years. At full capacity, Piaggio expected to garner around 10 per cent of this market, he said.
Vespa would be sold through 50 exclusive dealers across 35 Indian cities.
On the possibility of exporting Vespa, Mr. Chopra told reporters that the plant would cater primarily to the Indian market. “Indian market demand is huge and we could actually fall short in the next few years.''
Launched in 1946, globally Piaggio has sold more than 17 million units of Vespa to date. Its other brands include Aprilia, Derbi, Gilera, Moto Guzzi and Scarabeo.
Keywords: Piaggio Vespa launch


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Partner Jonathan Menkes quoted in the Law360 article “5 Top NFT Questions Attys Want IP Agencies To Explore”
Knobbe Martens partner Jonathan Menkes was quoted by Law360 in the article “5 Top NFT Questions Attys Want IP Agencies To Explore.” The article discusses the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and U.S. Copyright Office's decision to study the impact of intellectual property rights on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The article notes that companies have been seeking clarity on how to proceed with NFT and metaverse-related trademark applications, given that the USPTO is currently processing thousands of such applications. Menkes notes that, in particular, there's an “imminent need for guidance” from the USPTO on the appropriate specimens of use—real-world examples of how a trademark is being used for the goods or services—in applications for NFTs.
Read the full article here >>> (Subscription Required)


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A recent report* named WhatsApp as the nation’s favourite social media platform, followed by Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with the app formerly known as Twitter in fourth place. With 57 million social media users in the UK alone, social platforms are constantly competing for attention. Existing channels are always evolving, with new ones in development vying to be the next big thing. Of course, not all platforms blow up and achieve TikTok-esque success levels, but the smaller ones can often provide an interesting insight into trends and users habits.
So, which of the lesser-known channels are worth checking out? Here is our top 5…
As of April, this year, BeReal became the fastest-growing social media platform.
Interestingly, it’s proving particular popular with zoomers, with a whopping 1,200% increase in Gen Z usage (Hubspot). Released in 2020, it takes the reactive, real-time na-ture of social media to the next level. Every day at a different time, users are simultane-ously notified, giving them just 2 minutes to capture and share a photo (It’s actually two photos at once, using your phone’s front and back cameras). Only after snapping their own shot can they view what their friends are up to at that precise time too. No fil-ters, no editing, and you can only do a re-shot within the 2-minute window. As the name implies - less staged, more real. https://bereal.com/
While Twitch isn’t new, you may not be familiar with it unless you’re an avid gamer. An interactive livestreaming service founded in 2011, Twitch was originally targeted at gamers and is still heavily dominated by this sector. However, since 2016 it has continued to expand its reach beyond the gaming community, with streamers now creating everything from cooking demos and makeup tutorials to live music. As of Ju-ly 2023, Twitch had approximately 7.59 million active streamers (Statista) – good news for businesses looking to reach audiences via the app, through their own branded channels, influencer marketing or social ads. http://app.twitch.tv
Owned by TikTok’s parent company, Lemon8 is a photo and video-sharing platform – a bit like Instagram meets Pinterest. Focusing on lifestyle topics, the key difference is that content is categorised by themes, including fashion, beauty, food, wellness, travel and home. For creators, the big draw of Lemon8 is that it streamlines the pho-to-editing process, offering a huge array of different filters, effects and templates, to achieve the perfect result, thus eliminating the need for multiple editing apps. With content categorised into themes, Lemon8 lends itself well to influencer marketing, allowing brands to target certain audiences more specifically. Plus, with #lemon8 garnering more than 2.4 billion views on TikTok (Forbes), there could be some inter-est cross-channel opportunities. https://www.lemon8-app.com/
Audio app, Clubhouse, features chat rooms where people can come together to talk, listen and learn in real-time. Launching in 2020 mid-pandemic, the platform exploded early doors, reaching 11 million downloads in less than a year, and with high profile users including Elon Musk and Mark Zukerberg. Twitter, LinkedIn, and Spotify all went on to launch their own live audio apps, which perhaps explains Clubhouse’s decline from peak popularity. However, it still has more than 3.5 million active users and, if nothing else, it demonstrates the trend for audio-focussed social networks. https://www.clubhouse.com/
With the recent shake-up by Elon Musk and the future of Twitter (or rather, X) uncertain, many users have sought alternative platforms. A popular one is Mastodon. In many ways Mastodon is similar to X, except that it’s a decentralised social network. This essentially means that it’s not owned and operated by a single person/entity – a big draw for those becoming increasingly worried about data security. Another pro for users is that content is time-ordered, meaning no irritating algorithm, more control and creative freedom. Plus, it’s ad-free, putting the focus back on organic content. http://joinmastodon.org
*We are Social and Meltwater, Digital 2023: The United Kingdom


