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As Congress dithers and delays over reforming the antiquated Toxic Substances Control Act, California took a major step in implementing its Safer Consumer Products (SCP) regulations. Specifically, the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced its first three draft priority products—consumer goods sold in California that contain at least one toxic chemical.
Under the SCP, manufacturers are “asked” to find a safer alternative to these products. Should manufacturers wish to continue selling the listed products, they would need to conduct an analysis to show that safer alternatives are not available. The announcement does not commence the formal proposal process and the start of the public comment period. That will begin this summer, says the DTSC, and a final action may be up to 1.5 years away.
Bedding, foam, and paint stripper
Following are the three products announced by the DTSC and its reasons for selecting them:
- Children’s foam padded sleeping products containing TRIS(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (chlorinated TRIS), a flame retardant and probable carcinogen that can also cause chronic health effects.
- Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) systems containing unreacted di-isocyanates. SPF systems are used for home and building insulation, weatherization, sealing, and roofing. Di-isocyanates can irritate the respiratory tract, cause asthma and cancer, and are known skin irritants.
- Paint stripper containing methylene chloride, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin.
The California Legislature passed the Green Chemistry Law in 2008. The law authorizes and requires the DTSC to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals in consumer products and to establish a process for evaluating chemicals of concern in consumer products and their potential alternatives. The DTSC subsequently established a list of 1,100 toxic chemicals because of their potential to cause significant harm to people or the environment. Products become priorities because they contain the chemicals and because of the potential for significant public exposure to the chemicals through the products.
“The regulations provide an opportunity for innovative industries to capitalize on the growing consumer demand for products that are safer and better for the environment,” says the DTSC.
Overlap with fed
But the chemical industry has its doubts about the SCP program. For example, in a blog posting, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said the DTSC has not done a thorough job in making use of information developed by the U.S. EPA on priority chemicals to ensure that the focus is on consumer products that “actually stand to reap benefits from an alternatives assessment.”
“As just one example of potential flaws in the program,” says the ACC, “despite being strongly encouraged not to duplicate current federal efforts, we are puzzled that as part of this first phase the [DTSC] has included plans to focus on a chemical-product combination that is already being thoroughly evaluated by EPA and other federal agencies.”
Also, the ACC questioned the reasoning behind listing spray polyurethane foam. The ACC notes that this product is a superior insulation material with R-values in the range of 3.5 to 6.5 per 1 inch of thickness. “Consumers can and should continue to rely on spray polyurethane foam to help maximize the energy efficiency of buildings where they live, work, and play,” wrote Lee Salamone, director of ACC’s Center for the Polyurethanes Industry.
Click here for nformation on DTSC’s SCP program.


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Tags » Tim Cook
Victims of the scams didn’t enable two-factor authentication, Apple says
Many consumers in China connect their Apple accounts to online-payment systems, including those run by Alipay and WeChat Pay. 553 more words
Pink Surface Laptop 2 has been designed by Microsoft. According to reports,it will only be on sold in China.
Surface chief Panos Panay unveiled the new Blush color in Beijing today stating that the hardware was developed exclusively for China. 133 more words
BEIJING – Tim Cook was all smiles at the Chaoyang Future School in Beijing on Wednesday, watching high school students use Apple Pencils on iPads. 1,006 more words
Alabama based Tim Cook, who is the CEO of Apple, recently sat down with VICE News Tonight for an interview in New York City. With other tech giants like Google and Facebook under fire, some have concerns that Apple could be the next tech firm with a data breach. 29 more words
Tuesday We were up this a.m. at 4 o’c and fired a two hours barrage, was pretty cold and a little rain fell. we finished about 6:30 & went back to bed, we had breakfast at 10 o’c The day passed fair with lots of aerial activity At night fall we did some firing… 353 more words

domain: news


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Speciality Canadian tea retailer T. Kettle has opened a store in Toronto’s PATH, the world’s largest underground shopping centre.
Owned by entrepreneur Doug Putnam, the brand joins his other retail concepts Sunrise Records and entertainment retailer FYE. Retail Insider did a tour of the 2nd Canadian location of FYE when it opened at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in June 2021.
Retail Insider interviewed Putnam in November 2020 where he shared that the new venture would be taking over 45 vacated leases to start the new T. Kettle brand. With provinces having different strategies to re-open and combat the pandemic, stores in locations such as Alberta and Newfoundland saw openings before other stores in the country.
David’s Tea closed its Royal Bank Plaza location in July 2020 in addition to 165 other storefronts, leaving more than a thousand employees unemployed. The company elected to only keep 18 stores after the reorganization, which saw a focus on the retailer’s e-commerce business and grocery partnerships.
The brand kept its CF Toronto Eaton Centre location open while closing the two PATH locations (Royal Bank Plaza and First Canadian Place). David’s Tea also shuttered stores throughout the city, including a street level location on Yonge Street at 10 Dundas, The Hudson’s Bay Centre at Yonge & Bloor Streets and on Queen Street West.
Employees that lost their jobs due to the closure of the stores were part of a large pool of unemployed retail workers as the shutdown came during the peak of the pandemic. Some talent were hired by T. Kettle which saw the opportunity to bring on knowledgable and fully-trained staff from the beginning.
The Royal Bank Plaza location was seen as a high-impact destination pre-pandemic, with direct access to the TTC and the last building commuters would walk through before Union Station.
Over the course of the pandemic the PATH was subjected to a number of government restrictions, including months with non-essential retail being forced to close and then being restricted further with stores that only had external doors being permitted to open.
For most of the last 18-months, the 1,200+ businesses in the 75+ buildings that connect to make the Guinness World Record’s largest underground shopping complex were excluded from conducting in-store sales.
In addition to having a significant drop in traffic, the concourse has been affected by retail tenants deciding to stay closed indefinitely while others have left completely.


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This week, Netflix announced its plans to further crackdown on password sharing outside of the subscriber’s own households. Notably, the move includes most of its largest markets, including the US, which represents almost 30% of the company’s total subscribers and around 40% of its total revenue. Ampere Consumer data suggests that Netflix account sharing is most prevalent in France, the Netherlands, Poland and the Nordics, and is least common in APAC (perhaps why the clampdown is yet to kick off in South Korea and Japan—the only ad-supported Netflix markets where this is the case).
The move also expands beyond the recent crackdown markets of Spain, New Zealand, Canada and Portugal. Ampere’s Q1 2023 Consumer wave, which occurred shortly after this crackdown in February, saw a 20% drop in respondents in both Spain and Canada saying they used a Netflix login from someone outside of their household, representing a fairly significant drop in account sharing early on.
While it is likely the move might have seen initial churn in these markets, we still expect Spain, New Zealand, Canada and Portugal to have seen subscriber growth in Q1, while the recent ad-supported tier upgrade in Spain and Canada may help to lure some of these churned customers back moving forward. The pricing for the ad-supported tier (allowing two concurrent streams) is actually lower than adding a single outside-your-household user to your account in Canada and Spain: In Canada adding an additional user costs CAD 7.99 per month, 33% more than the cost of the ad-supported tier at CAD 5.99 per month, while in Spain the €5.99 per month cost of the adding an additional user is around 9% more than the €5.49 per month cost of the ad-supported tier.
Australia and the USA are the only other markets where the cost of adding an additional user is higher than the cost of the lowest tier, while the costs are the same in Germany, France and the UK. As such, any consumers currently using Netflix logins of people they don’t live with may decide to simply pay the extra cost to carry on accessing Netflix, particularly if they were already splitting the cost (rather than freeloading). In most other markets, the extra cost of adding an additional user is lower than the cost of the lowest-cost tier; in Poland, for example, where account sharing is prevalent, it costs just PLN 9.99 per month to add an extra user, around two thirds cheaper than the price of a basic tier, while in Sweden, where account sharing is similarly prevalent, the price difference is 51%. This suggests that in these markets Netflix may be trying to make the additional cost less daunting in the hopes of retaining customers and generating more revenue overall.
In markets where the lowest-cost tier costs less than adding an extra user, Netflix may be hoping consumers opt for the low-cost tier; in its Q1 results, Netflix claimed the ad-supported tier generated more revenue per subscriber per month than the standard tier, so this represents a strong revenue opportunity among new customers, even if a small proportion of current account sharers churn entirely. Netflix previously said that around 100m subscribers were sharing their accounts, so despite the potential for churn among these consumers, the long-term revenue impact for Netflix could still be a positive one.


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Goodbye to the vector, hello to the delta. What, exactly, does that mean? Well, it's a reference to the changing of the guards over at Reebok, which just unveiled a new logo (left), the first redesign since 1986 (and the third in it's 121-year history), according to AdAge. The change in iconography reflects a shift in attitude, too. According to the brand's Global Head, Matt O'Toole, their shifting their focus from banking on elite athletes' endorsements to the broader idea of fitness as a whole (to include things such as yoga and Crossfit). Appealing to the Everyman, as it were. It's an interesting time to make a change seeing as athletic footwear brands like Nike and Adidas have suddenly become fetishized objects on the high-fashion front.
In other, kinda-sorta related news, the latest Reebok commercial (below) happens to feature model Miranda Kerr in various stages of undress. Just reporting the facts here.


