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Can you guess what makes pancakes made from scratch extra-fluffy? Well, Rosa Parks can tell you.
Yes, you read that correctly. Turns out Parks is famous for being more than just the mother of the civil rights movement. It appears she was a pretty good cook as well.
For her "featherlite" recipe for pancakes and the secret ingredient that makes them light as air, keep reading...
reports that among estate items gathered since Parks' death in 2005, notable memorabilia includes a recipe for her "featherlite pancakes," scribbled on the back of an envelope from the 1st National Bank of Detroit.
The recipe is just one of many items set to be auctioned off by Guernsey's Auctioneers of New York. The entire lot is being sold as a single collection valued around $10 million.
Although you may never get a chance to hold the recipe yourself, you can taste a piece of history with Parks' recipe, which calls for peanut butter, of all things.
Rosa Parks' Featherlite Pancake Recipe
1 cup flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon of shortening or oil
Combine with dry ingredients. Cook at 275 degrees on griddle.
Follow Clean Plate Charlie Facebook on Twitter: @CleanPlateBPB.


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Tesco seems to be the only retail chain that was offering the nuts for sale, and it took action at the request of the supplier. According to SME daily, Tesco has announced that the batch that was recalled in Slovakia was not harmful.
The nuts were supplied by the company Encinger from Bratislava.
At the beginning of December the same nuts were recalled in the Czech Republic by retail chain Kaufland, but its Slovak spokesman Martin Gartner said only pistachio from the USA are sold in Slovakia.
Aflatoxins are naturally occurring mycotoxins produced by fungi and are among the most carcinogenic substances known to us.

domain: news


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With browser wars already heating up in the mobile arena, MoboTap, the creators of Dolphin Browser, have decided to go local. The company has partnered with multiple search providers to offer a more localised experience to its users.
The result of this partnership reached Google Play earlier today in the form of an app update for Dolphin Browser, which now brings a more localised and customisable version to its users in each country.
“If you are in Russia, the default search will be Yandex, not Google. If you are in China, the default search would be Baidu,” said Edith Yeung, VP of Business Development of Dolphin.
The team is also offering its users a private alternative for searching in the form of DuckDuckGo, which is available alongside Google if a user wants to switch.
The web browser has also been translated in 21 languages, so it isn’t just the search engines that is the sole localisation offering. In terms of the customisations, users can now choose from various themes and colours to turn the looks of the browser to their liking.


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-- Jaden Smith is known for stretching fashion boundaries, from rocking dress-like outfits to dressing up as Batman for the prom. But his newest campaign has the fashion world buzzing.
Smith, 17, is the newest face of Louis Vuitton’s women’s line and he's making headlines for wearing a skirt in the company’s new Spring/Summer 2016 ad campaign.
“Thank You So Much @louisvuitton And @nicolasghesquiere For The Opportunity To Impact This World,” he wrote on Instagram.
“You are seeing an evolution, and we’re also seeing fashion do what fashion loves to do which is to play with our expectations, to tug on our prejudices, and to surprise us,” Robin Givhan, fashion editor for The Washington Post, told ABC News.
In the press release from Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière, the artistic director of women's collections, wrote, “Why does Jaden Smith star in this campaign? He represents a generation that has assimilated the codes of true freedom, one that is free of manifestos and questions about gender. Wearing a skirt comes as naturally to him as it would to a woman who, long ago, granted herself permission to wear a man's trench or a tuxedo. Jaden Smith conveys something very interesting about the integration of a global wardrobe. He's found an instinctive balance that makes his extraordinary attitude a new norm. That really inspired me in the creative process for this collection."
“We decided a long time ago it is sort of better to flow with how people are naturally more than what our egos need them to be,” he explained.
And in June, Jaden Smith told GQ magazine, “I’m just expressing how I feel inside, which is really no particular way because everyday it changes how I feel about the world and myself.”
People on social media seem to have differing opinions on the ad campaign.
“He is honestly revolutionary for breaking down gender roles and getting media attention to raise awareness,” wrote one advocate.
“Jaden Smith was featured in Louis Vuitton’s latest womenswear ad and I think it’s fabulous,” another wrote.
Some people have angrily objected to the campaign, saying they’re perplexed by the ads and wondering what statement is really being made.
“This comes at a time when culturally we’re thinking about what gender actually means and you are also seeing the fashion industry playing with this idea of not unisex dressing, but a kind of genderless dressing,” Givhan said.


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In a futuristic blend of fashion and technology, the U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has unveiled, SMART ePANTS, a ground-breaking initiative to develop computerized clothing with astonishing capabilities.
These high-tech garments not only promise comfort and wearability but also pack an array of features that leap straight from the plot of a futuristic espionage novel.
The sensors that make these functionalities possible are woven into a garment’s fabric, creating what is known as “Active Smart Textiles” (ASTs).
“Active smart textile (ASTs) research is a burgeoning field where fabrics are designed to adapt and change their functionality in response to changes to their external environment and/or user input,” internal IRAPA documents note.
“By weaving these devices directly into garments, Intelligence Community staff will be able to record information from their environment hands-free, without the need to wear uncomfortable, bulky, and rigid devices. As a result, personnel will have greater range of motion, thus improving their response time in challenging circumstances.”
Working in collaboration with prominent institutions and defense companies, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Leidos, Areté, Nautilus Defense, and SRI International, IRAPA says it is leading the charge in developing Active Smart Textiles that could serve multiple sectors—from intelligence operations to emergency services.
“IARPA is proud to lead this first-of-its-kind effort for both the IC and broader scientific community, which will bring much-needed innovation to the field of ASTs,” SMART ePANTS program manager Dr. Dawson Cagle noted in a press release issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). “To date, no group has committed the time and resources necessary to fashion the first integrated electronics that are stretchable, bendable, comfortable, and washable like regular clothing.”
In 2020, industry forecasts estimated that smart textiles would balloon into a $5.5 billion market by 2025. Fast forward to 2023, and that projection has been updated to suggest that the global smart textile industry could swell to an astounding $13.8 billion by 2030. IARPA’s entry into the intelligent clothing arena will only accelerate market growth and drive significant technological advancements.
In program documents obtained by The Debrief, IRAPA makes it clear it is not interested in “passive smart textiles,” like Gore-Tex, that cannot react to changes in environmental conditions. Instead, the agency wants to advance intelligent fabrics that can “adapt and change their functionality in response to changes in the external environment or in response to a user input.”
The innovative technology that will make SMART ePANTS possible includes weavable conductive polymers serving as the textile’s wiring, energy harvesters powered by the person wearing the garment, “ultra-low power printable computers on cloth,” recording devices that act like threads and “scrunchable batteries.”
In a Proposers Day event hosted last year by the Naval Information Warfare Center, IARPA told prospective industry partners that SMART ePANTS garments should incorporate sensors that would allow for up to 60 minutes of audio and recording and an indoor geolocation system that could provide relative readings every 10 minutes for one hour.
The smart clothing should also allow for data storage and off-loading and a power source for up to 8 hours of continuous operation between rechargings.
These sensors and power capabilities should be covertly incorporated into the clothing, with officials stressing that any rigid parts “must be natural parts of the clothing,” such as grommets, zippers, buttons, or collar stays.
The advanced research and development arm of the U.S. Intelligence Community said it would also not accept any designs that required external devices, employed radioactive or toxic materials, were visually or aurally conspicuous, or did not produce an integrated system.
The benefit for the Intelligence Community in covertly embedding sensors in one’s clothing is apparent. However, IARPA says the advancement of active smart textiles “could also assist personnel and first responders in dangerous, high-stress environments, such as crime scenes and arms control inspections, without impeding their ability to swiftly and safely operate.”
IARPA also highlights the potential for flexible, washable ASTs to improve public health and connectivity. “SMART ePANTS success can transform commercial markets,” agency internal documents note.
The SMART ePANTS program has been outlined in three developmental phases: an 18-month period focused on creating a reusable, flexible, stretchable integrated AST; a 12-month period for crafting a functional prototype; and a final 12-month period to refine the prototype for comfort, durability, and washability.
As part of the 42-month project timeline, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Advanced Functional Fabrics of America will serve as test and evaluation partners, ensuring the development meets scientific rigor and functionality standards.
With its SMART ePANTS program, IARPA hopes to redefine what clothing can do and map out a future where a person’s wardrobe could revolutionize how we perceive and engage with technology in our daily lives.
Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter:@LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be reached by email: email@example.com or through encrypted email:firstname.lastname@example.org