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CHARLOTTE, NC: October 10, 2016. ABX Air and its sister company Air Transport International (ATI) are now operating B767 Amazon Prime Air services from Charlotte, NC to Stockton, CA; Allentown, PA; Chicago/Rockford, IL; and Ontario, CA.
ABX and ATI are part of the Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) based in Wilmington, Ohio. In Charlotte, ATI operates out of a facility just south of the airport's east runway. Amazon has four warehouse and fulfillment centers in North and South Carolina two hours or less by truck from Charlotte.
In March this year ATSG signed a deal to lease 20 B767 aircraft to Amazon Fulfillment Services, an affiliate of Amazon.com, to operate a U.S. domestic air cargo network, and agreed to give Amazon the option to acquire up to 19.9 percent of the company's common stock over a five-year period. By September, ATSG had put 10 aircraft into service.
"Since last summer, we have been working closely with Amazon to demonstrate that a dedicated, fully customized air cargo network can be a strong supplement to existing transportation and distribution resources," said Joe Hete, president and CEO.
Amazon followed the ATSG deal with a contract in May 2016 to lease 20 Atlas Air B767s for seven to 10 years, and to acquire up to 20 percent of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWI) over a five-year period.
Now AAWI has signed with Boeing for the manufacturer to convert nine B767 passenger airplanes into freighters for use on behalf of Amazon. Boeing said its current market outlook forecasts a need for 400 widebody conversions over the next two decades, with strong demand for 767 freighter conversions "due to a rise in e-commerce".
In addition to lease contracts with Amazon, Amerijet, Cargojet (Canada), DHL and West Atlantic (Sweden), ATSG has joint ventures in China with Okay Airlines and VIPShop as a result of the expanding eCommerce market in SE Asia.
ATSG reported EBITDA of US$103 million in H1 2016 and is forecasting US$218 million for the full year. The contract with Amazon now accounts for 22 percent of revenue according to company sources.
Charlotte International Airport is linked to the global economy by 15 cargo airlines, handled nearly 130,000 tons in 2013, and has the only U.S. intermodal facility located between its two runways that is connected by air, rail (Norfolk Southern) and 300 trucking companies.


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‘In the Lonely Hour’ is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on May 26th and will hit retail on June 17th in the U.S. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, which includes a solo acoustic version of Disclosure’s single “Latch” and Naughty Boy’s number-one single “La La La”. The album peaked to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart.
With its release nearing in the U.S., HDD is projecting his first week sales to be at approximately 125-150k. Check back next Tuesday for the official numbers.


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EBay Inc. gave a quarterly profit forecast that topped estimates as the Web marketplace recovers from a security breach that forced users to change passwords and a Google Inc. search change that curbed traffic to the site.
Revenue for the second quarter will be $4.4 billion to $4.5 billion, the San Jose, California-based company said in a statement Wednesday. Profit before certain items will be 71 cents to 73 cents a share. Analysts on average projected sales of $4.57 billion and profit of 71 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The recovery blunted concerns that EBay would lose some of its value once it separates from PayPal, the faster-growing payments division, under a planned split later this year. That could also make the marketplace business, which draws 155 million shoppers per quarter, more attractive as an acquisition. The split is on track to happen in the third quarter, the company said.
The management team talked a lot last year about Google search changes and the security breach, said Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc. If those issues start going away, people will give the marketplace more weight and value it a little higher before the split.
First-quarter sales rose 4.4 percent to $4.45 billion, EBay said.


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According to fresh rumors, the Assassin's Creed Codename RED will be released in 2024 and will have two playable characters.
Ubisoft is currently working on a number of other Assassin's Creed titles that haven't been officially confirmed since September 2022. Four other Assassin's Creed titles have recently been suggested.
Assassin's Creed Codename RED will provide gamers with their long-awaited Japan environment, according to a new report. Codename RED will concentrate on stealth gameplay, with two playable protagonists.
Ubisoft is expecting a release in 2024, according to previous reports. Due to departures at Ubisoft Quebec, the game should already be in excellent condition.
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AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik has stressed on the need to use modern technologies to promote Ayurveda in the country.
Inaugurating the two days National Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business Development in Ayurveda in New Delhi today, Mr Naik said, government has taken several new initiatives in the last four years to increase the market size of Ayurveda.
He said, 20 Lakh medicines in Ayurveda are available in the country. Mr Naik said, the seminar is organised to encourage young entrepreneurs to use modern technologies and highlight opportunities at global level.
Speaking on the occasion, CEO NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant urged to maintain the medicinal purity of Ayurveda. He said, Ayurveda medicine is India’s biggest gift to the world and there is massive opportunity in Ayurveda.
He said, there is numerous business and job opportunity in Ayurveda.


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DANBURY, Conn. -- Customers traveling on the Danbury Branch of Metro-North will be able to use their credit cards to purchase tickets onboard trains as part of a limited pilot program to test new Ticket Issuing Machines(TIMs).
The onboard credit card payments will begin on Monday, Oct. 27, Metro-North said.
Ticket purchases may be made using any major credit card or you may use your debit card as a credit card. Conductors will also be able to print out customer receipts from their upgraded TIMs.
This new customer convenience is being tested on the Danbury and Wassaic branch lines before being expanded to all lines.
During this test period, the new TIMs may be in use for credit card purchases on a limited number of additional trains on other lines. Customers should listen for train announcements.
Metro-North reminds customers that purchasing tickets on board the train is always the most expensive option.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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CHICAGO, Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — LQD Business Finance, a leading tech-enabled alternative lender, launches the development of the world’s first Bitcoin business lending platform. This cutting-edge platform will make LQD Business Finance the first company to use Bitcoin as currency for commercial loans.
Chicago-based commercial lender launches the development of first-ever loan service with Bitcoin as currency
While Bitcoin can be used as collateral to obtain a loan currently, the company’s platform will be the first to use Bitcoin as a lending currency. LQD Business Finance’s platform will achieve this goal in two key ways.
First, LQD Business Finance will build upon the Provenance blockchain to make the process of documenting and packaging loans more efficient. “Bringing increased efficiency and accuracy to commercial lending at the core of LQD’s DNA. Adding a blockchain to our existing tech-stack enables us to better achieve that goal,” says LQD CEO George Souri.