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Recently China has become the world’s largest gold producer.The China Gold Group states that China’s gold output in 2013 is predicted to hit 430 tons, with consumption set to exceed 1,000 tons.
Last year China’s gold output hit 403 tons which has risen for the sixth consecutive year.
Gold production in china has usually been concentrated in the eastern provinces of Shandong, Fujian, Liaoning and Henan,
Recently the gold production is strenuous in western provinces such as Guizhou and Yunnan has seen a severe increase but from a comparatively small corrupts. There is also gold mining in the County east of Lhasa Tibet in Maizhokunggar.
Australia’s Sino Gold Mining and Gold Fields and have set up a joint project focused on discovering large gold deposits in China with the probable to produce about 500,000 ounces a year.
Also the Australian company Sino Gold has been buying stakes in Chinese gold explorers and deposits.
Though china’s export role is increasing, most of the gold production stays in the country where it is transformed into manufactured items and jewelry.
According to Barclays Research, China has proved its rare competence to produce anything from toys to refined electronic devices at the lowest cost anywhere in the world.
Gold mining cash costs in china is lower than global cash costs. Based on 11% of China mine production, the weighted average cash cost of $549/Oz would place China around the 27th percentile of Barclays global cost curve, near the lower quartile.


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Ancient grains case shipments up: NPD Group
January 3, 2018
By Bakers Journal
Chicago – Grains, like quinoa, amaranth, farro, and spelt, which were eaten on a daily basis by ancient civilizations, are growing in popularity again because of their perceived health benefits compared to processed wheat grains, according to research by The NPD Group.
Case shipments of ancient grain categories by broadline distributors to U.S. foodservice outlets increased by double digits over the past year, according to NPD’s SupplyTrack service, which tracks every product shipped from major foodservice distributors to commercial and non-commercial foodservice operators.
Case shipments of quinoa, which is the most widely used ancient grain, increased by 18.5 per cent in the year ending October 2017 compared to same period year ago, NPD said in a news release. Two ancient grains not as commonly known, spelt, a distinct type of whole grain wheat, and farro, a whole grain similar to barley, quinoa, and wheat berries, also realized double-digit growth in case shipments. Case shipments of amaranth, a staple food of the Aztecs and comparable to rice or maize, increased by 19.4 percent in the period, reports NPD.
Research suggests different varieties of rice are holding their own against the popularity of ancient grains in terms of case shipments. Basmati rice, a unique species of rice originating from India, is also popular with foodservice operators. Case shipments of the aromatic rice increased by 20.3 per cent in the year ending October 2017 compared to same period last year. Calrose rice, a medium-sized rice that comes from California, increased foodservice case shipments by 10.4 per cent.
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Not So Crazy: Yahoo May Partner With AOL To Escape Microsoft
Wondering what's next after the news that Yahoo apparently plans to reject Microsoft's takeover offer? The Times Of London reports Yahoo will restart merger talks with AOL. Below, more about the news along with some back history on AOL in search and why a Yahoo-AOL partnership might indeed be a compelling way to convince Yahoo shareholders to resist Microsoft.
From Internet Marketing


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28 February 2008 | Jake Kanter
The Unite trade union held demonstrations outside Marks & Spencer stores in the UK yesterday, to highlight alleged mistreatment of workers in the firm's supply chain.
But the retailer said it was "at a loss" as to why it was singled out.
The union said it held the protests because it found evidence of discrimination in the firm's meat supply chain. It said the retailer was driving down costs by operating a "two-tier workforce", where permanent staff receive superior work and pay conditions, compared with migrant workers.
It also argued that buying and importing meat cheaply from countries such as Thailand and Brazil is affecting labour conditions for low-paid workers in the UK. Tony Woodley, the joint general secretary of Unite, said the retailer must show respect for its supply chain staff.
But Marks & Spencer responded to the claims, saying the firm had "a leading position in labour standards and works very hard with all our suppliers to maintain these high standards".


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Moisture is a primary source of corrosion. Because of that, My Cleaning Products says that the public must be ready to clear rust promptly come the post-winter season. But to make the process effective and safe, it only recommends the use of an organic rust removal spray.
Rust basically occurs when the oxygen in moisture mixes with the iron in metal. And unless either of the two is completely consumed, the corrosion will go on.
With winter’s end, MCP says that corrosion is to be expected. The melting of the snow, it states, would create numerous sources of moisture that could result to rust formation on anyone’s metal items, including automobiles.
For that reason, the company says that it would be best for anyone to be ready to remove rust as soon as winter ends. That way, one could prevent the worst of its effects and salvage the items from total ruin. In addition, that also spares a person from expenses for costly repairs and replacements, it states.
To be able to clear rust personally and promptly though, My Cleaning Products cites that one would need the help of a rust removal spray. Without it, the company says that it would take hours to scrub the corrosion away. It stain could also stay permanent, especially on fabric-made items.
Nonetheless, MCP points out that not just any solution would work in a rust removal process. It says that the treatment needs to be effective and safe so the product to use must not contain harmful chemical ingredients. And as Rusterizer is organic-based, it only recommends the use of it.
In the absence of harsh chemicals in its content, Rusterizer leaves no harmful residues when sprayed, the company states. That makes it safe for health and even the environment, it cites.


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Butlin's Skegness has announced its latest deals for those wishing to go to their next music weekender.
Back to the 2000s Live Music Weekend runs from Friday, November 5 until Monday, November 8.
Huge noughties acts including Brain McFadden from Westlife, Fatman Scoop, S Club Party and Five will be descending on the Lincolnshire coast for performances that are bound to leave you feeling nostalgic.
The holiday resort has announced that you can enjoy the entire weekend for just £120 per person.
This rate is based on a two-bedroom, silver room that sleeps four people. This price includes tickets to the live music venue and activities such as pool parties and silent discos.
If a family holiday is more what you are after, there are some great deals available as soon as next week.
A family of four can spend four nights in a two-bedroom, gold apartment from Monday, November 1 from just £262 per unit.
This includes activities and live shows however dining packages are sold separately.
Never miss a story from the east coast by signing up for our Skegness Live newsletter


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Top Android phones: rated and reviewed
- — 08 March, 2011 09:00
If 2010 was a landmark year for Google's Android operating system in Australia, then 2011 is set to be the year it truly explodes. Offering a number of benefits over Apple's iPhone including an open applications market, a customisable user interface and full multitasking, the Android smartphone platform continues to go from strength to strength.
There are now a wealth of Android smartphones on the market in Australia from a wide range of manufacturers including HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG. For those who want an alternative to the iPhone, we've rounded up the best Android smartphones currently available in Australia.
21 / 22
The HTC Aria is ideal for those who want an Android smartphone, but don't want one of the bigger Android devices on the market. The Aria's downsizing has had a minimal cost when it comes to features.
- Review Date:
- 5th Oct., 2010
- Ross Catanzariti
- From $ 219.99


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3E Ushered In A New Era Of Smart Technology Products
The China electronics enterprises association and zhenwei exhibition share announced that the Beijing international consumer electronics expo (3E·Beijing 2019), with the theme of "smart and smart life", will be held at the Beijing national convention center from August 2 to 4, 2019, and related activities have been officially launched.
According to 3E 2019 organizers of the Beijing Chinese electronic enterprises association, zhenwei exhibition shares relevant controller introduces, in order to "mentally move global hui enjoy life" as the theme of the 3 e. Beijing 2019 exhibition will further expand the scale, the pavilion is expected to 3, the exhibition area of more than 25000 square meters, attracting nearly 300 enterprises exhibitors, visitors are expected to exceed 40000 people.
With the continuous improvement of Chinese consumers' purchasing power and pursuit of quality life, and the continuous fermentation of the iteration and optimization trend of consumer electronics products, China's consumer electronics industry has ushered in an unprecedented opportunity.China's consumer electronics industry is at the forefront of global competition.Today, it is not only the largest consumer electronics expo in the Asia-pacific region, but also a global platform to showcase high-end products and cutting-edge technologies in the consumer electronics sector.
Based on the largest consumer electronics industry base in north China and the national market demand, 3E is building a consumer electronics brand exhibition with the advantages of seven brands.Focusing on the Beijing international consumer electronics expo, 3E exhibition includes the exhibition lineup of "intelligent hardware + artificial intelligence technology", including the Beijing international artificial intelligence conference, Beijing international intelligent retail exhibition and Beijing international intelligent travel exhibition.The exhibition covers seven sectors including consumer electronics, intelligent hardware, intelligent robot, artificial intelligence, big data, intelligent retail and intelligent transportation.