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Öhling (ots) - Das Resümee des vergangenen Jahres lest sich positiv: Mit über ? 2 Mio. abgeholten Fördergeldern ...
CLARIA ASSEMBLES TEAM OF PRIVACY EXPERTS TO HELP DEVELOP NEW BEHAVIOURLINK ADVERTISING NETWORK MODEL
Redwood City, California (ots/PRNewswire) - Claria(SM) (www.claria.com), a pioneer and leader in the behavioural marketing space, today announced that a team of privacy, public policy and consumer protection law experts are working with Claria to help develop and shape its new BehaviourLink(SM) (www.behaviourlink.com) advertising network model. The team includes:
-- Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman of the Ponemon Institute, a leading privacy consulting and research firm;
-- Richard Purcell, President of Corporate Privacy Group and former Chief Privacy Officer of Microsoft;
-- Lewis Rose, Chairman of the Advertising and Consumer Protection law practice at Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, and a former staff attorney at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
"We've assembled a privacy, policy and consumer protection dream team," said D. Reed Freeman, Jr., Chief Privacy Officer of Claria. "It's an honor for me to have the chance to work with such an impressive group of lawyers and policy professionals, whose primary objective is to help us ensure that we develop a product that consumers embrace."
"As behavioural marketing is becoming more mainstream, and as marquee publishers are moving forward to distribute the BehaviourLink platform, we sought the help of the top thought leaders in the privacy area," said Jeff McFadden, president and CEO of Claria. "Their work will be instrumental in helping us continue to evolve by creating a model that is not only good for advertisers and publishers, but one that provides consumers with industry-leading value, privacy protections, and control over their online experience."
Claria is working closely with a number of industry groups focused on privacy initiatives and programs. Claria has recently joined the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), the network advertising industry's trade association. The NAI administers a set of self-regulatory rules for online preference marketing and provides consumers a means of opting out of member companies' online preference marketing services.
"We are delighted to have Claria as a member of the Network Advertising Initiative and we look forward to working with Claria to build compliance with the NAI Principles -- which are widely recognized as strong examples of effective self regulation in the network advertising industry -- into the BehaviourLink product," said Trevor Hughes, Executive Director of the Network Advertising Initiative. "Claria's adherence to these principles means that Claria will be taking the critical steps to protect the privacy of consumer data."
Claria is also a member of the Online Privacy Alliance (OPA), a group of leading online and offline companies that value privacy and that are involved in the development of privacy-related standards.
"We are very pleased to have Claria as a new member of the Online Privacy Alliance," said Christine Varney, OPA legal advisor and partner at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, DC. "Their adherence with the Online Privacy Alliance principles shows their commitment to respecting the privacy of consumers, and we look forward to working with them in the future on new Privacy Alliance initiatives such as those involving behavioural marketing."
For more information contact Mandy Mladenoff of SHIFT Communications -- +1-415-591-8420, firstname.lastname@example.org.
About Claria Corporation: Founded in 1998, Claria Corporation (www.claria.com) is a leader in online behavioural marketing. Claria's behavioural data platform provides Web publishers and advertisers the information they need to deliver advertisements targeted to individual consumer interests. Claria provides marketing research and business insights through its Feedback Research division, delivering in-depth analytics of consumer Web usage patterns across the Internet. Claria's Vista Marketing Services division is dedicated to bring consumers a more relevant and highly personalized Web experience. Claria headquarters are located in Redwood City, California, with U.S. offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Detroit, Austin, and International offices in the U.K. and Asia.
Web site: http://www.claria.com
ots Originaltext: Claria Corporation
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.newsaktuell.ch
Mandy Mladenoff of SHIFT Communications, +1-415-591-8420, or
email@example.com, for Claria Corporation


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If you own a car but don’t use it much, growing numbers of startups are itching to help you rent it out. One of the latest ventures is Getaround, which aims to set itself apart with a recipe involving Facebook, smart phones, and green cars.
Over the course of 2010, a rich ecosystem of services, startups and innovations began to take shape around the idea of sharing cars and bikes. Here’s seven steps taken this year toward shared transportation:
RelayRides, which aims to help people rent out their personal vehicles, launched today and said it raised its first round of investment from Google Ventures and August Capital. It’s part of a trend in which companies are using the web to help people share “stuff.”
BMW Group is breaking into car sharing with a new pilot project in Munich that will let customers rent any current BMW model by the hour. It fits into much larger trends of innovation around providing mobility as a service — and growing competition for Zipcar.
Zeitbyte is having its biggest week ever, as it has been chosen to distribute live and on-demand video streams of more than 100 runway shows during the week-long New York Fashion Week. Those runway shows are being made available both online and on mobile devices.
Zipcar, a decade old startup with the country’s largest car sharing network, has filed with regulators this morning to raise up to $75 million in an initial public offering.
With Zipcar busy gobbling up car sharing competitors, a new generation of startups offering a peer-to-peer or distributed model of car sharing is taking shape. Here’s a snapshot of the next-gen car sharing landscape, comparing Spride Share, WhipCar and RelayRides.
Four years after setting up a car sharing service in London, England, Zipcar announced today that it has acquired the UK’s largest car sharing provider, Streetcar. Now Zipcar faces some questions about how to bridge technology gaps between different models.
These 10 bike sharing programs offer a glimpse of how a growing number of cities and unconventional transit players are putting wi-fi, solar power and smartphones to work in the service of mobility on demand.
Zipcar bills its car-sharing service as a money saver. At the tail end of a recession, has Zipcar — which has said it aims to “cross over to profitability” in 2010, and eventually go public — seen users flock to its service?


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Walter Palmer has officially made it. It’s been a month since the Eden Prairie man captivated the world with his shady killing of Cecil the lion. While the professional plaque scraper probably wishes we would all forget about that time he sparked an international controversy, his deeds will be immortalized.
In drunken Halloween pictures.
From the twisted mind that brought us 2014’s “sexy ebola,” comes an official lion killer dentist costume. The ensemble, replete with bloody smock and severed lion head mask for a “gruesome, complete look,” hit online shop Costumeish.com on Tuesday.
“Grannies that are naked, pregnant nuns. It gets tackier and tackier and more tasteless every year,” says founder Johnathon Weeks.
The costume designer and seller knew he had to make a doc Palmer outfit when people kept searching for all things Cecil on his various retail websites. Initially going for $60, the price to commemorate “2015’s most controversial killing” has jumped to $100 due to popular demand, according to the website.
While Weeks sells the typical devil or superhero costumes, he seems to enjoy stirring the pot — or in some cases the baby pot leaf — with his costumes. The Halloween-y entrepreneur draws inspiration from pop culture and whatever’s in the new cycle, and predicts the lion killer look will be big this year. Right up there with other nothing’s-sacred Bill Cosby, Jared Fogle and “Megyn Kelly tampon blood” themes.
“We have fun with it,” Weeks says. “It’s Halloween. It’s not a political correct day, never really been. So there’s no reason for us to be.”
But like the contentious Caitlyn Jenner costume, which Weeks doesn’t make or carry, not everyone is a fan of the spoofy lion killer garb. Unassuaged by a portion of the proceeds benefiting a wildlife organization, some decried the costume as “tasteless” and a petition emerged asking Costumeish to pull it. On Wednesday, Weeks received multiple texts threatening to burn his building down and another reading “This is your warning.”
Nevertheless, the guy in the spooky party biz doesn’t seem too scared.
“They’re only going to get more and more controversial and sick, because that’s kind of what we are,” he says. “Anything goes.”
- New photos of Walter Palmer's illegal Wisconsin bear kill
- Could Caitlyn Jenner's 'yearnings' affect where Minnesota kids can pee?
- Ex-Wild player Clayton Stoner faces charges over big-game hunt
- The only honest Yelp review of River Bluff Dental, home of the lion killer
- Walter Palmer's guide Theo Bronkhorst says lion hunt "destroyed" him


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All automakers must sell cars through franchised dealers in New Jersey.
Tesla Motors doesn't want to sell its cars the way every other car company does, and that's making a lot of traditional automobile dealers mad.
New "Gigafactory" could be located in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico or Texas.
|Part-time jobs: America's hidden unemployment crisis|
|Federal agents arrest debt collectors in crackdown|
|The FedEx driver who sued and won|
|Fans cheer Bill Cosby at Florida performance|
|JetBlue will cut legroom, charge for checked bags|


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Mumbai: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra gave a flying kiss as she walked the ramp for International designer Michelle Bohbot`s brand, "Bisou Bisou" Tuesday, the fifth day of the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive 2013.
Honey Singh`s shower of extravagant gifts
Rani Mukerji learns Krav Maga for upcoming flick `Mardaani`
Zee Media Exclusive: Varun, Alia promote `Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya`
Kareena does not want to do films with husband Saif!