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Despite receiving over 70 awards and honours at this year’s CES, recent reports claim LG will broadly release its world-first rollable TV in 2020.
Reported by Tom’s Guide, Hyun-Jin Kim, the head of LG’s Planning & LG Signature R Task Team, reveals the OLED TV R will initially launch in Korea later this year, with broader global release the year after.
The news follows previous reports the product would release late 2019 – now seemingly limited to Korea.
Whilst Kim remained tight-lipped on pricing, the TV is set to inhabit the ultra-premium market, with exact countries of broader launch to be announced.
The news follows the unveiling of LG’s 88-inch OLED 8K TV, which will release in the United States in the second half of 2019.
A 75-inch 8K TV is reportedly also in the works, with anything sub 70-inches deemed inappropriate for showcasing its ultra-high definition.
The new LG OLED rollable is tipped to mirror its other Signature sets including; HDR10 Dolby Vision, Technicolor and HLG.


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Delicato Family Wines has introduced three new varietal wines under Bota Box’s bag-in-box Nighthawk range: Nighthawk Black Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon, Nighthawk Black Lush Pinot Noir and Nighthawk Gold Vibrant Sauvignon Blanc.
The Bota Box brand was launched in 2003, taking inspiration from traditional Spanish wine skins known as ‘botas’, which were used to carry wine for centuries.
According to Delicato, the brand has proved popular among both outdoor adventure enthusiasts and consumers looking to reduce their environmental impact. Sales of Nighthawk by Bota Box are on track to reach 1 million cases in 2019.
Bota Box and Nighthawk by Bota Box wines are available in 3-litre cartons; select varietals are also packaged in 1.5-litre bag-in-boxes and in 500ml Tetra Pak cartons.
Jon Guggino, executive vice president of marketing for Delicato Family Wines, said: “The Nighthawk by Bota Box family of wines is attracting new consumers to the boxed wine category, and has strong appeal with younger Millennial and Gen Z wine drinkers aged 21 and over, who love Nighthawk’s bigger, bolder flavour profile.”
Earlier this year, Delicato launched a multi-million-dollar Bota Box consumer advertising campaign with the tagline ‘This Is How We Bota’. The campaign will run to the end of the year on major digital outlets as well as social channels.
The new wines are now available in the US for a suggested retail price of $22.99 for a 3-litre carton.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2020
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Samsung Pay is planning to enable online payments this year, and will also bring the mPayment service to more lower-end Samsung devices.
The moves appear to be aimed at expanding the breadth of the service’s reach. And that’s already considerable: Samsung Pay’s MST technology allows the mPayment platform to work with traditional swipe-based card readers in addition to the newer NFC readers required by Apple Pay, its main rival. But the service has so far only been available on a small handful of Samsung smartphones; so by bringing it to more devices, and perhaps especially by bringing it to web purchases, Samsung could dramatically extend the reach of its brand.
Of course, moving so overtly into the eCommerce space will also put Samsung Pay into more direct competition with PayPal, which is currently the most prominent operator in that area, and has ambitious plans to increase its presence in digital payments more broadly. Indeed, PayPal has appeared to be angling to get into mPayments itself, so this kind of head-on competition may have been inevitable for Samsung.
In any case, the increased competition should ultimately be good news for the consumer, who will see an increasing number of digital payment options in the year ahead.