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Be of stout heart, comrade conservatives, for while things continue to go badly for good sense in government, the media and corporate boardrooms, there is a victory of sorts to celebrate: Coles has abandoned plans, at least for the moment, to screw consumers by making them buy plastic bags at the checkout while simultaneously selling more bags to line kitchen tidies and the like. The reversal came, according to news reports, after a “customer backlash”. As the left has long known, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Apparently that applies to the other side of politics as well. Perhaps we should be angry and loud more often.
Still it is only a partial victory, as Quadrant Online discovered on Monday night after an attempt to stock up at the local Coles-run Liquorland outlet, where half a dozen bottles of pinot noir, a likewise quantity of domestic champagne, a bottle of vodka and six-pack of Asahi Dry were piled on the counter to be charged against the Online editor’s credit card.
“Do you want bags for all that?” asked the young fellow on the other side of the counter.
Yes, of course.
The counter jockey was adding the bags to the bill when he was told to stop.
“I’ve just spent $140 on grog and you’re charging me for bags that you gave away for free just a month ago.”
The young bloke apologised, said it was corporate policy and there was nothing he could do about it even though, as he conceded, the supermarket under the same roof was now giving the bags away with no charge.
“There is something you can do about it,” he was told. “You can put all my grog back on the shelves and rescind the purchase.”
A call to Coles PR unit established that the kid wasn’t lying: buy meat, fish and vegetables and you can carry them home in a free bag. Buy alcohol and you will be charged for the privilege of boosting Coles’ revenues.
Happily, just up the road and around the corner, my neighbourhood boasts a Thirsty Camel franchise run by a very helpful and hard-working Chinese family. They bagged the business — bagged it quite literally — instead of Coles.
And here is the bonus: what would have cost in excess of $140 at Coles came to only $127 at Thirsty Camel with as many free single-use carry bags as were needed.
Yes, it’s a small victory, but a victory all the same. With state governments pushing gender-neutral pronouns, police charging innocent citizens for protection from thugs and an allegedly conservative government doing all within its power to make electricity both unreliable and unaffordable, let us relish our triumphs where we find them.
By the way, the picture atop this post is one of Coles’ “re-usable” plastic bags. It made it no more than 50 metres from the checkout before the bottom fell out.
To see how confident was Coles in attempting to gouge consumers, follow this link or the one below to read the supermarket chain’s press release from April. Apart from testifying to the implicit belief that a slick, green PR campaign will be enough to shame cowed consumers into doing what they are told, it also serves as a reminder that, when any outfit with a team of paid liars on payroll invokes Gaia’s good health, hang on to your wallet.
— roger franklin


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Africa's smartphone market is expected to double in next four years, says Nmachi Jidenma
Companies like Nokia and Samsung are targeting the continent
Africa's growing tech-savvy middle class will drive smartphone adoption
"Smartphones will redefine the continent's future," says Jidenma
As the world’s fastest growing market for mobile phones, Africa is ripe for the upcoming disruption that will be ushered in by ubiquitous Internet access through smartphones.
The previous wave of mobile phone adoption on the continent from 2000 to 2010 accelerated at an impressive 30% compound annual growth rate powered by affordable dumb and feature phones sold at mass market price points.
Today, the narrative is changing.
The continent’s smartphone market is expected to double in the next four years and device manufacturers who dominated the narrative over the past decade such as Nokia are making big bets on the continent’s smartphone future. Microsoft/Nokia through the Lumia Windows phone line are betting that the continent’s rising economic fundamentals coupled with a rising hunger for connected devices will spur significant demand.
Huawei has since 2011 bet that its sub $100 Android devices will herald a new era of smartphone penetration in some of Africa’s largest mobile phone markets like Nigeria and Kenya.
Samsung has adopted a similar strategy, targeting student populations and engaging celebrities to trigger mass appeal and its tactics appear to be gaining traction.
According to International Data Corp, 52% of all smartphones sold on the continent in the second quarter of 2013 were Samsung phones and the company has quickly ascended in a short period of time to become Africa’s smartphone leader. Chinese manufacturer Tecno has also increasingly been making its intentions clear: “Our desire is to flood the African mobile phone markets with Tecno smartphones,” its director of marketing, Boukali Mounir said in an interview recently.
Tecno humbly started out by introducing relatively simple phones in the African market but very quickly scaled up its offerings to include affordable smartphones and now has its ambitions set on continent-wide domination. Then there is the Blackberry, which despite its cataclysmic woes in Western markets, continues to enjoy significant patronage on the continent.
The coming African smartphone wave poses an interesting dilemma for app developers on the continent. Should they invest their skills acquisition and app development efforts in Africa’s feature phone past or its exciting smartphone future? After all, despite the growth prospects, Africa is still largely a feature phone play with smartphones making up 18% of phones in Africa.
Though the continent’s smart phone penetration rate might appear low relative to its number of feature phone users, the addressable market for smartphone users on the continent is already sizeable and is currently growing at about 19% year over year. With 650 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa, there are already about 100 million smartphone users with the number set to double to 200 million users in the next four years.
At present, South Africa is reportedly sub-Saharan Africa’s largest smartphone market at 19% penetration followed closely by Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya. Launching the right product with cross-country appeal would be key to success and carrier billing for local apps by indigenous mobile operators would provide a decent monetization path for breakout hits.
Much has been analyzed about Africa’s rising middle class, a demographic that has been touted to be the world’s fastest growing. Despite the controversy surrounding who really comprises this base, McKinsey posits that in the next few years, 40% of the growth in spending power on the continent will be driven by households with an average income of more than $20,000 a year.
What makes the continent’s smartphone user base particularly interesting is its demographic composition. Africa’s smartphone owners overlap significantly with its rising consumer class. Asides the relatively formidable size of their wallets, they are typically the most tech savvy cohort of the general populace and the most likely to use mobile apps solving key pain points in their day to day lives from mobile commerce to transit ticketing.
The launch of Uber (the Silicon Valley based startup that connects riders with a driver at the tap of a button on its smartphone app) in Johannesburg, South Africa this past August points to the fact that the philosophy of betting on the continent’s smartphone future is increasingly gaining traction.
It might be early days in Africa’s smartphone history but at its current pace of growth, the future will very quickly merge with the present and eventually supersede it.
While feature phone penetration will continue to maintain its healthy lead, smartphone adoption would take on a hockey stick adoption path; a trend that savvy entrepreneurs and app developers will inevitably profit from. The impact that rapid adoption of smartphones on the continent will usher in are legion. From education to retail, Africa’s smartphone wave will redefine the continent’s future in myriad sectors and at scale.


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Nigeria loses 50 per cent of its annual crop production to the damages of pests, the Federal Government announced on Monday.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Mahmood, announced this in Abuja at a press conference organised by the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service to mark the International Day of Plant Health.
He said, “We must take plant health seriously because plants are in constant danger of attack by viruses, bacteria, nematodes, insects, aphids and fungi.
“These plant health threats undermine food security and increase the vulnerability of livelihoods dependent on crop value chains.
“In Nigeria, we lose 50 per cent of our annual farm gate value to the damages of pests. They cause yield and quality losses, reduce food availability and increase food prices.”
He, however, stated that the government recognised the fact that safeguarding plant health was a national priority and that this led to the establishment the NAQS.
On his part, the Director-General, NAQS, Vincent Isegbe, said the agency would continue to maintain plant, animal and fish health to meet international standards.
The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has revealed that it is intensifying drive to accelerate the integration of the country’s domestic agricultural sector with global value chains.
NAQS noted that despite the upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the constraints posed by several local and international adjustments, it had come up with Export Certification Value Chains (ECVCs) for coconut orange-fleshed sweet potato, donkey skin, palm oil, kola nut and bitter kola.
The ECVC contains market intelligence specifics to each product, outlines opportunities in their respective value chains and details the steps to fulfill the requirements for producing an export-ready version of all the raw and value-added forms of the commodities. The project is the first-ever comprehensive effort to capture the possibilities in Nigeria’s comparative advantage in the agricultural sector.
Speaking at the third Director General Summit and Management Retreat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the theme: “Leveraging Sanitary and Phytosanitory Adaptability to Push Continental and Global Export Frontiers”, the Director General of NAQS, Dr Vincent Isegbe, explained why it had become imperative for the agency to certify the six crops.
He said although donkey skin was initially declared an endangered species at the 2017 National Agricultural Meeting, it was designed to enable sustainable breeding programme so that the country could reap the benefits of the huge international donkey skin market just like the goat skin market.
“Donkey is seen as an export commodity, so we don’t want to lose out, and the way to go about it is to sustain the breeding of donkeys so that you can sell and make money for the country. The essence is not to keep the donkeys; no, we are not happy that is why it is declared an endangered species. So revival and sustainability of the donkey has to be put in place so that you can now remove the donkey from the prohibition list and make money for the country out of that,” he said.
He further said the essence of putting the certification in place was to see how the country could resolve the donkey health issue and overcome “the donkey predicament” by instituting the export certification value chain for donkey, among other commodities.
For the bitter cola, Dr Isegbe said the crop was of medicinal value, but that for some time people just chewed for ceremonial purposes or just chewing because of the taste.
“But we want to highlight it to those who are pharmacists, to those who are into pharmaceuticals so that they can come and buy it, by the time they buy it, the research institutes will get to know that the traditional varieties take so long to produce, they will now begin to develop early maturing ones that can produce faster and for people to make more money. So by that action alone, we’ve drawn the attention of the research institutes and then we have now drawn the attention of people who are not into export and we have drawn the attention of pharmaceutical companies of what they can do with bitter cola,” he explained.
He stressed further that with one singular action of focusing on the export certification value chain for bitter cola, three critical value chains had been activated and that the exporters were there making the fourth and then the fifth one was the revenue that Nigeria would benefit from all the systems that it had put in place.
Speaking on EU’s ban on Nigerian beans, he said the agency, in a report summited to the Minister of Agriculture indicated that the incidences, the level of dichlovor and other chemical pesticides had reduced.
“We too have gone to do sampling across the geo-political zones in warehouses, in open markets and the farms and the report clearly shows that the levels are coming down, that is not to say that there are no incidences of people who probably, for one reason or the other, are still adulterating, especially the bulk grain aggregators, for fear that they may lose money. Some few are still doing that, but you know too that the quarantine service is supplying storage pesticides-the ones that are least toxic to farmers and grain users to let them know that; look this type can be used.
“NAQS cannot supply everything to farmers, supply every warehouse with chemicals, but we have put in public domain that these storage pesticides are available. They have minimal effects, and those aggravators can use them instead of using things like Snipper and other hazardous agricultural pesticides,” he emphasised.