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By Oliver Smith on Tuesday 27 August 2019
Germany-only for now, but big plans ahead.
Numbrs, the Zurich-based banking app, last week confirmed a Bloomberg report that its latest funding round valued the business at over $1bn.
In a blog post the company revealed that the $40m funding consists mostly of private investors—with the company’s share register reportedly including more than 50 individuals and families—as opposed to VCs.
Numbrs offers account aggregation in Germany, similar to Yolt, with additional financial products like current accounts, loans, credit cards and insurance being recommended based on usage.
The company claims to have over 2m downloads and to be handling over €10bn in managed assets.
In an interview last week with Bloomberg, CEO Martin Saidler said the UK would be Numbrs second main market following its Germany launch in 2014.
“After that, we want to expand to other European countries,” he said.
Numbrs has partnerships with several of Europe’s largest banks and insurers including Barclaycard, Postbank, Santander, Bank of Scotland, Allianz and AXA.
“Looking back we are extremely proud of our achievements. But the we are even more excited with what lies ahead,” the company wrote.


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Despite being one of the major players on the Android phone market, HTC has still not fully entered the tablet battle – the Taiwanese giant is yet to announce a tablet, running on Android Honeycomb. It looks however, that the launch of the device is nearing as today, we stumbled into more screenshots of the company’s yet to be announced, first Android Honeycomb tablet, which is known by the name HTC Puccini.
Unlike the last time we saw screenshots of the upcoming device, it is now clear that HTC has managed to implement its wildly popular Sense UI into the Android OS. Logically, this means that along with the familiar Android functionality, we can expect to see a lot of eye candy on the tablet’s 10″ screen.
We already know that the HTC Puccini will be launched in the United States by AT&T under the name HTC Jetstream. It will be one of the first devices to run on the company’s newly built LTE network. The tablet’s CPU is expected to be a 1.5 GHz dual-core unit, which will power some of the company’s Android phones like the HTC Ruby.


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“Every hour an American dies of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer," says Dr. Rendon. "I urge my patients and all consumers that will come into contact with the sun, to not let this report stop or limit the use of sunscreen.”
Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) July 21, 2010
Celebrations of summer are underway, but many consumers are left feeling confused and concerned about how to best protect their skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Apprehension is now heightened with the release of a study by the Environmental Working Group, cautioning consumers that an ingredient found in many sunscreens may speed cancerous cell growth. Marta I. Rendon, M.D. a board-certified dermatologist, medical director and founder of the Dermatology and Aesthetics Center in Boca Raton, Fla., and global celebrity dermatologist for Procter & Gamble's Head and Shoulders, wants to ease consumer’s distress and set the record straight.
According to the study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit public health organization, nearly half of the 500 most popular sunscreens have an ingredient that may increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer, such as melanoma. The findings look at data from a 2009 FDA study of retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A that is often used as an antioxidant in anti-aging cream formulations.
The EWG study, however, is a single study conducted on animals and it is questionable whether that activity would actually mimic what may occur in humans. "It is true that vitamin A might have some phototoxicity, however, that does not necessarily correlate that it will increase your risk of skin cancer." says Dr. Rendon. “The concern comes from a sole study conducted on animals and not humans. Sometimes these animal studies are extrapolated to humans, when in reality it might have no relevance. We can not eliminate many years of detailed research and make a decision based on one simple study. There is more evidence captured from years of research that point to the benefits of vitamin A."
Clearly, there are many factors in reviewing the study that leaves physicians skeptical. In addition to the animal testing, the absence of sunscreen in the study is a significant missing element, as the study only tested plain vitamin A cream, not sunscreen containing vitamin A. The preliminary data has created a buzz among consumers, and after review of the study, doctors are still urging patients to continue use of sunscreen. Despite the findings in the new study, consumers should still feel confident in the protection they are getting from their sunscreen, and seek comfort in the fact that all FDA-approved sunscreens have undergone rigorous trials to prove their efficacy and hold up against safety standards.
"Do not throw away your sunscreen!” says Dr. Rendon. “Remember that every hour an American dies of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. I urge my patients and all consumers that will come into contact with the sun, to not let this report stop or limit the use of sunscreen.”
Added counsel of high importance for consumers seeking advice for the appropriate selection of sunscreen is to ensure that the sunscreen that they are using blocks both UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply to cause aging issues such as fine lines and wrinkles, while UVB rays can cause sunburn and are more responsible for increasing the risk of cancer. Additionally, sun protection factor (SPF) is not regulated by the FDA, and surprising to many consumers is that the difference between an SPF 30 and SPF 60 is approximately only five percent. Finally, consumers should ensure that their sunscreen includes zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which act as physical barriers and help to keep out ultraviolet light.
“Sunscreen does not stand alone and should only be one part of your overall sun protection routine,” says Dr. Rendon. “In addition to using an SPF with UVA/UVB coverage, hats, sun-protective clothing and seeking shade are a must during the sunny months. With proper education about the benefits of sunscreen, our goal is to help consumers understand the preventable yet damaging effects of sun exposure and help them to seek out additional information on the prevention and early detection of skin cancer.”
For more information on this study or to contact Dr. Rendon, please visit http://www.drrendon.com.
About Dr. Marta I. Rendon
Dr. Marta I. Rendon, M.D., founder and medical director of the Dermatology and Aesthetic Center with a clinical trials research division in Boca Raton, Fla., is double board certified in dermatology and internal medicine, the past president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery, a member of the board of directors of the exclusive Skin of Color Society and Pigmentary Disorders Academy, the former Chief of Dermatology at the Cleveland Clinic in Fort Lauderdale, a professor of dermatology at Florida Atlantic University and has served as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine for over 20 years.
Dr. Rendon directs her practice’s clinical trial research division that tests new skin care technologies, products and treatments developed by worldwide brands. In addition, Dr. Rendon serves on the advisory boards of Sculptra™, Restylane® and Perlane: and on the medical education faculty for Radiesse™. For more information on Dr. Rendon and her practice, please call (561) 750-0544 or visit http://www.drrendon.com.
Fern Cole: F(dot)Cole(at)admcorp(dot)com
Alex Rendon: A(dot)Rendon(at)admcorp(dot)com
Dermatology and Aesthetic Center
880 N.W. 13th St., Suite 3C
Boca Raton, FL 33486-2342
Phone: (561) 750-0544 Fax: (561) 750-9873


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Nov 14 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said it bought more than $4.1 billion worth of shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW), a rare major move in the technology sector by the billionaire conglomerate Warren Buffett.
The news sent shares in TSMC up more than 6% in Taiwan on Tuesday as it boosted investor sentiment for the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which saw its shares hit a two-year low last month on the back of a sharp slowdown in global demand to chips, gave it a boost.
In a filing Monday detailing US-listed equity investments as of Sept. 30, Berkshire said it owned approximately 60.1 million US-deposit shares of TSMC.
Berkshire also announced new $297 million stakes in building materials company Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LPX.N) and $13 million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc (JEF.N). It left an investment in Store Capital Corp. (STOR.N), a real estate company that agreed to go private in September.
The filing did not specify whether Buffett or his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made specific purchases and sales. Investors often try to piggyback on what Berkshire buys. Larger investments are normally Buffett’s.
While Berkshire doesn’t normally make big technology bets, it often favors companies it believes have competitive advantages, often because of their size.
TSMC, which makes chips for Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Qulacomm (QCOM.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), posted an 80% increase in quarterly profit last month, but was more cautious than usual on upcoming demand.
“I suspect Berkshire believes the world cannot do without Taiwan Semi’s products,” said Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner, Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who owns Berkshire’s stock.
“Only a small number of companies that can raise the capital to supply semiconductors, which are becoming increasingly important in people’s lives,” he added.
Berkshire has had mixed success in technology.
IBM Corp.’s (IBM.N) bet of more than six years over the past decade has failed, but Berkshire is sitting on huge unrealized gains on its $126.5 billion stake in Apple, which Buffett sees more as a consumer products company.
Apple is by far the largest investment in Berkshire’s $306.2 billion stock portfolio.
Berkshire announced TSMC’s stake about 2.5 months after it began reducing a multibillion-dollar decade-old stake in BYD Co (002594.SZ), China’s largest electric car company.
In the third quarter, Berkshire increased its holdings in Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), Celanese Corp (CE.N), Paramount Global (PARA.O), and RH (RH.N). .
It also sold shares of Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), General Motors Co (GM.N), Kroger Co (KR.N), and U.S. Bancorp (USB.N) .
Buffett, 92, has run Berkshire since 1965. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also owns dozens of companies such as the BNSF Railroad, the auto insurer Geico, several energy and industrial companies, Fruit of the Loom and Dairy Queen.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Edited by David Gregorio and Bradley Perrett
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Principles of Trust.