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Deploying an update of its DB2 database, IBM is pitching its SmartCloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) for use in data reporting and analysis.
Anyone remotely within the orbit of SAP lately knows that its number-one focus is the HANA in-memory database and development platform. At this week's Sapphire conference in Orlando, the vendor sought to show the progress it is making in both buildin...
Amazon Web Services is improving the performance of its DynamoDB database service with Parallel Scan, which gives users faster access to their tables.
SAP's HANA Cloud Platform, consisting of the core in-memory database plus application development tools, analytics and integration services, will eventually underpin all of its cloud-based applications, the company said at its Sapphire conference.
SAP is set to offer customers the option of running their applications on top of a cloud-based version of its HANA in-memory database technology.
SAP is hoping to sow more seeds of interest in its newest technologies, including the HANA in-memory database, through a new online training program available at no charge.
Users of the Hadoop data processing platform now have two more search engines to help them sort through their mountains of information.
Open source database provider 10gen is expanding into storage services, offering a hosted backup service for its flagship MongoDB data store.
Two companies offering third-party support for Oracle's open-source MySQL database, as well as the MySQL offshoot MariaDB, have announced plans to merge.
Oracle is planning to release a series of applications that take advantage of in-memory computing, a move that will up the competitive ante between itself and SAP.
Red Hat has revised its JBoss Data Grid software package, which now offers the ability to replicate copies of data across different data centers, and also comes with a number of other new features that can limit downtime.
SAP has spent the past year wooing entrepreneurs around the world in hopes they'll be entranced enough by its much-hyped HANA in-memory database to build products and even entire companies around the technology. On Friday, SAP brought the road show t...
The PostgreSQL developers released updates for all major branches of the popular open-source database system on Thursday in order to address several vulnerabilities, including a high-risk one that could allow attackers to crash the server, modify con...
Following the tradition set by recent versions, the new release of the MongoDB NoSQL data store comes with a batch of new features designed to appeal to the enterprise market, including a new built-in search engine, more support for geospatial data a...
Hoping to lure more Apache Hadoop users to its own data analysis services, Google has outfitted BigQuery with the ability to query multiple data tables.
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The NSW Department of Fair Trading has finally grown some teeth by tackling the problem that many prospective home buyers face weekend after weekend; real estate underquoting.
Two Sydney real estate agencies are under investigation following consumer complaints they misrepresented property prices, with more prosecutions expected when new laws are passed in January, reports Domain.
The latest two investigations came to the consumer watchdog’s attention following complaints from the public. One of the agencies is located in the Sutherland Shire, the other is in the inner west.
Underquoting wastes home buyer’s time, money and causes heartache
REINSW chief executive Tim McKibbin told Domain the problem of underquoting is “far smaller than some believe it to be”.
However, realAs data from an October 2015 survey indicates 46 per cent of real estate agents sold properties at auction for more than 10 per cent of the quoted price.
This included 26 per cent of agents quoting prices 15 per cent lower than the sold price and 9 per cent of agents quoting prices 20 per cent below the final sold price.
There are three main causes of inaccurate quoting by real estate agents:
- intentional misleading and deceptive conduct,
- genuine “one off” properties where buyers pay well above what the market expected, or
- lack of knowledge of their local area
Inaccurate quoting is not rare, it happens almost every second auction in NSW
New laws to commence on January 1, 2016 will make it easier for Fair Trading by taking the “burden of proof” off them and onto the agent.
Underquoting in NSW is expected to reduce through the combination of new legislation and more data available to home buyers from startup companies like realAs.
Honest, experienced real estate agents will welcome the new changes. We have already seen evidence of agents using their ability to accurately quote prices as a differentiator.
Whereas those agents which use misleading and deceptive practices to attract home buyers will find it more difficult to operate in world where home buyers have so much more data at their finger tips.
The key changes to the new NSW laws are:
- an agent must not quote a figure less than their estimated selling price provided in the agency agreement,
- the estimated selling price can be a single figure or a price range,
- if a price range is used, the highest price must not be more than 10 per cent higher than the lowest price,
- advertisements and representations that say “offers over” or “offers above” or any similar statement are not allowed,
- agents will also be required to keep a written record of every statement of price they make to buyers, prospective buyers, vendors and prospective vendors,
- agents found guilty of underquoting will now be liable to forfeiture of any commission or fees from the sale in addition to the existing penalty of $22,000.


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“RFID technology provides the pharmaceutical industry with the ability to create an electronic drug ‘pedigree,’ or tracking mechanism that will lead to greater supply chain security and patient protection against counterfeit drugs,” says Aaron Graham, vice president and chief security officer at Purdue. The company is using Class 0 tags from Symbol Technologies (formerly Matrics) that contain a 96-bit electronic product code (EPC) number, according to Chuck Nardi, Purdue’s executive director of supply-chain and corporate systems.
The tags are applied to bottles from which pharmacists fill prescriptions and won’t be sold to consumers. Bottles are shipped in boxes of 48.
In addition, the company plans to donate 100 handheld RFID readers to a variety of law-enforcement offices targeting prescription drug thefts.