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Business who blend brand and demand marketing will ultimately achieve far better results.
Research by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising shows that the optimal balance of brand and lead generation marketing is a 60% branding/40% direct response split, in digital and traditional marketing.
“If your ratio is skewed too much one way or the other, you’re going to get suboptimal results,” the IPA says. “If you just have brand marketing without lead generation, you can’t move potential customers through the sales funnel. They may know your brand, but they’re not actually connected with your company. You can’t drive sales if there are no leads to convert.”
Brand marketing works on a very different timeline to lead generation marketing. And while it takes longer to develop, it’s a strategy that yields better returns for businesses in the long run.
Ten years ago only 47 per cent of marketing funds were allocated to lead generation, according to LinkedIn Marketing Solutions. Fast forward to 2019 and that number has increased to 72 per cent.
Lead generation marketers’ ability to show a short-term sales gain means they are more successful. But the IPA study found that while these direct response efforts produced quick hits they became less effective over time. Comparatively, the fruits of a successful branding campaign were still going strong long after lead generation marketing had dropped off.
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions says businesses should have the patience to stick around for the long term.
“The war on brand isn’t a war worth fighting,” LinkedIn Marketing Solutions says. “Remember that it’s not a competition. You all have the same goal and you all play a role in reaching that goal. So negotiate a truce, with a 60/40 split of the budget between branding and lead generation. Don’t just focus on short-term successes, think about your long-term goals.”
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions worked with a credit card company to see what would happen if it synchronised brand and demand.
They started with a direct response-only campaign which achieved a 0.2 per cent conversion rate. But when the campaign was paired with brand and demand they recorded a 1.2 per cent conversion rate – a substantial increase.
So negotiate a truce with the 60:40 rule to achieve maximum effectiveness.


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People wearing Google’s glasses are transported to a strange new world in which the Internet is always present as they view the world. But for people looking at the people wearing those glasses, the view is even stranger — someone wearing a computer processor, a battery and a tiny screen on her face.
As Google and other companies begin to build wearable technology like glasses and watches, an industry not known for its fashion sense is facing a new challenge — how to be stylish. Design has always been important to technology, with products from Apple
becoming fashion statements, but designing hardware that people will wear like jewellery is an entirely different task.
In a sign of how acute the challenge is for Google, the company is negotiating with Warby Parker, an e-commerce startup company that sells trendy eyeglasses, to help it design more fashionable frames, according to two people briefed on the negotiations who were not authorized to speak publicly because the partnership has not been made official. Google and Warby Parker declined to comment.
On Wednesday, Google began accepting applications to choose a small group of people to buy an early version of the glasses, called Google Glass. It hopes to sell Glass to the broader public this year, according to two people briefed on the plans.
The frames do not have lenses, although Google is experimenting with adding sunglass or prescription lenses in some versions. They have a tiny screen that appears much bigger from the wearer’s perspective than it does on the frame. Glass wearers can take pictures or record video without using their hands, send the images to friends or post them online, show walking directions, search the Web by voice command and offer language translations.
The glasses reach the Internet through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which connects to the wireless service on a user’s cellphone. The glasses respond when a user speaks, touches the frame or moves the head.
For Google, the glasses are a major step toward its dream of what is known as ubiquitous computing — the idea that computers and the Internet will be accessible anywhere and we can ask them to do things without lifting a finger.
The glasses will eventually incorporate several Google products, which could become more useful when they are in front of a user’s eyes rather than on a phone or a computer screen.
For instance, the latest version of the glasses can provide walking and hiking directions from Google Maps, alerts from Google Now about a coming meeting or a traffic jam, and video chats from Google Hangouts.
In a video released Wednesday, Google offered ideas about what to do with the glasses. A ballerina could record and stream live video behind the scenes and onstage; a tourist in Thailand could ask Google to translate the word “delicious” while eating noodles on a boat; or a family could video chat over a long distance with a relative on her birthday.
Other seemingly far-fetched uses are not far off. The glasses could be used to play an augmented reality game in which the real world was annotated with virtual information. Google has such a smartphone app, called Ingress. Users could photograph an object or building and the glasses could identify it, something that is already possible using Google on phones and computers.
Google warns of technical bumps as people use the glasses, but it has already solved many of the technical challenges. The biggest obstacle now is getting people to use them.
Privacy advocates worry about a day when people wearing glasses could use facial recognition to identify strangers on the street or surreptitiously record and broadcast conversations. On a more mundane level, rude behaviour like checking email during conversations would become much easier to hide.
Then there is that fashion hurdle. The frames now look like wire wraparound glasses with hardware along one side.
“If you look at other wearable pieces of functional technology, there’s a reason they’re not ubiquitous. There’s a reason we all make fun of someone wearing a Bluetooth or a BlackBerry holster,” said Daniella Yacobovsky, cofounder of BaubleBar, an online jewellery retailer. “Is it useful? Of course it is. Do I look like a tool? Yeah. I’m not going to wear it.”
Google says it is looking for “bold, creative individuals” who want to try the glasses. People who want to apply have until Wednesday to write a post on Google Plus or Twitter telling what they would do with the glasses. Posts must be 50 words or fewer and contain #ifihadglass. Those chosen by Google’s judges must pay $1,500 for the glasses and attend an event to pick up the glasses in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles.
New York Times


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The Biden Administration Is Giving Out Free N95 Masks In Addition To COVID Tests
The Biden administration plans to send 400 million N95 face masks to give out free through pharmacies and community health centers, part of an effort to increase access to high-quality masks to control the spread of COVID-19.
The government will ship masks from its stockpile starting at the end of the week. Some will be available late next week, with more available in early February, the White House told reporters. The move comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance last week to emphasize N95s — and as the government starts to send at-home test kits to Americans by mail.
The masks will be available through pharmacies in the federal retail pharmacy program — which includes major grocery stores and retail pharmacy chains.
If you're also shopping for your own, here's how to find high-quality N95s that fit.
PLUS: The federal government website offering free at-home COVID-19 tests is now live. Click here to order your four free tests per household — the process takes just seconds, and the tests will ship out via the U.S. Postal Service within 7 to 12 days.


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The sixth edition of Arab Luxury World, the Middle East’s leading luxury business conference, will return to the region on Wednesday, June 12th and Thursday, June 13th at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, under the theme Digital Transformation Focusing on Data and Premium Retail. The conference serves as a dynamic platform for regional and global professionals from the luxury industry to engage in meaningful discussions about the latest trends and core challenges facing businesses today.
The retail industry has been encouraged to remain agile in today’s challenging market. With a growing focus on digital engagement for consumers, the rise of boutique malls, and the challenge of over-retailing and e-commerce, it’s no secret that the regional luxury landscape has also faced incredible change.
"The luxury industry, specifically premium retail, is undergoing a revolution. With the rapid introduction of new technologies, changing consumer behaviors, diversified omnichannel communication strategies, and disruptions at each level of human touchpoints, it is imperative to take cognizance of what the future of premium retail is becoming,” says Alexandre Hawari, CEO of Mediaquest.
The agenda will feature sessions such as ‘Cracking the Luxury Code’’, which will answer questions about the unexplored opportunities that digital can unlock within luxury retail. ‘Road Map to Building Borderless Brands’ will ask the expert panelists how regional businesses are engaging with consumers through digital media in order to go global and what innovations in products and services are helping brands connect with a broader audience. ‘The Future of Premium Retail’ will delve into e-commerce and the continuous change in consumer habits. ‘Addressing the Talent Gap’ will address the lack of specific talent and skill sets to meet the demands of increasingly innovative companies within the MENA region, and ‘Big Data’ will look into addressing every day, real-life concerns such as, “How do we find a balance between the privacy of personal data and the use of data for customization/personalization?”. “The Rise of Art and its Impact on Luxury” will discuss the strategic connection between art and luxury. ‘“Globalization”: Redefining Communication Models’ will cover how the new generation of customers are changing their dialogue and interaction with brands, while ‘Blockchain: Is it the Next Luxury Revolution?’ will explore blockchain’s potential for decentralizing and creating transparency for luxury consumers.
To further drive collaboration and empowerment for professionals, day two of the conference will give guests the ability to participate in interactive workshops that discuss and dive even deeper into the themes and challenges discussed during day one.
Some of the renowned names from the world of luxury participating in this year’s ALW include: Valérie Messika, Founder and Creative Director of Messika Paris, Cyrille Fabre, Partner and Head of Consumer Products and Retail Middle East of Bain & Company Middle East, Inc., John Peeters, Director Business Development & Co-Owner of Holition, Xavier Anglada, Managing Director of Accenture Digital Lead, MENA & Turkey, Jonathan Siboni, Founder and CEO of Luxurynsight, Diala Makki, Fashion Influencer and TV Host, Régis Dupertuis, CEO of Le Monde des 5 Fleurs, Massimo Buonomo, Global Expert of United Nations, and Anupam Gupta, Director – Middle East Operations of ConsenSys MENA.
“The agenda set forth in this year's Arab Luxury World keeps these key themes in mind and provides clarity on issues that are critical for the luxury sector in the region. These bold topics will help the sector weather today's challenging business landscape whilst creating forward-looking growth opportunities. The choice seems harsh but is real – transform digitally or fade into oblivion. How you ask? ALW will answer," says Hawari.
First launched in 2014, the Arab Luxury World conference has gone from strength to strength and has seen approximately thousands of industry professionals and 370 speakers share invaluable knowledge and insights on the growing luxury market. Now in its sixth year, Arab Luxury World has grown into a global networking platform that is generously supported by key movers in the industry, including Laha, Jamalouki, and OMD as the Gold Sponsors; Marriott International Luxury Brand as the Silver Sponsor; The Luxury Hive as the Bronze Sponsor; Z7 Communications as the Luxury PR Partner and Haya and The New York Times as the Media Partners.