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SALEM, Ohio — A quick Google search on cannabis brings up a wide range of results — some praising its potential medical benefits, others denouncing it as a drug.
Julie Strawser, of Columbus, works for Ohio State Extension, but recently became interested in learning about the science behind cannabis. Cannabis is a plant family that includes hemp and marijuana. CBD, or cannabidiol, comes from hemp and does not get users high, like THC in marijuana does.
Strawser started taking it after an accident and several surgeries and was impressed.
“It started having such amazing results with me that I wanted to learn how it was working,” Strawser said.
She began wading through the research. Soon, she found out that Cleveland is home to one of only two state-approved career schools for cannabis education, and the only one east of Colorado.
The Cleveland School of Cannabis may sound out of place in Ohio, where medical marijuana was legalized in 2016 and hemp production was only legalized this year. To the founders, however, it made sense.
“[Cleveland] used to be such an important heartbeat for the rest of the country,” said Kevin Greene, vice president and one of the founders for the school. “We knew that the Midwest was going to be a huge player in the cannabis industry.”
Interest in hemp production exploded since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized it nationally. The infrastructure is still catching up though.
Ohioans are still waiting for a finalized state hemp plan. Farmers are looking for reliable sources for seed, ways to avoid testing over the legal limit for THC and more processors. The supply of hemp is expected to soar, but farmers need a market before they begin planting, much of which is still a work in progress.
As the Midwest gets more involved with cannabis, Greene said the area needs people with experience and knowledge.
As a significant agricultural state, Ohio could be well-positioned to do well, Greene believes.
“We know how to do this,” he said.
Greene noted that in addition to being a big state for agriculture, Ohio has major medical and research facilities, which could encourage more research and involvement with the medical side of cannabis.
“I know our farmers are excited about a transition to hemp,” Greene said. Being in the Midwest will also be a positive as the industry grows and cannabis is exported more between states, he said.
A new industry
Greene’s background, however, is in marketing and business, not cannabis or agriculture.
“I think I’m a great example of what the cannabis industry provides,” Greene said. “It doesn’t need people that just grow or work in dispensaries. It needs management, HR, accountants … we’re building an entire industry … an industry needs full support.”
The school offers tracks in business and management, in addition to horticulture and medical applications for cannabis. Greene said it has plans to launch a program for hemp and CBD early in 2020.
Strawser spent the first half of 2019 going through the school’s executive program, which combines three tracks in medicine, business and horticulture.
She still works full-time, but on the side, she consults with people on CBD use and also sells CBD products.
She hopes to eventually get into dispensary management, where she can work with patients who use cannabis medically.
The school was founded in 2017 and recently expanded to add a Columbus campus.
Greene said about 135 students have graduated so far, with a job placement rate of over 60%. Students have ranged from 18-77. The school works with students at the ends of their programs and post-graduation on career services and job placement.
Older students have seen laws and social standards around cannabis shift over time. Even at 34, Greene remembers the D.A.R.E. era in schools, when students were taught that all drugs were bad. Younger students are more open about possible uses for cannabis.
The Congressional Research Service said U.S. CBD sales jumped from $59 million in 2014 to $240 million in 2018. Marketing in the state became much easier when Ohio legalized hemp production, but the CBD industry is still waiting on more U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules.
“I am adamant about compliance with the FDA,” Strawser said.
The FDA is strict about marketing CBD and recently issued warning letters to several companies for claiming their CBD products could treat or cure serious diseases.
Once more FDA regulations come out on CBD products, Strawser expects the industry to grow. Still, it’s been a long time since hemp was grown in many states.
“It’s going to take the industry a while to build,” Strawser said. “It’s in its infancy, and it’s going to take some brave entrepreneurs to get some of the infrastructure started.”
Greene believes educating the public, in addition to customers and those in the industry, about cannabis is a key challenge for the industry right now.
“Once CBD got popular, I say, cannabis went mainstream,” Greene said. “It’s important because cannabis is everywhere … the worst thing that we can do is make decisions off of false information … the best thing that all we can do is to get some base knowledge and understanding.”
Greene pointed out that hemp fiber also has potential as a construction material, and even people with no interest in CBD products may start to see cannabis play a bigger role in their lives that way.
Strawser hopes to see CBD get approved as an insurance expense for those use it medicinally. She says, however, that many students and professors at the Cleveland School of Cannabis are interested in medical marijuana as well as in hemp.
Ohio’s medical marijuana program allows certified physicians to recommend patients for medical marijuana, according to the program’s website. Registered patients can buy from an approved dispensary in Ohio. Qualifying medical conditions include epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson’s disease, among several others.
Strawser believes cannabis is more than a recreational outlet, like tobacco or alcohol. She hopes more studies and research will confirm the medical benefits she has seen personally and anecdotally.
“The medical side of it wants that proved,” she said. “They have to be very cautious.”
Before Ohio’s medical marijuana program was up and running, students at the Cleveland School of Cannabis interned with companies in Oregon to get practical experience. Strawser went through the school after Ohio started its program, which allowed her to look in-state for internships. She interned with Buckeye Relief in East Lake.
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El Paso police officials today released the name of the man who allegedly stole an iPad from a Starbucks in West El Paso.
Carlos Guerrero, 18, of the 6300 block of Palo Verde Place, was arrested on suspicion of theft and evading arrest, police said. Guerrero's bond is set at $2,500.
According to police, Guerrero entered the Starbucks at 6015 N. Mesa St. just before 9 a.m. Wednesday then allegedly grabbed the iPad and ran from the store.
In a press release, police said a "Good Samaritan" caught the suspect as he fled from the coffee shop and recovered the iPad. The iPad was returned to the owner.
Other customers turned the suspect over to the police, officials said.
One of the customers, who did not want to be identified, on Wednesday said Guerrero was acting "weird" while hanging out at the Starbucks. Other customers said that shortly before the incident, someone offered to buy Guerrero a drink.
Guerrero was arrested on suspicion of theft of property over $500-under $1,500 from an elderly person over 65, police officials said. The charge is a felony.
Luis Carlos Lopez may be reached at 546-6381.