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Scalpers swoop as Apple sells out of iPhone 4 in China
Friday 01 October 2010
US high-tech giant Apple has sold out of the iPhone 4 in China less than a week after launching the trendy smartphone on the mainland, creating a flourishing market for scalpers, state media reported.
More than 200,000 iPhone 4s were snapped up within days of going on sale while waiting lists stretch to the end of October, the China Daily newspaper reported Wednesday, citing Apple's mobile operator partner China Unicom.
Apple was forced to temporarily close one of its stores in Beijing on the same day after arguments reportedly broke out between scalpers and Apple store customers frustrated at missing out on the handsets.
Earlier in the week, scalpers were scooping up several iPhone 4s at a time, suggesting Apple's restrictions of two smartphones per person were not being enforced, the China Economic Daily reported on its website Thursday.
Scalpers outside Apple's two stores in the capital were then offering the iPhone 4s to desperate customers for 300-600 yuan (45-90 dollars) more than the official price, the report said.
One scalper, who had bought six iPhone 4s, told the newspaper he was selling the 16-gigabyte version, which has wireless Internet capability, for 5,600 yuan compared with the official price of 4,999 yuan.
The 32-gigabyte smartphone sells for 5,999 yuan, Apple has said.
The phone made its debut in China on September 25, just a week after Apple officially launched the iPad in the country, with some customers queuing for several days to get their hands on the tablet computer.
Both products have been available for several months on China's grey market, which has been booming thanks to great demand for Apple goods.
The earlier version of the iPhone only officially went on sale in China in October - more than two years after its US launch.
China has at least 420 million web users and is also the world's largest mobile market with more than 800 million subscribers as of the end of June, according to official data.
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Standing my ground: If sitting is bad for your health, what happens when you stay on your feet for a whole month?
The secret report that helps Israelis to hide facts
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Opponents of Israel's military operation in Gaza are the real enemies of Middle Eastern peace
- 1 Secret Cinema: Why were Back to the Future screenings cancelled?
- 2 Christians: The world's most persecuted people
- 3 The secret report that helps Israelis to hide facts
- 4 Ross Burden dead: MasterChef and Ready Steady Cook star, dies aged 45
- 5 Standing my ground: If sitting is bad for your health, what happens when you stay on your feet for a whole month?
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The Japanese nuclear disaster may be seemingly happening a world away, but that hasn’t kept locals from taking precautions.
At the local health food store, New West Trading Company, Connie Lawrence says people are buying up anything that has iodine in it.
On Friday, Lawrence said her store was completely out of kelp, which is a natural form of iodine, and had only two bottles of iodine after having over 60 in stock before news of the failing reactors in Japan.
One customer sent a shipment to Vancouver, where supplies of anything containing iodine have been bought up.
Potassium iodine inhibits the intake of iodine radiation by the thyroid, which can lead to thyroid cancer, and has been distributed in Japan to those who may be affected by that form of radiation.
Lawrence points back to Chernobyl when a similar thing happened.
“It’s the same thing then,” she says. “We had runs on potassium iodine.”
Lawrence says that it can’t hurt to be prepared, and unlike the more potent potassium iodine, which may have adverse reactions if too much is consumed, there aren’t dangers to eating kelp.


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By EDDIE OSIFELO
SPECIAL Secretary to Prime Minister, Albert Kabui says Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has never written a character reference letter for a Dion Kingi Paul, who pleaded guilty in an Australian court this week to stealing by looting.
Paul pleaded admitted to looting wheels during flooding in Queensland, Australia, early this year.
Courier Mail crime reporter, Patrick Billings reported that Paul, a successful businessman, “took advantage of the misery of others” by stealing during Brisbane’s catastrophic floods.
In court, Paul’s lawyer presented a character reference letter purportedly written by Sogavare.
Paul is said to have operated two retail shops in Honiara.
But Kabui told reporters yesterday they are not aware of that person.
He added the PM has not drafted any letter and that he himself has not seen that letter.
“We are looking at legal options to address this issue,” Kabui said.
It was revealed following Sun’s investigation that Paul owns two retail shops in Solomon Islands.


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The increase in the number of overweight Americans has led to a so called epidemic of type 2 diabetes that shows no signs of slowing. More than two-thirds of adults are now overweight or obese. About 11 percent of adults ─ 24 million people ─ have diabetes, and up to 95 percent of them have type 2 diabetes, according to the National Institutes of Health. Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke and the major cause of kidney failure, limb amputations and new-onset blindness.
According to a new report published in the November issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, individuals who experience both adversity as children and traumatic events as adults are more
likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those individuals who experience
only one of these kinds of incidents.
The report also found that the risk was greater for individuals with a particular genetic mutation that may influence the way the brain processes the neurotransmitter serotonin, affecting an individual's anxiety levels and changing the way neurons react to fearful stimuli.
Thanks to the recent outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, most people now recognize the need to maintain good hygiene as a means to avoid sickness. And undoubtedly, frequent updates on death tolls, school closures and airport screenings from health officials and media figures also deserve some credit for the public's hyper vigilance in maintaining good hygiene--frequently washing hands, sneezing into shirt sleeves and so on.
While these behaviors can be good ways to prevent the spread of disease, is it possible that the current trend of hygiene awareness is overblown? Even to the point of turning people into germaphobes?
Most people would probably say they love shopping online. With the prices of online stores being so much cheaper than traditional retailers, what's not to love? According to recently released research, the increasing lack of product choices found online may be a good candidate.
A new study, published in Marketing Science, found that the traditional system of selling through retailers encourages longer – rather than shorter – product lines, which could dry up as manufacturers turn to direct sales online.
The reason is pretty simple. As more manufacturers go online and cut out the middle men and accompanying price increases, they tend to lose their incentive to diversify their products.
Back in 2005, when a massive 35-mile-long rift broke open in the Ethiopia desert some geologists controversially claimed that a new ocean was forming as two parts of the African continent pulled apart.
Currently, scientists from several countries have supposedly confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans, and the rift may likely be the beginning of a new sea.
Charles Darwin described a canid on the Falkland Islands, off the east coast of Argentina, but it has long been extinct. Darwin called it Canis antarcticus, placing it in the same genus as the domestic dog, wolf and coyote
Since then, biologists have also puzzled over the Falklands wolf's ancestry, with suggestions that they were related to domestic dogs, North American coyotes, or South American foxes. The wolves were the size of a coyote, but much stockier, with fur the color of a red fox. They had short muzzles, just like gray wolves, and thick, wooly fur.