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Taco Cabana announces plans for its grand reopening weekend
This weekend, home-grown restaurant chain Taco Cabana will celebrate 35 years in business — with throw-back prices and the grand reopening of its newly remodeled first location at 3310 San Pedro Ave., in the Monte Vista community.
On Sept. 21 and 22, Taco Cabana will sell its signature bean-and-cheese taco for 35 cents.
“Taco Cabana’s founder hit on the idea of selling simple Mexican fare with everything made fresh, including pots of rice and beans simmering on the stove in the TC kitchen, freshly made flour tortillas, and salsa prepared daily,” says Todd Coerver, chief operating officer at Taco Cabana. “We know how popular our classic bean and cheese tacos have become over 35 years, so we wanted to offer our guests the menu favorite at a throwback price. We’re excited to say thank you for 35 years of business with this special.”
The big unveiling of the San Pedro store’s new look will take place on Sept. 21. The building’s exterior and the property have been updated. Meanwhile, the interior will feature retro signage and awnings — taking diners back to the restaurant’s roots back in 1978.
“Our inspiration for the restoration comes from accurately reflecting the restaurant as it looked and felt in 1978 — from the restaurant décor inside and out, to the retro awnings and signage,” Coerver says.
The San Pedro restaurant shop also will feature an exhibit wall celebrating the origins of Taco Cabana and its first restaurant.
“We want our guests to be able to enjoy our authentic and affordable food in a fresh environment that blends 1978 and today for a unique dining experience,” Coerver adds.
Tricia Lynn Silva covers real estate, retail, construction, and law firms; she also plans and edits some special reports.
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SEOUL, May 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The government plans to raise 500 billion won (US$447.5 million) in funds to help entrepreneurs at venture startups restart business when they fail, officials said Thursday.
In South Korea, a failure in a venture startup often leads to ruin, prompting young entrepreneurs to shun risk-taking, which has been cited for hindering the nation’s goal to replicate Silicon Valley’s success.
The Financial Services Commission, the nation’s top financial regulator, and the Small and Medium Business Administration, which is in charge of small and medium-sized firms, will inject 300 billion won and 200 billion won, respectively, into the fund.
Financial support for venture startup failures was part of President Moon Jae-in’s election pledges.
The plan to set up the 500 billion won fund was reported to the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee, a de facto transition team for President Moon, earlier in the day, the committee’s spokesman Park Kwang-on said.
The fund is aimed at allowing failed venture firms to get financial support if they have a technological edge, Park told reporters.
The safety net is important since the number of venture startups in South Korea has exceeded a record 30,000 due to low entry barriers over the past decade.
Data by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed in February that nearly six in 10 local venture companies go belly-up within three years after they are established due to an insufficient investment system and difficulties finding a market.
The figure is the second highest among the 26 surveyed members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


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COVID-19 has shown that a lot can change in only a few days. This includes having an impact on the environment due to less traffic. What is the effect in emissions and what will happen after Corona? In this article, we will discuss the effect Corona has on the environment and sustainable mobility and what will most likely happen after the end of the lock-down.
Due to Corona, some awareness has surfaced that we indeed need to work more on our sustainability plans as we see that the world can be a cleaner and less polluted place. According to the Emissions Gap Report 2019 by the UN Environment Programme, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% each year to lessen the impact on the environment and on global warming.
Since the Coronavirus emissions decreased by 20-30% in parts of China and Italy.
Due to the pandemic quarantine, there is a lot less traffic, which has had a huge effect on multiple points in the environment, including air quality and 20-30% less emissions being recorded throughout parts of China and Italy, where the lockdown hit first. Due to travel restrictions across borders, there is less overall (airline) traffic. Traffic, transport of goods and aviation, all fall within the Transport sector which, in 2017, already accounted for 25% of all CO2 emissions. It would seem that having a stop in most travel would therefore decrease the CO2 emissions crucially.
Source: NASA Earth Observatory pollution satellites.
Long lasting effects on emission
But are the emissions really down in the long run? The latest analysis, by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), expects this year’s annual emissions to be down by only 6-8%. Which would not yet have a measurable effect on the world’s carbon concentration.
Actually, there is still an increase in CO2. As we have to reduce a bare minimum of 7,6% CO2 each year, which now only seems possible due to a huge decrease in travel, it doesn't provide a lot of hope for the future of CO2 in the travel industry.
However, keeping the travel emissions low is still key as the overall CO2 levels will only drop if we keep the emissions lower over a longer period of time according to Earth System Research Laboratories. In the measurements, natural phenomena can occur, which could temporarily influence the CO2 levels as well. It is therefore important that long-term changes are made.
Will we keep the emissions down? Predictions based on China
One of the biggest changes can be seen in China. As the country is coming out of its quarantine; the air pollution is rising back and has actually exceeded the emission levels of 2019 according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). This is not all due to the travel sector, as regions with multiple factories show higher increases in nitrogen dioxide emissions.
40% of the previous public transport users in China have switched to private car use.
Whereas the emissions seem to be rising, so is the fear of contamination in some forms of travel. In some areas of China, public transport was halted to further prevent the spread of the disease. This loss in trust in the safety of these services explain why private cars jumped from 3rd to 1st place in research by Ipsos as the preferred means of transport, while buses and metros lost their preferred spots among Chinese residents. This is confirmed by the automotive industry as the CEO of Volkswagen Group China, Stephan Wöllenstein, even expects the car business to “reach last year’s level in early summer”. 40% of the previous public transport users have switched to private car use. Numerous cities in China even announced cash refunds or eased restrictions on new car purchases.
Additional subsidies for New Energy Vehicles (NEV) have been extended to 2022, instead of December 2020. NEV, mostly electric vehicles, are an important factor of the Chinese government’s strategy to promote climate-friendly and sustainable transport alongside further promotion of Public Transport. Besides this, China has some other ideas to implement a more sustainable travel, which includes building more EV (Electric Vehicle) charging stations.
Bike ride volume in Beijing has increased 120-187% compared to before the pandemic.
China is working hard to regain the trust in public transport and is working more with shareable bikes to promote a safe and eco-friendly way of travel. Bike ride volume in Beijing has increased 120-187% compared to before the pandemic. In the future China could invest more in safe roads for bikes and maintaining low prices if they want to keep the increased number of people riding their bikes.
Besides the transport of people, the transport of goods has experienced a change. Whereas before China had a lot of extra emissions due to the transport of products to other countries; it now seems that other countries are finding new places to produce their products closer to home or even locally. Products which were first outsourced to China, are now being localised. Which means a decrease in travel needed for produce.
Overall, it seems quite a huge bounce back in CO2 occurred after Corona measures loosened up, and it seems as if CO2 has not changed at the moment. However, over time it might be possible to see a decrease in CO2, if the sustainable travel options are being promoted and used by the public and production is being localised.
Learnings already implemented
When we look at China, we cannot see a big change as CO2 levels are back to ‘normal’. However, it does seem to make people more aware and think about a specific plan to make use of this impact. On top of that a lot of residents are currently willing to stick to their new habits when beneficial, private and safe for them. Hopefully, this virus can speed up the mobility transition, such as shared mobility, MaaS and optimized infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists to make it more appealing for residents to stick to their new habits in the long run.
Just as in China, there might be an increase in car-usage, which could be accounted for if handled properly by, for example, working together with companies who make it possible to reserve parking upfront to save on travel time and to ensure that there are extra EV charging stations in place to promote EV driving.
Besides this, public transport might need a revival; where health and distance are at the forefront to gain the trust again from the residents to start using it in a ‘safe’ manner.
Overall it is important to have a complete Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in place as it is more beneficial now than ever to fast-track these mobility innovations to incorporate more sustainable means of travel.
Join our webinar on May 26
Now is the time to work together and act! Let’s speed up the mobility transition. Would you like to join the discussion with peers from the mobility industry? Register for our next webinar on May 26 via www.intertraffic.com/webinars