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A U.S. Small Business Administration program has been revamped in order to increase the availability of financing to firms that have a showroom of expensive inventory – car, boat, RV and motorcycle dealerships.
But Long Island lenders aren’t clamoring to participate in the new program. Also, dealer management doubts the program will help them since local dealerships are either too big or too small to fit into the federal program.
Most smaller banks, such as Bridgehampton National, State Bank of Long Island and bank-owned alternative lender New York Business Development Corp., shy away from dealer floor plan lending because of the work it involves. Buffalo-based M&T Bank, which specializes in the floor plan lending niche and has eight branches on Long Island, will only participate if one of its clients requests it.
Big, money center banks, though, may be a good source for the financing, said Patrick Kelley, a senior adviser with the SBA. He said JPMorgan Chase, which has a number of locations on the Island, has expressed interest. Bank of America also is considering participating.
The SBA program, called the Dealer Floor Plan Pilot Loan Program, provides between $500,000 and $5 million in financing to dealerships in a revolving line of credit, Kelley said. The federal government will guarantee up to 75 percent of the loans as part of President Barack Obama’s Small Business Jobs Act. Program participants must have a net worth below $15 million, a two-year profit of less than $5 million or fit within the previous version’s parameters.
As each car, boat or RV is sold off a dealer’s lot, a portion of the loan is paid back and the dealer is once again able to borrow against the line of credit to buy new inventory, according to the SBA.
The program is a relaunch of an earlier iteration that was available in 2008 and 2009 and had a $2 million limit, according to the SBA. The earlier version, which expired Sept. 30, also had government loan backing of between 60 and 75 percent, depending on the collateral.
That program “did not work so well,” said Bob Vancavage, president of the Albany-based New York State Automobile Dealers Association, a trade organization for franchised car dealers with 50 percent of its membership in the New York metropolitan area. Only one car dealership in New York received a loan through the program, he said.
“There were none on Long Island or in the metropolitan New York area,” Vancavage added.
He said too many of the dealerships are too big to fit the SBA’s tight parameters.
“Dealers have a lot more inventory and need more financing than the prior SBA rules allowed,” he said.
The old rules had different maximum sales or employee levels for each type of dealership. For example, a new car dealer would qualify only if it and its affiliates had less than 200 employees, and a boat dealer had to have less than $30 million in yearly sales. Those limits were burdensome for many businesses, prompting the SBA to change its parameters in the new version.
Vancavage said he has already received many calls about the program and hopes those who are interested can be better served. He said before the recession, banks were fighting to lend to auto dealers. Banks got nervous about the business once many big auto manufacturers went into bankruptcy, he explained.
That left many dealerships working with their captive lenders – firms that are affiliated with a car manufacturer – on financing options, he said.
“Dealers who have the smaller floor plans have stayed with their captives,” he said, adding that he thinks as the economy gets better banks may want to re-enter the business.
Les Corwin, the sales manager at Southampton Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership Buzz Chew, said he is happy with the program offered by his captive lender, Ally Financial, formed from former Chevrolet captive GMAC in 20008.
Ally is not participating in the program, according to a spokesman for the bank. Kelley noted that program restrictions prevent captives from participating.
The old version of the program had little applicability to boat dealers, said Conrad Kreuter, the owner of Moriches Boat and Motor in East Moriches and president of the Empire State Marine Trades Association. He said the previous SBA program was only suitable for six boat dealers in all of the United States. The lower limit was too high for his business, which now has an empty showroom.
“We didn’t apply because ours is less than the minimum they’re willing to look at,” Kreuter said, adding that he would, at the maximum, only apply for a $300,000 line of credit.
Kreuter blames the community banks for the lack of popularity in the program. He said, as president of the association, he has gone to a number of different small and regional banks and pitched marine floor plan lending but with little success. He doubts much will change with the new version of the SBA’s program.
“It’s still hard to get the banks to buy into it,” Vancavage said.
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Entrepreneur’s one key message inspires budding business owners
An entrepreneur who turned a back-bedroom operation into a multimillion-pound success story has been encouraging young people to ‘get off their backside’ and follow in his footsteps as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Antony Chesworth formed EKM, an online platform which allows anybody to start selling through the internet with their own online shop, in 2002. Today, the company employs 80 and recently moved into a purpose-built £3.5m office complex.
He has been drawing on his own experiences, good and bad, to show that anybody can start their own business.
Visiting Hull, voted the most entrepreneurial city and sitting at the beating heart of the UK’s GEW movement, Antony gave a talk to young people about entrepreneurship as a viable career choice. He delivered a similarly upbeat talk to...


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Soft Robotics launched a revamped website and logo. The redesigned website allows users to quickly gain insight into the company’s soft gripper technology through desktop or mobile devices.
Mocon, Inc. announced a name change for its Ringsted, Denmark subsidiary from Dansensor A/S to Mocon Europe A/S.
PFlow Industries, Inc. recently sold its 17,000 vertical reciprocating conveyor (VRC). Its custom-engineered hydraulic, mechanical, and fully automated conveyors are now offered internationally.
Schneider Packaging Equipment Co. opened its state-of-the-art training center in upstate New York, which will provide companies the opportunity to train on equipment in a controlled environment.
Festo will move its corporate office to 1377 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, NY in July/August 2017. Festo also named three new regional distributors: AWC, BG Technologies, and Wolf Solutions.
Plastic Technologies, Inc. has partnered with The Packaging School to provide PET curriculum via an innovative, online educational platform. Also, Craig Robinson joined the company as Director of Business Development and Innovation.
tna celebrates its 35th Anniversary this year.
George Downey was promoted to Director of Sales, Folding Carton Business Unit, for PaperWorks Industries, Inc.
Phil Laughlin was promoted to Vice President of Sales for Dolco Packaging, a Tekni-Plex company.
Barry Lynch was appointed Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Factora.
Peter De Cock was promoted to Global Sales Director for Action Technology, a Tekni-Plex company.
Triangle Package Machinery Co. named David Hart Regional Sales Manager—Southeast Region, and promoted Gene Gallagher to Regional Sales Manager—Southwest Region.
Wago added Sergio Vergara as Senior Sales and Application Engineer of Eastern Canada.
J.J. Bouvard was named Senior Director of Sales, Lumirror Polyester Film Div. for Toray Plastics (America).
Dr. Ibon Odriozola was hired as Head of Innovation, Laminates, Pharma Div. for Constantia Flexibles.
Dan Irod was named Business Development Director, Central and Eastern Europe.
Rockwell Automation was named a 2017 World’s Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute.


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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The sale of all-session tickets and three other ticket packages begins today (Monday, August 26) at 10:00 a.m. for the 2013 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Football Finals. The state tournament has expanded to seven divisions for the first time in 2013, and the championship games will take place Thursday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m., and Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7, at 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at either Fawcett Stadium in Canton or Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon. 2013 marks the 24th year that Stark County will host the state football championships.
All-session tickets are priced at $52 per person (plus applicable service charges), and can be purchased online at www.ohsaafootball.com. Three-game, four-game and six-game ticket packages starting at just $25 apiece are also available. Fans purchasing six- and seven-game packages can select their seat locations through the website. The sales of parking passes and the official state football finals souvenir program at discounted rates are also available on the website. Ticket orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The ticket packages can also purchased by phone by calling 1-330-458-2085.
Also new in 2013 is that the exact assignment of championship games will not be determined until the week prior to the finals. The championship game on December 5 will either be Division II, III, IV or VI, with the three divisions not playing on that day conducting their finals on December 6. The three championship games on December 7 will feature Divisions I, V and VII.
Posted in: Uncategorized


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Apple is reportedly in talks to open a new store in the New York borough of Queens, its second Apple Store outside Manhattan and seventh within New York City, the NY Daily News reports.
The world’s largest technology company has already opened negotiations with a real estate developer to open a store on Austin Street in Forest Hills, with it reported that the company could open the store within a year.
Apple hasn’t commented on the plans, stating the company has “made no announcements” on new stores outside of Manhattan, stores that have either recently opened or have undergone redevelopment in the past few months.
Currently, Apple operates six Apple Stores in the city of New York; the company opened its new Fifth Avenue store in December 2011, revamping its Fifth Avenue store in November to replace its iconic cube with a new structure that has just 15 panes, a reduction from 90.
There are also Apple Stores in SoHo, West 14th Street and the Upper West Side in Manhattan and one on Staten Island, making it the sixth within the city but only one outside the borough.
Apple reportedly reached out to Heskel Group Chairman Yeheskel Elias several months ago, looking to discuss potential store locations in Forest Hills. Elias has said: “I will do anything I can to bring Apple in,” adding that “Queens has to have an Apple store.”


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Tim Mapes is among The World's Most Influential CMOs, according to a report out today by Forbes, LinkedIn and Sprinklr. Tim returns to the publication's annual list jumping to No. 26 in 2018.
"We're proud of the fact that no one better connects the world than Delta," Mapes said. "I get to work alongside the most talented and creative minds in our industry as we serve Delta customers, celebrate the dedication of Delta people, and strengthen the communities Delta has the privilege of serving."
The report says that the CMO role has evolved and expanded over time to influence a company's brand beyond marketing efforts. Mapes is a prime example.
With responsibilities ranging from the airline's digital channels like delta.com, the Fly Delta app and @Delta social handles, to developing products like the award-winning Delta One Suite and all-free Delta Studio onboard entertainment, to award-winning community engagement efforts ranging from Junior Achievement to sustainability partnerships, Mapes' teams touch or influence nearly every element of a customer's journey while supporting the communities Delta serves.
According to Forbes, this year's report focused on two key areas that drive business growth: customer experience and digital transformation.
Over the past several years, Delta has led the industry on a number of innovations in the customer experience and digital spaces including replacing ID checks at touch points with fingerprint scanning, redesigning gate and boarding experiences, automating check-in, tracking bags in real time via the Fly Delta mobile app, free mobile messaging in flight and more.
Earlier this year Tim shared his perspectives on branding Delta from the inside out and how taking care of and supporting Delta employees is at the core the airline's efforts to take care of customers.
"A brand isn't what a communications program says it is," Mapes said. "A brand is what customers experience. For a service business like ours, that experience is defined by our 80,000 employees and their efforts to connect with our customers on a human level."
Forbes also named Delta CEO Ed Bastian among The World's 50 Greatest Leaders in April.