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The smartwatch space is owned by Apple Watch, no matter what. Google has no direct Android WearOS solution until now as they have purchased Fitbit for $2.1 billion.
Fitbit holds all the hardware and software expertise which should allow Google to make the best Android watches that users have been looking forward to so long. After all, Apple enjoys a monopoly but their Apple Watch works only with iPhones.
There are lots of expensive Android phones including the likes of Pixel 4, Galaxy Note 10 and OnePlus 7 Pro. But, if you look into the market to buy a great smartwatch to pair up with it, the choices are too little. The most feasible choice would be a Fossil watch or a Fitbit watch which comes close to perfection.
However, while these companies are good at making great watch hardware, they don’t have the expertise to customize the software. Google’s decision to buy Fitbit for a whopping $2.1 billion sounds like an excellent move. After all, a series of Pixel watches with Android Wear OS will definitely disrupt the market and pave way for some amazing watches to hit stores in the near future.
In addition to the purchase, they further confirmed that the health data collected by Fitbit so far will not be shared with Google. They will also continue to operate as an individual brand as lots of users love their watches. Meanwhile, Google will work on making Pixel smartwatches pioneered by the technology that Fitbit possess in terms of hardware.
While we can’t confirm more details about the upcoming Pixel Watch at this point, we have seen plenty of rumors surrounding it. Google’s decision to purchase Fitbit further confirms the decision and a couple of good products can enhance the experience for Android users. The watches are also expected to be priced higher for the Pixel series whereas Fitbit products will cover all price points.


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Outdoor recreation industry teams with UNH, state to rev up ‘economic engine’
Newly created policy fellowship seen as key support for growing sector
Outdoor recreation in New Hampshire accounts for a $2.8 billion impact on the local economy and about 28,000 jobs.
That’s enough of a punch, according to advocates, to warrant funding for a University of New Hampshire graduate student fellow who will provide policy project support to elevate the outdoor economy in the Granite State.
A New Hampshire Outdoor Recreation Economy Roundtable recently held in Dover at the headquarters of NEMO, an independent designer and maker of outdoor gear and accessories, attracted key players in the industry, as well as the attendance – and support – of U.S. Rep. Christopher Pappas, Democrat from the state’s’ 1stCongressional District.
“The outdoor industry is a vital economic engine in this country,” said Cam Brensinger, CEO and founder of NEMO. “We wanted to host this roundtable to highlight the importance of outdoor recreation in New Hampshire.”
Nationally, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data cited at the NEMO conference, the outdoor recreation economy generates $862 billion annually, accounts for 1.9 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and has created 4.5 million American jobs. In 2021, outdoor recreation had a higher economic output than oil and gas, mining, or agriculture. In New Hampshire, outdoor recreation drives $2.7 billion in annual GDP, and supports 28,000 jobs.
Further, according to Granite Outdoor Alliance, New Hampshire’s outdoor economy is 3.2 percent of the state’s economy, ninth highest in the United States.
Besides Pappas, attendees included Janel Lawton, director of the NH Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development; Tyler Ray, founder and outdoor director of Granite Outdoor Alliance; Jayson Seaman, chair of the UNH Department of Recreation Management and Policy; Jada Lindblom, community and economic development field specialist for UNH Cooperative Extension; and Jessyca Keeler, president of Ski NH.
“From our ski slopes to our lakes, outdoor recreation generates billions in revenue, employs tens of thousands of Granite Staters, and is an essential piece of New Hampshire’s economy and identity,” said Pappas.
He added that “outdoor recreation supports other critical sectors of our economy as well, including hospitality, entertainment, and retail. The leaders I met with, representing New Hampshire’s outdoor economy, made clear that we must continue to take steps to address climate change, mitigate its impacts and protect our natural surroundings. We cannot forget the relationship between our environment, our way of life and our economy in New Hampshire.”
The fellowship “will help expand our capacity for tracking emerging funding opportunities at the federal and regional levels, which is essential for making research-informed development decisions,” according to Seaman.
As part of the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs, the Office of Outdoor Recreation (ORID) works with state and industry partners to coordinate outdoor recreation policy, management and promotion among state and federal agencies and local governments.
The fellowship will support the state’s growing outdoor recreation economy in partnership with UNH, NEMO, the Granite Outdoor Alliance, and ORID.
The UNH Carsey School of Public Policy fellow will be funded for the 2023-24 academic year by NEMO, with a match from the Carsey School.
NEMO representatives shared with the group their support for the priorities of the Outdoor Industry Association’s 2023 policy agenda. They include:
- Passing America’s Outdoor Recreation Act, which invests in recreation and green infrastructure to enhance access to public lands
- Establishing a federal Office of Outdoor Recreation;
- Modernizing the farm bill to support outdoor recreation through updates to the Rural Development, Conservation and Forestry titles
- Supporting the expansion of state-based outdoor equity funds to improve public lands access for all Americans
“NEMO has invested heavily in our own sustainability efforts, but we need to collaborate with our industry partners and elected officials to enact lasting change,” said Theresa McKenney, director of sustainability at NEMO.
According to Shannon Rogers, an ecological economist with UNH Extension, “it’s challenging to navigate the outdoor economy’s changing policy landscape while simultaneously trying to bring actionable ideas to the local level.
UNH Extension offices are located in each of the state’s 10 counties.
The Granite State Outdoor Alliance includes economic development among its mission goals. Tyler Ray, founder and outdoor director of the alliance, said, “We hope the research will drive actionable steps toward a greater focus on outdoor recreation investments at the local and state level.”