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Shop for holiday gifts and give back to the community at the same time. The Junior League of Lexington is getting ready for its 15th annual Holly Day Market. More than 100 vendors will sell a variety of items, from clothing and Christmas decorations to home decor and children's toys. Marketing chairwoman Mallory Wood tells you how the popular event helps charities across the Bluegrass. The Holly Day Market is Friday, November 19; and Saturday, November 20, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, November 21, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington. For a complete list of events and ticket information, visit their website https://www.lexjrleague.com/?nd=holly_day_market.
The Junior League of Lexington's Holly Day Market happening November 19-21
Posted at 1:34 PM, Nov 15, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-15 13:35:02-05
Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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What would year-end magazine issues be without wild-eyed predictions for the future? The Economist has wisely decided to limit their predictions to just next year, and to only three guesses. And unlike the usual flying car daydreams or SARS epidemic nightmares, these seem pretty likely: Surfing will slow. Surfing will go wireless. Open source will begin to push out proprietary code, from the bottom up. Linux freaks will rejoice!
And because it is free, Linux become the operating system of choice for low-end PCs. It started with Nicholas Negroponte, the brains behind the One Laptop Per Child project that aims to deliver computerised education to children in the developing world. His clever XO laptop, costing less than $200, would never have seen the light of day without its clever Linux operating system.
But Mr Negroponte has done more than create one of the world’s most ingenious computers. With a potential market measured in the hundreds of millions, he has frightened a lot of big-time computer makers into seeing how good a laptop they can build for less than $500.
All start with a desktop version of Linux. Recent arrivals include the Asus Eee from Taiwan, which lists for $400. The company expects to sell close on four million Eees this financial year. Another Taiwanese maker, Everex, is selling its gPC desktop through Walmart for $199.
When firms are used to buying $1,000 office PCs running Vista Business Edition and loading each with a $200 copy of Microsoft Office, the attractions of a sub-$500 computer using a free operating system like Linux and a free productivity suite like OpenOffice suddenly become very compelling.
Meet me back here in 12 months and we'll discuss why none of it happened.


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Just over half of automotive retailers think new Chinese electric vehicle (EV) brands will force traditional car manufacturers to close due to increased competition.
Startline’s June Used Car Tracker also shows that 31% believe some existing brands are already falling behind and 36% say that the next few years will see them fold thanks to tougher competition.
BYD is already partnering with franchised dealers to create a network of 100 dealerships by 2025. Chey’s Omoda brand is looking to establish 50 dealerships by 2024. Other brands like Nio, Lynk & Co, Xpeng and Aiways are all gearing up for their own UK market launches in the next 12 to 24 months.
The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research. This time, 301 consumers and 55 dealers were questioned.
In terms of who will be affected, dealers say that European car makers will be hit hardest (mentioned by 29%), followed by those from the US (20%) and the Japanese (9%). Only 25% agree that there is room in the market for new and existing manufacturers to co-exist in the market.
Paul Burgess, Startline Motor Finance chief executive, said: “The success of MG over the last couple of years has made quite a deep impression on dealers and there is a long list of other Chinese manufacturers in various states of preparation waiting to follow in their footsteps, with Ora and BYD being the most visible.
“The competitiveness of the forthcoming products appear to range from broadly competent to really very good and, depending on factors such as pricing, brand awareness and customer support, they could make a very real impact on the market.”
Burgess said Chinese brands enjoy other advantages such as availability of batteries. As most Chinese brands are only planning on launching as EV-only, it will mean they will also circumvent the proposed “EV mandate” on sales figures being introduced by the UK government.
Burgess added that existing manufacturers are in varying states of competitiveness.
Some have a product plan and EV manufacturing capacity in place or coming soon that will create a smooth glide path through electrification.
He added: “While others appear to be in a much worse place, carrying too much legacy ICE product, limited visible EV expertise, and having uncertain future production facilities.
“It is presumably these businesses that dealers have in mind when predicting that some car makers will hit serious difficulties.”
- AM is currently running its own poll on whether the UK’s established car brands defend their position against new EV-focused entrants. Take part in the poll and view the latest results here.
All copyrights for this article are reserved to UK Recruiter


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Acquisition expands agency’s capabilities to serve fast-paced future of food, agriculture and transportation categories
broadhead, the largest independent, integrated marketing agency in Minnesota, has acquired HMH Agency, a Portland, Oregon-based firm known nationally for its creative work powering brands that are driving the future of transportation.
With clients including Daimler Truck North America brands Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, and Detroit; as well as North Carolina Ports Authority, PNW Railcars, TriMet, Daimler Truck Financial Services, Meritor, Ideanomics and TORC Robotics, HMH has been on the leading edge of innovation and new transportation solutions. For broadhead, the addition of HMH Agency complements and diversifies an agency well known for its work in the agriculture, food and wellness channels.
“There’s no category hotter right now than electric, autonomous and connected vehicles, and Ed Herinckx and his HMH team are right in the thick of it,” said broadhead founder and CEO Dean Broadhead. “Our partnership is a perfect fit – while HMH dominates the transportation category, broadhead is powering growth across the better-for-you foods, sustainable agriculture and food production categories.”
With combined capitalized billings in excess of $120M, the acquisition of HMH Agency increases broadhead’s overall business by 50% and expands its talent base to include 150 total employees in three offices: Minneapolis, Portland, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Following the acquisition, the broadhead and HMH Agency brands will continue to operate independently, providing category expertise across three of the fastest-growing, future-focused consumer and business global marketplaces – food, agriculture and transportation.
broadhead and HMH will also combine resources to build best-in-class services in several areas that benefit the overall client portfolio, including data science, predictive analytics, experience design, public relations, and more robust offerings in media and consumer research and insights.
“HMH is experiencing rapid growth supporting clients across the transportation spectrum, from commercial trucking to mass transit, from ports to sustainable, clean-energy propulsion systems,” said HMH President Ed Herinckx. “The opportunity to join forces with a like-minded, creative-and-data-driven, independent agency like broadhead will dramatically accelerate our ability to support the growth our clients are experiencing.”
HMH Agency will maintain its Portland- and Charlotte-based operations, and Herinckx will remain president of HMH Agency, while serving on the executive leadership team of broadhead Operating, LLC, and HMH operating units.
broadhead is the largest independent, full-service marketing agency in Minnesota, serving a diverse set of clients in the food, farm and wellness categories. Founded in 2001, broadhead is an employee-owned company with a brand portfolio that includes broadhead, its strategy group Rabbit, and now, HMH Agency.
For more information, please visit broadheadco.com.
About HMH Agency
With offices in Portland, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C., HMH is a full-service creative agency powering brands that are creating the future of transportation. HMH offers strategy, advertising, content creation, design, digital and mobile solutions, media, public relations, social media, and photography and video services.
For more information, please visit hmhagency.com.


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Holiday celebrations are steeped in traditions. These traditions are handed down from generation to generation and help us create memories that last a lifetime. This year, Main Street Elkader is delighted to be launching a new holiday tradition for the community.
Last year, an evergreen tree was planted in Founders’ Park in downtown Elkader to honor the previous Main Street Elkader Director, Roger Thomas, for his 10-year tenure. Thomas and his family were present for the first lighting of the tree last year and Main Street Elkader plans to grow the tree lighting into an annual holiday kick-off celebration.
Several fun and festive activities will take place during this year's tree lighting event, which has been dubbed the Holly Jolly Holiday Celebration. All are invited to Founders' Park in Elkader at 5:30pm to join the fun! Attendees can enjoy complimentary hot cocoa, treats and holiday music. There will also be an opportunity to make ornaments for the tree. The tree lighting will commence at 6:30pm.
Free Shop Small totes will be handed out (while supplies last) as well. Some of the totes will even contain Elkader Chamber Bucks, gift cards and other special deals from local businesses for you to use during the holiday shopping season!
Coloring sheets for the first Holly Jolly Holiday Coloring Contest will also be distributed at the event. Additional sheets will be available for pick up at the Elkader Public Library after the event as well. One winner will be chosen in each of the following age categories: 5 & under; 6-8; 9-12. Completed coloring sheets should be returned to the Elkader Public Library by Friday December 8, 2017 at noon to be entered to win.
Follow Main Street Elkader on Facebook for more details.