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God of War: Ragnarok is not being pushed back to 2023, producer Corey Barlog said, amid rumors that new information about the highly anticipated PS4 and PS5 game could arrive today, June 30th. Tom Henderson revealed that Sony planned to announce a release date today in addition to the game’s Collector’s Editions.
However, the report says the announcements have been delayed for unknown reasons. As for the collector’s edition rumors, Henderson said that the collector’s edition will include a 1:1 scale replica of Mjolnir Thor’s hammer and icons, a map of the game’s world, and more; while the Jotnar Edition will have a hammer and a game. Pricing details weren’t revealed in the report, and Sony hasn’t officially announced anything about premium editions of God of War: Ragnarok, if they exist at all.
Barlog and other members of the Ragnarok team have come across a lot of fan questions online about Ragnarok. Alana Pierce, a writer at Sony Santa Monica, tweeted, “Screaming people about video game release dates doesn’t do anything at all.”
She added, “Even if they date you (never) because of harassing people, you also don’t get anything if you find out before the team is ready to share.”
Common sense: yelling at people about video game release dates doesn’t do anything at all. Even if people date you because of harassment (never), you also get nothing by learning about it before the team is ready to share.
— Alana Pierce (@Charalanahzard) June 29, 2022
The God of War: Ragnarok development team has faced criticism from some fans over the lack of information, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has spoken out to show support for the team.
“Can’t wait to enjoy GoW when it comes out. And thank you and your team for the amazing job of making things we love. Thanks”, Spencer told Barlog.
Just this week, Barlog urged fans to “please be patient” regarding news of Ragnarok. “If it was up to me, I would share all the information when I find out about it. But it does not depend on me,” he said. “So please be patient. I promise that everything will be revealed at the earliest possible moment.”
According to the report, Ragnarok will release in November, although the same report states that the date is not fixed and may change.
For more, check out GameSpot’s roundup of everything we know about God of War: Ragnarok, which is the latest entry in the Norse God of War saga.
In other news, Sony just recently announced that 2018’s God of War moved 971,000 units and made $26.2 million on PC as of March 2022.
GameSpot may earn commissions from retail offers.
The products discussed here have been independently selected by our editors. GameSpot may receive a portion of the revenue if you purchase anything featured on our site.
#God #War #Ragnarok #Delayed #Collectors #Edition #Leaks #Xbox #Boss #shared #support #message


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Institutional investors continue to recognize the value of the fast-growing gamified financial sector, with Salad Ventures being the latest beneficiary of their largesse. The company raised $13.5 million in its private sale, with the participation of several major blockchain-focused hedge funds and family offices.
The product that had investors reaching for their checkbooks was GuildOS, described as a complete operating system for winning in the gaming space. GuildOS is ostensibly a web-based platform that can be leveraged to form, manage, and grow a community of dedicated players who pool resources and share income with each other. Investors participating in the round included Alameda Research, Alan Howard and BH Digital, C2 Ventures, Foundation Capital, Gemini Frontier Fund, Winklevoss Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Rarestone Capital, and Polygon Studios, among others.
Gold Standard Guild Management
This is not the first time the Singapore-based startup has received a multimillion-dollar capital injection: Last year, Salad Ventures raised $2 million from backers including Multicoin Capital, Kosmos, and Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano. At the time, the company focused on Salad Academy, an online learning portal created to train future gamefi scholars. While most of the funds are expected to be used to add more features to GuildOS, some of the money could also go towards refining Salad Academy.
With GuildOS, Salad Ventures hopes to attract the best and brightest players in the industry, especially those looking to build their own elite team. The web-based tool provides an intuitive dashboard from which users can easily manage university accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, private keys, and perform in-game actions such as breeding or cloning. Additionally, it is possible to manage guilds that operate on a variety of different platforms.
Those who want to take advantage of this nifty gamefi OS will need to get an NFT that works as an authentication key, along with the OS and NFTs, which should be released in the middle of this year.
Marty Stenson, Ventures Lead at Gemini, said it’s the “full suit of Apollo Squad.” GuildOS and Salad Academy,” which gave the company “the unique ability to provide the building blocks necessary for the emerging P2E ecosystem to thrive.”
Combining elements of online gaming, decentralized finance, and community governance, Gamefi has become a popular way for gamers to have fun while lining their pockets. Guilds, on the other hand, allow players to compete for bigger prizes while instilling a sense of brotherhood and community. Some guilds even invest directly in NFT collectibles, with decisions made by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
“Despite the fact that a deep ecosystem has grown in the last 12 months, most P2E gaming tools only focus on Axie Infinity and provide ‘read-only’ panels, thus not solving the real challenges of operate a play-to-win guild,” says Felix Sim, co-founder and project manager of Salad Ventures.
“What we are doing is solving this problem head-on by decentralizing the gaming guild model and developing a guild operating system that can interface directly with gaming APIs and blockchains, allowing administrators to coordinate multiple university accounts in different blockchain games.”
Gamefi’s vast interconnected ecosystem doesn’t just benefit gamers; it also drives record transaction volumes on the underlying blockchains responsible for processing NFT transactions and in-game payments. The question is, how many gamefi power brokers will sign up when GuildOS releases later this year?


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Clear Channel beats JCDecaux on its home turf as it begins life as an independent company
Clear Channel beats JCDecaux to win Paris furniture account
JCDecaux previously held the contract, and the loss will come as a blow to the company as it continues to lose its grip on the capital. Earlier this year, its ten-year contract with Paris' public bicycle company, Vélib' also came to an end.
As part of the five-year contract, CCHO will operate 1,630 pieces of street furniture in Paris, which are available for advertising.
With the potential to reach 20 million French residents, the new panels will enable advertisers to reach 85% of Greater Paris' population, weekly.
The French architect Christian Biecher will design the new street furniture which will be delivered under the contract. Seeking inspiration from Paris, the designs will reflect the capital as both a modern and historic city and will be made of recycled materials.
The furniture will be installed in September, and for every piece created, CCHO has partnered with French company EcoTree to plant a new tree in a forest of the Paris region.
The deal is announced in the wake of CCHO's new chapter as an independent, standalone business.
Back in December, the company announced it had reached an agreement to fully separate from iHeartMedia after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
After emerging as an independent company earlier this month Clear Channel International - its business division covering markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America - announced it had restructured to create a European unit.
The news came one week after William Eccleshare became worldwide chief executive.
The unit will sit alongside America, Latin America and China and will be led by its former-UK and Ireland chief Justin Cochrane, as the company looks ahead to its next chapter.
The move makes the likelihood of JCDecaux acquiring the outdoor advertising company under question, after years of rumours.
JCDecaux has been deliberating over buying out its rival for some time, to which Eccelshare said last week: "they should stop talking about it and do something. Put up or shut up."
On the Paris contract win, Eccleshare said: “We’re thrilled that the City of Paris has chosen to partner with Clear Channel to modernise and bring its street furniture to life across the city. As a global business, we collaborate with cities around the world to help deliver advertising-funded solutions to make them more sustainable and efficient and offer cities a new way to communicate with their citizens.
“France is a key market for Clear Channel Outdoor, and I would like to thank the French team for their hard work and dedication as we build on last year’s positive momentum. Today’s news is further evidence of the robust health of our business as we begin a new chapter as a fully independent, pure play, out of home advertising company, and we look forward to seeing further growth across our markets as we continue to lead the digital transformation of the sector.”