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NEW NORMAL. Masks in different colors being sold at the Silay City public market to match one’s outfit.* (Aeson Tronco Baldevia photo)
Another Bacoleño OFW
positive for COVID-19
‘3 hit by virus in Oriental came from Bacolod’
BY CARLA P. GOMEZ
A repatriated overseas Filipino worker (OFW) has tested positive for COVID-19, making him the 15th confirmed case in Bacolod City, the City Health Office announced yesterday.
The CHO is also investigating a report that three of six new COVID-19 positive cases in Negros Oriental yesterday had come from Bacolod City, Dr. Ma Carmela Gensoli, Bacolod City Health Office head, said.
SP questions rise in electricity rates
BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod has passed a resolution expressing strong opposition to the increase of electricity rates of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative and requesting the Energy Regulatory Commission to look into the matter and take the necessary action to stop it.
The resolution, authored by Councilor Simplicia Distrito, said that complaints about the sudden increase of electricity bills flooded social media platforms and has reached the SP office.CENECO recently announced a power rate adjustment of P0.53 or from P10.6608 to P11.1923 per kilowatt hour.
Exec: More consumers complaining
against Ceneco’s ‘sudden’ rate hike
BY MARCHEL P. ESPINA
More consumers of Central Negros Electric Cooperative have aired out their complaints against the “sudden increase” in the power rate charges during the lockdown, Wennie Sancho of consumer group Power Watch Negros, said yesterday.
He said more than 20 individuals have approached him to complain that there was a surge in their electric bills for the months of April and May.The Facebook page of the DAILY STAR was also flooded with complaints from consumers.


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Shift from basic industries to consumption is showing up in greenfield investment data
Smog-focused officials limit sales but relent on prohibition amid popular opposition
Chinese car-sharing company capitulates to regulators after years of laissez-faire
Decline marks end to huge growth that saw values rise as much as 40% last year
Hired to produce architectural photos, Noah Sheldon began documenting the workers behind the 632m structure
Snap’s $25bn listing heads the 2017 queue, along with three Chinese tech groups
Migrants risk fines to continue driving for ride-share app in Shanghai and Beijing
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This year’s Biennale comes amid an explosion of gallery openings and exhibitions
Chain plans to close 83 stores, more than half of them outside the UK
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Nice social media campaign from @dominos_uk – but are the figures accurate? #letsdolunch
By Rich Leigh on Monday, March 5, 2012
Domino’s Pizza ran a campaign that lowered the price of a Pepperoni Passion pizza with a starting value of £15.99 each time Twitter users posted with the hashtag #letsdolunch.
The 'Tweets For Treats’ campaign ran from 9am to 11am today (5th March), allowing followers to buy the cheaper pizza between midday and 3pm, with each tweet shaving 0.01p off the price. The falling price of the pizza was displayed in real-time on Dominos' Facebook page here, though the price wouldn't drop below £6.59, according to the terms.
Given that Monday lunchtime is hardly likely to be prime pizza ordering time, I doubt a loss-leader like this will hit Domino's too hard financially, but it gained some nice online love and their Facebook 'likes' increase by 4,000 within the morning.
I do like that the campaign isn't ashamed of the fact it's being run to earn Domino's money – all too often, social media campaigns are all about the 'engagement'.
However, I am a bit unsure about the number of tweets the campaign claims to have encouraged.
Calculations: the final pizza price was £7.74.
From £15.99, the price
As each tweet shaved 0.01p from the price, 825 x 100 (tweets per 1p) = 82,500 tweets with the hashtag #letsdolunch.
You'd expect this to be enough to trend, wouldn't you? But it didn't, although a look at a Twitter search for #letsdolunch shows people were certainly getting involved:
UPDATE – this is from the terms and conditions, as pointed out by Econsultancy's David Moth:
A tweet that includes the hashtag #letsdolunch will result in a minimum of 0.01p being knocked off the price point of the large Pepperoni Passion. However, please be aware that Domino’s reserves the right to change the value being knocked off the price point at any point during the time period of 9am and11am on Monday 05 March 2012 but at no point will it drop below 0.01p.
I guess they increased the amount knocked of with each tweet by quite a bit.