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Lurking inflation causing concern with consumers
Lurking inflation causing concern with consumers – those with memories of the 1970s more than twice as likely to think about it.
- The return of inflation is preying on people’s minds with 70% concerned about how they’d be impacted by a rise and 82% expecting it to rise further in 2021
- Older generations almost twice as likely to think about inflation
- Three quarters (73%) are concerned about inflation eroding their savings, rising to 82% among over 65s
- But worryingly, only one in four (24%) see rising inflation as a prompt to invest in stockmarket
According to research* carried out by Aegon, the threat of inflation is beginning to prey on people’s minds, with 70% of people harbouring concerns about the affect of rising prices on them personally.
When asked whether they take an interest in inflation levels, those aged over 65 were the most likely to say yes (66%). In fact, they were almost twice as likely as those aged 18-34 to do so (34%). This is likely due to a combination of memories of the 1970s when inflation reached double figures, peaking at nearly 25%**, and also the number of older people on fixed incomes more susceptible to inflation.
The easing of lockdown restrictions and more spending opportunities has triggered a steady rise in inflation, with data from ONS showing consumer prices (CPI) jumping since the start of the year. New inflation figures are due this week but in the latest figures to May, the rate increased for the third successive month. At 2.1% it has already exceeded the Bank of England’s target.
The risk to cash savings
While increasing inflation will be noticeable on the day to day purchases of goods and services, a spike in inflation is also setting alarm bells ringing for cash savers.
Three quarters (73%) of those in the survey are worried about inflation eroding the value of their savings. Again, this was the highest among the over 65s where 82% were worried.
When asked to consider the impact of inflation in a number of situations, from receiving a pay rise to taking out a mortgage, the rate of interest paid on savings accounts was top of mind with 67% of people.
With high inflation people will notice a dramatic decrease in their purchasing power over time and with interest failing to keep up with inflation, money left sitting in a savings account will also be impacted. Aegon’s analysis below highlights that even with inflation of 2%, £100 will become worth £93 within five years on a savings account paying 0.5% interest.
Table shows how the purchasing power of savings left sitting in a savings account paying 0.5% a year in interest will decrease over time at different rates of inflation.
While inflation can’t be completely avoided, its impact on savings and long term finances can be minimised by planning and developing an investment strategy which invests some savings in investments likely to provide real or above inflation growth.
However, worryingly, less than 1 in 4 people said that they factor inflation into decisions around investing in the stock market. In the 35 to 54 age group, this fell to just 17%.
Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon, said:
“Over time, inflation eats into consumer’s purchasing power by reducing the value of savings as prices go up, something cash savers need to be particularly mindful of. Keeping money in the bank typically earns interest, but if the interest rate is lower that inflation, you’re effectively losing money. Interest rates are currently at historic lows, just scraping above zero, meaning any amount of inflation raises challenges.
“With inflation having been low for many years, it’s been easy to forget the damaging impact of high inflation and what it means for our savings. But, as can be seen from the survey, inflation is now grabbing the attention of consumers, raising concerns.
“Those who are most at risk from an increase in inflation are people with large amounts in cash savings, particularly if these are unlikely to be needed short-term. People might want to take the opportunity to look at the option of investing some of their savings rather than keeping unnecessarily large amounts in cash, as this provides a more realistic chance of earning a real, above inflation rate of return.”
*The 969 respondents who took part in this study were recruited through Aegon’s customer and consumer panels. Fieldwork was undertaken in June 2021
Notes to Editors
- In the UK, Aegon offers retirement, workplace savings and protection solutions to over three million customers. Aegon employs around 2000 people in the UK and together with a further 800 people employed by Atos, we serve the needs of our customers. More information: www.aegon.co.uk
- Aegon’s roots go back more than 175 years – to the first half of the nineteenth century. Since then, Aegon has grown into an international company, with businesses in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Today, Aegon is one of the world’s leading financial services organisations, providing life insurance, pensions and asset management. Aegon’s purpose is to help people achieve a lifetime of financial security. More information on www.aegon.com
- Figures correct, January 2021


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Kalamazoo Craft Beverage Week offers 60-plus events – MLive.com
KALAMAZOO, MI — Winter Beer Olympics, unlimited mimosa brunches, brushes and brews painting parties, build-a-beer workshops and more — Kalamazoo Craft Beverage Week is almost here.
From Jan. 13-23, there are more than 60 events on tap for craft beer, wine and cocktail lovers as part of the annual celebration of craft beverages in the greater Kalamazoo area.
“As Kalamazoo, we do have an identity with our craft beverages, whether it be the breweries that are here, the distilleries, there’s even a good amount of wineries when you look at the surrounding area,” said Chris O’Neill, owner at One Well Brewing, one of six breweries hosting events over the course of the drawn-out week. “I think it’s a cool opportunity to get people excited about craft beverages, not only that are being made in Kalamazoo, but that are being made in Michigan and nationally.”
In its 13th year, the festival initiated as one to celebrate the local craft beer scene, expanding in 2021 to include local winemakers and distillers. The week’s unofficial kickoff party will go down on Friday, Jan. 13 at Final Gravity Brewing with live performances from OCD/C and FlyLiteGemini. The week concludes with a special night highlighting women-owned breweries on Jan. 23 at LFG Gaming Bar.
In addition to One Well and Final Gravity, other brewery hosts include Presidential Brewing, Texas Corners Brewing, Brewery Outré and Bells. Temp Vino Winery and Twine Urban Winery will also host events, as will three area distillers, including the Kalamazoo Stillhouse and Green Door and Gull Lake distilling companies.
Other bars and restaurants, such as the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, Crafted Copper, JungleBird, LFG Gaming Bar, Centre Street Taphouse, Louie’s Trophy House and Old Burdick’s are also hosting events.
“I think it’s nice to be able to focus on the good craft beverages that are being made in the area,” said O’Neill, whose brewery is hosting date night cheesecake and barrel-aged beer pairings and a pints and pinball tournament. “Anything that we can do to continue to draw people back to Kalamazoo is also great.”
The date night cheesecake and beer pairing events, hosted nightly from Jan. 14-22, will allow One Well’s kitchen staff to showcase their house-made cheesecakes as they are paired up with beers such as the brewery’s Stuck-Up Susie Raspberry Barrel-Aged Sour and Imperial Bourbon-Barrel Aged Stouts like the Wizard Potion and Scheming and Plotting, O’Neill said.
The pints and pinball night, meanwhile, opens the doors to all comers for a pinball tournament at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at One Well’s Wizard’s Pinball Palace. The brewery, which boasts a collection of over 50 machines, offers league or tournament play on most Wednesdays throughout the year, something O’Neill said presents the opportunity for people to make new friends over friendly competition.
In addition to pinball, other themed game nights during Kalamazoo Craft Beverage Week include music bingo at Louie’s Trophy House, trivia nights at Presidential Brewing, Bell’s and Shakespeare’s Pub, a Winter Family Carnival at Bell’s, and Euchre nights at Gull Lake Distilling and Presidential Brewing.
Other pairing events featured include whiskey and ribs at Centre Street Tap House, whiskey barrel aged wines and chocolate truffles at Temp Vino, beer and cheese, and also beer and bread night at Brewery Outré, beer and popcorn night at Texas Corners Brewing Co., a burgers and beer night at Bell’s, a bacon and beer event at Final Gravity and a Michigan beer and wings night at Crafted Copper.
For those who enjoy a good competition, the Kalamazoo Beer Cup will take place on Jan. 20 at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange and the Kalamazoo Home-brew Club Battle Royale will go down at Final Gravity that same night, pitting the area’s top homebrewers against one another in some tasty competition.
Live music and comedy events are also scheduled throughout the event. Click the link for a complete list of events. Events are still getting added as the event draws near. Some may require registration in advance.
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COVID-19 has significantly impacted business and consumers alike. From furlough and business loans, to insurance and mortgage requests, financial organisations have faced an upheaval of customer requests and evolving policies.
On top of this, employees at financial institutions are working remotely within an industry that relies on security, impeccable connection and customer contact. This challenge, however, has presented the industry with an opportunity to accelerate change.
Alan Donnelly, Head of Financial Services at Salesforce believes that the pandemic has highlighted the digital imperative as we move to the ‘next normal’ and how customer-centricity can be re-invented in the digital economy.
Using technology for recovery and growth
Lockdown restrictions have plunged us into a virtual world that relies heavily on technology. For many traditional banks with bricks and mortar operations, this has been a test to the nature of the back office, call centres and customer-facing employees have all had to completely shift their way of working.
Financial institutions have had to transform their workforce and introduce new ways of working that had not been considered even months ago. Re-defining how we learn, develop and upskill to equip employees with the digital tools they need to succeed, must be a priority as the challenges of today are overcome and we move to a second phase of recovery and reopening.
Alongside the digitalisation of the workforce, platforms and services also need to match changing business priorities. Products and services that are scalable, flexible and robust will help to weather future crises and keep up with the pace of change.
Finding new ways for customers to communicate and engage with businesses is a great example. Banks could adopt technology such as SMS messaging, new customer community portals and other online communications channels to better support customer self-service and thus allow contact centres to deal with the more complex and higher-value requests. Likewise, the roll and scale of branch networks is under severe scrutiny.
Ensuring the customer is at the centre
This crisis has made clear that if the customer is not at the centre of everything you do, you’ll get left behind. Placing the customer at the centre will ensure that every single interaction happens in the context of that customer as an individual, no matter where they are.
Mapping customer journeys can provide the wealth of data required to do this. Many organisations are realising that they need to harness the customer life-cycle through data and agility. They need to identify those “magical moments” that make up their customers’ life, such as setting up a pension or planning for a family and offer seamless and personalised services for all stages.
By using AI for examples, financial services can begin to analyse data effectively and create a 360-degree view of the customer. There is no single answer or solution, but knowledge is power in the race for convenience. Above all else, those financial institutions that deliver timely connected and personalised experiences will win.
Building an ecosystem that is based on partnerships
Ecosystems and partnerships between old and new are increasingly becoming an important aspect of future planning for financial institutions. The rhetoric of challenger vs traditional bank is dissipating as both look to how they can survive and thrive in the long-term.
Fintechs have boomed because agility and innovation underpin both their customer base and business model. But these organisations are young and do not always have the data and scale that traditional banks do. Traditional banks possess historical information on how individuals and households spend and can use this to plot those crucial life moments.
Ecosystems offer a marketplace of financial services that customers can dip in and out of according to their current needs and future plans, whether this be a savings account or car insurance, accessing the best products out of a large portfolio. This enables traditional banks, fintechs and also non-financial companies to create an omnichannel business model that will work now and into the future. Allowing customers to be part of communities with common interests and needs will in many cases be crucial for customer retention and cross-selling.
The pandemic has highlighted again that the holy grail for financial services is being able to attract, add value and retain customers in a cohesive way. Core to all of this must be technology, the customer and partnerships – with these three ingredients financial services can create enduring long-term strategies for success.