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Traditional realty firms are facing new challenges.
Commissions are shrinking amid pressures of new selling arrangements.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Michele Derus
January 31, 2005
It's the $60 billion question: Can consumers force the residential realty industry to be cheaper, faster and more transparent?
They sure can -- and they've already begun, several experts say.
Sixty billion dollars, the expected national tally of 2004 home sale commissions, exerts enough power to yank tradition out by its roots.
Consider the standard agent commission, 6 percent of selling price -- the norm for decades.
"Rates have dropped from 6 percent to about 5 percent in the last five years," said Steve Ozonian, national homeownership services executive for Bank of America, based in Charlotte, N.C.
Expect an even closer shave of future earnings, he told 200-some brokers at a December Wisconsin Realtors Association management conference.
"We've got a more focused consumer, and there's more focus on the consumer by alternative (business) models," Ozonian said.
Selling arrangements that change brokers' commission structures -- such as online enterprises, discount brokers, flat-fee servicers -- will grow from 1 percent to as much as 14 percent of the realty industry by the end of this decade, predicted industry consultant Steve Murray, co-editor of REAL Trends magazine in Littleton, Colo.
"Their message is clear: 'We will save you money,' " Murray said.
That's a fairly new message in the realty business, which for decades limited consumer choices to full service at full price or do it themselves, Murray said.
"In every other industry, consumers have choices -- banking, securities, airlines or HMOs, apparel, cars, travel, music, movies -- everything we buy," he said.
Realty industry resistance has been fierce but, in Murray's view, will be futile.
Home selling, in boom mode for more than a decade, is big business.
The Internet has made it a more democratic one as well.
"There's 60 billion reasons why there are so many competitors," Murray told the broker gathering. "It's important that you understand it. You can't stop it."


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Learnoverse, World’s First Blockchain Powered Crypto Learning Metaverse Lures $1M
Vilnius situated Learnoverse the world’s first blockchain powered Crypto nets $1M to revolutionize the world of crypto learning.
To further develop its Metaverse based product Learnoverse, the blockchain powered online education platform BitDegree has raised $1M. The platform with an aim to offer a creative and user-engaging way to learn received this investment from Japan/ Singapore-based Mistletoe.
Learnoverse aims to offer a creative and user-engaging way to learn about blockchain, crypto and web3-related technologies within web3 technology. Furthermore, the startup with an aim to become #1 crypto educator has a mission to provide crypto education for the crypto community with crypto tools. And Metaverse is the culmination of what the startup has built until now.
Learnoverse is different and quite interesting concept, as it allows the profile the users will own to automatically become an NFT avatar that they can personalize with enhancement NFTs and when they will roam through the world they have created- it will represent their crypto specialties.
Furthermore, the world’s first blockchain powered crypto learning metaverse is creating a virtual world, by presenting a visual content map that transforms the learning experience into an exciting journey. Plus, creating an exciting demand for the best location, increasing its value.
By effectively utilizing the gamification model BitDegree’s Learnoverse will offer students, educators and brands, the opportunity to interact and share their knowledge and status through NFTs whilst BitDegree’s new concept in education, Learn and Earn will be used to motivate and reward students.
BitDegree Co-founder and CEO Danielius Stasiulis about the sudden surge of interest in the metaverse said:
“Over the last few months, our novel concept of a learning metaverse has received attention from a lot of big players in the crypto and education communities.”
Stasiulis is right in terms that large swathes of people are now learning the metaverse. Especially, after the rapid transformation of Facebook to meta. Also, subsequently leading towards the construction of many metaverse related startups such as Virtex, the football company and Tomorrow’s Education.
Moreover, in this year alone the global metaverse market is expected to reach at the value of $47.48 billion US dollars and in 2030 to $678.80 billion US dollars. This is one of the main reasons that new startups are popping in the metaverse landscape thus steering the interests of the investors towards themselves.
However Learnoverse being the crypto teaching platform posses huge potential in European markets as Misteltoe’s Atsushi Taira.
“BitDegree, a leading education platform for blockchain-focused topics, has a powerful vision to attract more learners to the space via an immersive metaverse experience.”


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Australia’s top-selling new vehicle, the Toyota HiLux, has broken its previous sales record by 15 per cent, as its Ford Ranger foe falters ahead of a new model due this month.
The Toyota HiLux ute shattered its own sales record in June, with a 40 per cent sales increase compared to the same month last year – despite chronic stock shortages weighing it and its rivals down.
Industry sales data released today reports 7532 Toyota HiLux utes as sold in June – breaking the previous all-time monthly record of 6537 sales, set in June 2020 – and outselling the next three top utes combined.
Sales of Toyota’s top-selling ute were up 40.1 per cent in June 2022 compared to the same month last year – and over the first half of this year, sales have increased about 14 per cent, to 31,971 vehicles since January 1.
Even if June’s bumper result – 45 per cent higher than May’s sales figure – is excluded, HiLux sales were still up 7.6 per cent over the first five months of 2022 – placing it on track to break its all-time annual sales record, set last year with 52,801 vehicles.
The Toyota HiLux’s sales win comes in the face of stock shortages – fuelled by shipping delays and factory shutdowns, plus high demand – which continue to affect all brands, including Toyota and its ute rivals.
Since late last year, Toyota has been forced to cut its production targets on a weekly or fortnightly basis, due to COVID-19 outbreaks at parts suppliers and its own factories.
However, most attention has been focused on Toyota’s Japanese factories, rather than the Thai plant building the HiLux for markets such as Australia.
The HiLux’s long-time number-one rival, the Ford Ranger, was down 54 per cent last month compared to June 2021 (6058 vs 2772 sales), amidst the transition between the old model, and the new model due this month.
In 2021, the Ford Ranger 4×4 outsold the Toyota HiLux 4×4 – but last month, the Toyota outsold the Ford more than two to one, and the latter was nearly usurped by the HiLux 4×2 alone (2227 HiLux 4x2s vs 2547 Ranger 4x4s).
The HiLux’s other rivals all posted sales declines last month; 24.8 per cent for the Isuzu D-Max, 36.1 per cent for the Mazda BT-50, 10.1 per cent for the Mitsubishi Triton, and 48.9 per cent for the Nissan Navara.
However, it wasn’t all negative; sales of the Chinese GWM Ute increased by 51.5 per cent compared to June 2021 – though its LDV T60 compatriot was down 56.4 per cent – while the Jeep Gladiator is up 84.8 per cent.
For Drive’s full report on Australian new-car sales last month, click here.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines as a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.


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The family that controls Jeld-Wen Inc., Oregon’s largest privately held company, has agreed to sell a controlling stake to Onex Corp., a Canadian investment firm.
Onex (TSX:OCX) said Monday it will buy a 58 percent stake in the Klamath Falls door and window manufacturer rather than the 39 percent stake it announced it would acquire in May. No reason was given for the change. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approval.
Onex appointed Philip Orsino, its building products industrial partner, to serve as president of Jeld-Wen and will appoint four of the eight directors on the company board when the deal closes.
The trust of Jeld-Wen Founder Richard Wendt, who died one year ago this month, will hold the balance of the shares. Son Ron Wendt will continue as CEO.
Officials at Toronto-based Onex could not be reached for comment Monday because its offices were closed for a civic holiday. The company invests in private equity, real estate and credit securities. In U.S. dollars, it manages $15 billion in capital. Its businesses generate annual revenue of $35 billion.
Jeld-Wen officials also could not be immediately reached to discuss the Wendt family’s decision to sell a majority share of their company.
Jeld-Wen is among the world’s largest makers of doors and windows and also owns a series of smaller businesses. Its revenue dropped 26.4 percent to $2.5 billion between 2007 and 2009 as the recession dried up demand for its products, according to Hoover’s.
In May, Jeld-Wen said it had 20,000 employees at 123 sites in 35 countries and $3 billion in 2010 revenue.
In contrast, Oregon’s next largest private firm, Knowledge Universe U.S., is half Jeld-Wen’s size. Portland-based Knowledge Universe U.S. reported $1.47 billion in 2010 revenue.
Jeld-Wenn will keep its Oregon address, Onex said.
“Jeld-Wen’s corporate culture will remain firmly rooted and intact, and Jeld-Wen will continue as a private company headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon,” Onex officials said in a press release.
Onex and its affiliates will invest $864 million into Jeld-Wen rather than the $475 million anticipated in the original deal.
Onex will invest in two tranches. The first is $675 million of convertible preferred stock. The second is a $189 million convertible note that can be redeemed within 18 months from the sale of non-core assets, a structure that anticipates Jeld-Wen will continue to sell some of its non-critical holdings.
If the note is not redeemed, the investment will convert into additional shares of Jeld-Wen, giving it a greater stake in the company.
The investment will be made by Onex and Onex Partners III, described as its “flagship private equity fund." Onex’s share of the investment is $295 million.
Onex will announce its second quarter results on Aug. 10.