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"This past year has been the most hard and painful of my career", Musk told the Times, which cited people briefed on the matter as saying Tesla is working to recruit an executive to take some of the heat off of Musk.
Musk is also the founder of the infrastructure startup the Boring Co. and Neuralink, which is developing brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers.
Most of the company's board members have ties and relationships with Musk, but Elson and Gordon say they also have a fiduciary duty to all the other shareholders.
"The only way I could have meaningful discussions with our largest shareholders was to be completely forthcoming with them about my desire to take the company private", read his statement.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk has acknowledged exhaustion from overwork, as he deals with a reported probe by regulators into a plan divulged on Twitter to take his auto company Tesla private. The tweet said: "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420". But I was not on weed, to be clear'.
Musk himself said there was "no active search" and said he was not planning to resign his positions.
"There were times when I didn't leave the factory for three or four days - days when I didn't go outside", Musk said.
"They can have the job".
'Is there someone who can do the job better? "They can have the reins right now", he told the paper.More news: Rescuers help people in flooded Kerala
The report cited people familiar with the situation as saying Tesla has been trying to find another top level executive to help relieve some of the pressure on Musk.
In an interview with The New York Times, Musk said 2018 has been "excruciating for him", acknowledging efforts to ensure Tesla is meeting its production targets have taken a physical toll. I've had friends come by who are really concerned'. The figure was $419 and he rounded up. "There's a reason for the word 'stoned.' You just sit there like a stone on weed", he said.
Musk has also said on multiple occasions that Tesla would become profitable by the end of this year and would not need to raise additional funds, despite its increased cash-burn rate in recent quarters.
Kimbal officially married Christiana, the daughter of billionaire Sam Wyly, on April 7, but celebrated the event with around 300 guests at Greco-Roman ruins near Girona.
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Musk wrote the controversial tweet while on his way to the airport on August 7, according to the newspaper, which conducted an hour-long interview with the Tesla CEO.
He chose to round up to $US420 - a number that is code for marijuana. But his out-of-the-blue go-private announcement raised a huge ruckus and pushed Tesla's shares up 11 percent in a day, raising the company's value by $6 billion.
Taken unawares, the firm's board said this week that it has formed a special committee to consider going private.
The SEC reportedly served Tesla with a subpoena this week. In one recent Twitter tirade, Musk lashed out at a cave diver who participated in the dramatic rescue of 12 trapped boys in Thailand, levying unsubstantiated claims that the man was a "pedophile". Amidst all of this, he says he lives at the Tesla factory and misses his kids.


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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK’s advertising regulator, is taking steps to combat ads making misleading claims about the COVID-19 virus.
In March 2020, the ASA issued three rulings:
- Shopping 4 Home Ltd offered masks for sale on Amazon which were marketed as ‘Coronavirus Anti Corona Virus Vented Face Mask 3M Disposable Respirator, FFP3, Valve, 8835 (1).’ The ASA considered that the reference to ‘coronavirus’ in the listing was likely to exploit people’s fears regarding the coronavirus outbreak, particularly in a context where Public Health England, the relevant health authority, had not recommended face masks as a means of the public protecting themselves from coronavirus. It was therefore misleading, irresponsible and likely to cause fear without justifiable reason.
- Novads OU also offered masks for sale. Its ads included various claims, including “now there’s a new breakthrough nano tech face mask that delivers an extraordinary level of protection … it’s called Oxybreath Pro” and was accompanied by text emphasising the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of face masks, and “a growing sense of panic.” The ASA considered that the ads used alarmist language and were misleading, irresponsible and likely to cause fear without justifiable reason.
- Vic Smith, a bedding company, published an ad which included a cartoon image of an upright mattress with a Union Jack flag on the front, which was wearing a green surgical mask. The accompanying text stated, “BRITISH BUILD [sic] BEDS PROUDLY MADE IN THE UK. NO NASTY IMPORTS.” The ASA considered that the phrase “NO NASTY IMPORTS,” in combination with the image of the surgical mask, was likely to be taken as a reference to the coronavirus outbreak, and was likely to be read as a negative reference to immigration or race, and in particular as associating immigrants with disease. The adjudication was upheld on the ground that the ad was likely to cause serious and widespread offence.
It is worth noting that the first two of these investigations were initiated by the ASA acting proactively, rather than in response to a third party complaint – something which it has the power to do when rapid action is needed.
The ASA has issued a statement on its regulatory approach to COVID-19. In it, the regulator recognises that in this time of national crisis it must act sensitively and with due regard to the circumstances faced by businesses and members of the public. In practice, this means applying a lighter regulatory touch and minimising regulatory interventions for minor infractions which are related to the COVID-19 pandemic (for example, unexpected shortages of stock).
The statement emphasises, however, that the ASA will take an uncompromising stance on companies or individuals seeking to use advertising to exploit the circumstances for their own gain. To facilitate this, the ASA has launched a bespoke online reporting form for ads that make misleading, harmful or irresponsible claims on the subject of the COVID-19 disease.


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Men in Black: International released it's trailer, and it looks like it's going to be an interesting and fun movie.
Tag - Featured Content
Part One of a list of where to find the holiday episodes of some of your favorite adult animation programs.
Tumblr's new policies are causing issues for users and it seems to be down to algorithmic issues.
Today we're looking at J.R. Mounts, an independent comic creator, and his new work Silver Linings which is being funded by Kickstarter