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Fresh & Easy flops, considering closure
December 6, 2012
The owners of Fresh & Easy announced Wednesday that because the stores are failing in the U.S. market they are reviewing options such as selling or closing the chain. [AdAge]
“It is now clear that Fresh & Easy will not deliver acceptable shareholder returns on an appropriate time frame in its current form,” said Tesco CEO Philip Clarke in a statement.
“While Fresh & Easy has many positives, its journey to scale and acceptable returns will take too long relative to other opportunities. I have therefore decided to conduct a strategic review of Fresh & Easy, with all options under consideration.”
Earlier this year, the county’s only Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened on Broad Street in San Luis Obispo amid much fanfare. At the time, Tesco marketed the store as having Trader Joe’s type specialty foods with Walmart prices, a claim deemed inaccurate by many.
The California-based grocery chain opened in 2007. Tesco has invested around $1.5 billion into the U.S. venture, with almost 200 stores employing more than 5,000 people.


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Whether you live in a higher crime area or just want extra peace of mind when it comes to bike security, consider these locks.
Medicine balls are generally no-frills and affordable, making them a practical addition to any workout. From home workouts to Crossfit, there’s a medicine ball for every budget and personality.
Can’t fit another MIDI-to-USB audio interface on your desk? It’s time to move to a MIDI foot controller. Choose from the best pedals and footswitches here.
Based on what iOS 10.3 beta testers are seeing on their devices, Apple is expected to drop support for 32-bit apps on an upcoming release of iOS.
Apple has announced it is selling more iPhones than ever before and has achieved its highest quarterly earnings in company history. The company is also seeing a continuous rise in revenue accrued from its services like the App Store and iTunes.
President Donald Trump said airport delays over the weekend were the result of a Delta computer outage, not the confusion over his immigration executive order. In reality, the Delta outage did not occur until Sunday evening.
Travis Kalanick is the multibillionaire CEO and co-founder of app-based car service Uber who sits on Donald Trump’s business advisory council. Read on for details of his net worth and rise to fortune.
The hashtag #DeleteUber trended on Sunday as users took aim at the app for not participating in the NY taxi drivers’ strike at at JFK airport over Donald Trump’s immigration order.
Silicon Valley tech giants Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are speaking out against Donald Trump’s immigration executive order. Here’s how they’re responding.
Samsung is working on an AI-powered personal assistant called Bixby, which is based on its recently-acquired Viv technology and may debut on the Galaxy S8. Read on for details.
Eric Schmidt, 61, the multibillionaire Executive Chairman of Alphabet and former Google CEO, will be speaking on Feb. 15 about artificial intelligence at the RSA Conference. Read on for his net worth, thoughts on AI, and details of his playboy lifestyle.
Elon Musk, the 45 year-old founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is a self-made multibillionaire. Read on for details about his net worth and how he made his fortune.
Craving fried food without the added grease? Air fryers combine hot air with just a small amount of oil for delicious and healthier results.
It appears that Facebook has temporarily blocked RT from posting anything but text posts. This may last through Trump’s inauguration. What happened?
How long until Donald Trump is President? Here are some handy countdown timers and apps that you can use to keep track of the time.
Induction cooking requires a specific type of cookware. Here are the best induction cookware sets for every budget.
Getting out the door for an early morning or late night run can be challenging, especially when it’s dark outside. Consider one of these running headlamps for your safety on the road or trails.
Dreading the thought of paying full price for a new piece of exercise equipment? Check out these deals on a variety of machines.


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Jan 10, 2019
John Lewis staff bonus in doubt
John Lewis says sales in the seven-week Christmas period were 1.4% higher than for the same period last year. That may not be enough to secure a bonus for its staff this year, the firm said. Gross like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of store opening and closures, at its Waitrose supermarkets, were £1.05bn, up 0.3% on last year. The John Lewis department stores themselves saw sales of £1.1bn, up 1% on last year. If the partnership decides not to, it would mark the first year since 1953 that staff had not had a profit share.
Make a complaint about John Lewis by viewing their customer service contacts.


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Be alert, parts of Aceh are predicted to still experience rain for the next three days, this is BMKG data LHOKSEUMAWE Ahead of the Holy Month of Ramadan, which is in sight of Babinsa Koramil 13/Bkt Kodim 0103/North Aceh, Sergeant Saifudin, checks the prices of basic necessities at the traditional market of Matang Raya Barat Village, Baktiya District, North Aceh, Tuesday, This activity is also in the context of disciplining and fostering health protocols in traditional markets so that they are safe Danramil 13/Bkt, Captain Info Nasrudin, said this activity was carried out by Babinsa in order to monitor developments in the price of basic necessities in traditional markets, such as rice, flour, cooking oil, eggs, and other fish. Moreover, it will soon enter the month which will become a very booming and expensive economy.
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Sep 3, 2009
Uniqlo to open biggest store yet in Shanghai
Sep 3, 2009
TOKYO (AFP) — The Japanese operator of the Uniqlo casual chain said Wednesday 2 September that it would open a new flagship store in Shanghai, its biggest in the world, as it targets a seven-fold increase in sales by 2020.
Tadashi Yanai, president of Fast Retailing and operator of Uniqlo - Photo: AFP
Fast Retailing, one of the few Japanese companies to have bucked the global economic downturn with rising profits, will also seek takeovers to further boost its global presence, its president Tadashi Yanai said.
The group, which owns 772 Uniqlo outlets in Japan and 90 overseas, will open its first Moscow shop and the flagship store in Shanghai next spring, said Yanai, Japan's richest person, according to Forbes magazine.
It aims to expand its worldwide network to 4,000 stores within a decade, with overseas operations accounting for three-quarters of its revenue, he told a news conference to outline the group's business strategy.
"It is indispensable for us to seek acquisitions to achieve growth in the United States and Europe," said.
The company is chasing sales of five trillion yen (54 billion dollars) by 2020, up from the 682 billion yen it expects in this business year to August.
The group is looking to grow its operations overseas as its domestic market matures and shrinks due to a rapidly greying population.
The group, which also owns the New York-originated Theory fashion label and French brand Comptoir des Cotonniers, said it could secure more than 400 billion yen for acquisitions.
Last year it lost out in a bidding war to buy upscale US department store Barneys New York.
Fast Retailing is pitting itself against global rivals such as US-based Gap Inc, Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz, and the Spanish Zara brand.
It has managed to shift its image from a cheap no-frills brand to one offering "high-tech" fabric such as its iconic "Heat Tech" sweaters, while collaborating with world-class designers such as Jil Sander and Alexander Wang.
The 60-year-old Yanai, who has said he will step down as head when he turns 65, said the company plans to ride the coat-tails of fast-growing Asian markets, opening new stores in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and China.
He expects Uniqlo's sales to eventually reach one trillion yen in China, where it will open about 100 shops each year with a goal of having as many as 1,000 large-scale stores.
Yanai, who transformed his father's tiny clothing store in southern Hiroshima into one of the world's biggest retailers, said he plans to set up schools aiming to groom future managers, including his successor.
Copyright © 2023 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.


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All our articles on iPhone in one place. Find everything here from the latest news, reviews and rumours.
What's really new? And what would Apple have us believe is new?
Little or large? We get the measure of the new iPhones.
Better cameras and water-resistant. But headphone slot is missing.
1UP! for Apple.
Rumours suggest it'll have 4K video too.
Audio specialists JBL could have just revealed Apple’s plans.
Apple set to boost storage with new iPhone range.
We've seen the future. And it works.
More storage, new headphone adapter and more hinted at in latest leak.
Report suggests 'gloss black' model will join line-up.


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Collectors may want to start saving their money. Come September, you may need it to pick up all the number one issues DC will be publishing.
The new issues will feature some familiar faces including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman. It’s all part of DC’s plan to reinvent itself and take a larger stake in comic book sales with a company wide relaunch.
Starting with a new Justice League from Geoff Johns and Jim Lee on August 31, DC will release 52 number one issues in the month of September.
The relaunch will introduce stories that are grounded in each character’s specific legend but also reflect today’s real-world themes and events. Lee spearheaded the costumes’ redesign to make characters more identifiable and accessible to comic fans new and old.
“We really want to inject new life in our characters and line,” says Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC with Lee. “This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today’s audience.”
In an even more important move in the competitive comics industry, DC is making all of the re-numbered titles available digitally via apps and a DC website the same day they arrive in comic shops. It marks the first time that a major comics publisher has done so with its popular superhero titles.


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You see the signs everywhere: "We accept EBT." Fast-food restaurants do. Clothing retailers do. Auto repair shops, liquor stores and even sushi joints are joining the club. "EBT" stands for the federal government's electronic benefits transfer card, which is intended to provide poor people with food stamps and cash...
What is the difference what it is spent on, particularly in the case of EBT funds not allocated as food stamps? It's not like the people get extra money if they run out after spending it on discretionary things that conservatives apparently find sinful. They get a set amount, and whether it is spent on food or alcohol, it is the same cost to the taxpayer. How about the liberty loving conservatives stay out of people's personal choices, or does liberty only extend to the rich?
From New York to New Mexico and across the dependent plains, welfare recipients are getting sauced on the public dime. Drunk, besotted, bombed. But while politicians pay lip service to cutting government waste, fraud and abuse, they're doing very little in practice to stop the EBT party excesses. Where's the compassion for taxpayers?
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