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Key Takeaways from HubSpot’s 2021 State of Marketing Report
By Kimberly Munch, Account Executive, Marcum Strategic Marketing
HubSpot’s latest State of Marketing Report for 2021 covers a wide range of topics essential for today’s marketers, including:
- Marketing Strategy and Campaigns
- Content Marketing
- Social Media
- Search Engine Optimization
- Reporting and Attribution
- Email Marketing
- Conversational Marketing + AI
- Account-Based Marketing
- Market + Customer Research
- International Marketing
- Video Marketing
The report is well worth a cover-to-cover read; however, we’ve compiled a few highlights below in case you’re in more of a skimming mood.
According to the survey, marketers are investing in content marketing more than ever before, with 82% actively investing, up from 70% last year. However, only 28% plan to increase that investment in 2021. Following a year of switching mostly everything to a virtual environment, video continues to lead the way as the content marketing tactic of choice, over blogs and infographics.
In 2021, the number one way that companies are approaching marketing is through social media, with overall use at an all-time high. This differs from last year when websites were the number one channel used by marketers. Eight out of 10 companies are investing in social media marketing in 2021, and 39% plan to invest this year. While the most popular platform for marketers is Instagram, teams are seeing the most ROI from Facebook.
According to the survey, the primary tactic for social media marketing in 2021 is social listening, which marketers can do by establishing a direct relationship with their social media audience, learning exactly how to support, engage with and convert followers into loyal brand advocates.
Search Engine Optimization
Optimization is no longer a “nice to have” when it comes to marketing strategy in 2021. Over 69% of marketers have invested in SEO, with the majority finding that SEO and an optimized website help them achieve their marketing goals. According to the survey, strategic keywords, localization and mobile optimization are the three most popular technical SEO tactics in use today.
While measuring SEO results is not always an exact science, keyword rankings are still the most popular way to measure the effectiveness of an SEO campaign, according to the survey.
In 2021, 77% of marketers reported seeing more engagement with email over the past year, sending fewer weekly emails but prioritizing segmentation, personalization and automation. Email marketers are using hyper-personalized messages, showing transparency and authenticity in a year when there was no choice but to be up front with customers and employees alike.
While email marketing appears to be in the top three approaches for marketers, Litmus’ State of Email report shows that no other channel can touch it when it comes to ROI.


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Apple also wants to be a leader in the field of artificial intelligence and therefore compete against OpenAI and Google. as revealed Digitimes (via macrumours), the Cupertino company is planning “reexamine” the development of new artificial intelligence models to deal with ChatGPT and avoid, above all, that Microsoft manages to dominate this market with the integration of the mentioned tool in Bing.
Apple, let’s remember, has an annual conference exclusively for employees where they discuss issues related to artificial intelligence, and this year’s has already been held. While the company was expected to talk about ChatGPT, macrumours states that during the event the company only focused on sharing solutions related to healthcare, privacy and machine vision. The latter consists of capturing images of the real world to later process them in a computer so that it is capable of interpreting them.
Now, however, Apple would be working on the development of next-generation CPUs designed to perform AI operations, and thus be able to create software powered by artificial intelligence. The company, let’s remember, has extensive experience in this area; many of its processors use the Neural Engine, a neural engine capable of executing different machine learning tasks in a faster, more precise and efficient way than by using the GPU and CPU.
It is not clear, yes, if we will see products similar to ChatGPT or Bard or if, instead, Apple will take advantage of AI to improve some of its services, such as Siri. Let’s remember that the Cupertino firm is also working on its own search engine to compete against Google. Therefore, it would not be strange to see a future launch of this search engine powered by artificial intelligence.
Apple follows in the footsteps of Google and puts the batteries in terms of the development of AI products
Interestingly, the strategy that Apple is carrying out is very similar to what Google did a few months ago, after verifying that ChatGPT could replace your browser. The Mountain View company, specifically, decided to restructure all its teams dedicated to the development of AI models to advance in the creation of an alternative to the OpenAI chatbot. Weeks later, they announced Bard, a tool capable of offering personalized answers to any question.
Unlike Apple, Microsoft Search AI continues to reign supreme with the integration of ChatGPT into Bing. This new service is still in beta phase. Also, it is somewhat restricted, as the chatbot tends to lose its mind when it receives a lot of questions, although there is a way around these limitations.


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The once-elusive China may finally be in the cards -- the House of Cards, if you will -- for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Bloomberg is reporting that Netflix is in talks to enter the world's most-populous nation through a partnership with the Jack Ma-backed Wasu.
Whether this means that the Netflix brand will roll out in China or that its content will be licensed through the existing Wasu platform remains to be seen. Either way it would be a big move for a company that seemed to all but give up on making a play for China a couple of years ago.
"It's unclear in the long term how it might work for us in China," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in a Wall Street Journal interview three years ago, when asked if Netflix would eventually be available all over the world. "But if you said almost everywhere other than China, I'd be pretty confident we'd be there in less than 10 years."
A lot has changed since the fall of 2012 for Netflix. For starters, it has pushed up the deadline for global expansion. We're no longer looking at 2022 as the finish line for Netflix's flag planting. It revealed in January's letter to shareholders that it expects to complete its global push by the end of next year. It then expects to generate "material global profits" from 2017 onward.
It's clear that Netflix was going to have to woo a homegrown partner if it were ever to make a play in China. It's a restrictive government, and we've seen everyone from video game publishers to dot-com darlings team up with a Chinese company to make a play for a piece of the market.
Things get even hairier when it comes to streaming video, as China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television has given Internet TV licenses to just seven companies. One of them, naturally, is Wasu.
It will take some time to see how this plays out. This may not be a lucrative market right away. Content licensing and bandwidth costs are high, and the subscription fees that China is willing to pay are low. Youku Tudou is a leader in streaming video in China, and it has posted three years of widening deficits, according to S&P Capital IQ data.
However, the Chinese online video market is obviously going to get only bigger over the years. Netflix is right to act now -- with a partner -- instead of waiting for an opportunity to come for it to go in on its own. It might be too late if it waits. It's time for Netflix to look at its 2012 self, laugh, and brush up on Mandarin.


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Johnson & Johnson Brings Businesses Under Single Chairman
News: Jesse Wu, the global chairman of US-based Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) consumer business, has been selected as the chairman of J&J China, reports Reuters. Wu will collectively head all J&J's Chinese operations from September 2013, according to spokesman Ernie Knewitz. He stated that the company has decided to bring all its Chinese operations under a single head to boost sales and centralise corporate supervision. The move comes amid the ongoing corruption investigations in China against pharmaceutical companies. However, each of the three units will decide its own business strategies, with the general manager and president of every unit reporting to Wu.


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Islamabad – The incumbent government would revisit the existing trade agreements with various countries to ensure enabling environment for promotion of the country’s trade in international market, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Textiles, Industries Production and Investment, Abdul Razzaq Dawood said. “We have to revisit the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with many countries including Thailand and Turkey,” the Adviser said while talking to APP here Wednesday.
He said that the incumbent government was determined to promote regional trade and export-led growth of economy. He said that the government would give priority to promotion of export-led growth by enhancing exports and reduce dependence on imports, adding that it had identified many sectors that would boost exports from the country.
“Primarily, we are focusing on increasing exports in engineering and Information Technology (IT), chemicals and innovated technology items by enhancing their competitiveness in global market,” he added. “Promotion of regional economic and trade integration is priority of the government for increasing trade with regional countries including Iran, India, Afghanistan and Central Asian States,” he said.
The Adviser said the regional trade would benefit Pakistan in enhancing exports and reducing the ever-increasing trade deficit it has been facing for years now as it had touched around $37.6 billion figure during the fiscal year 2017-18. Dawood said that export promotion strategy would focus on increasing the country’s exports to compete with regional and global players in the international market.
Replying to a question, the Adviser said that the agricultural exports alone would not enhance the country exports, highlighting the importance of switching to value addition in this particular field to promote export of its value-added products. He said special attention would also be given towards promotion of textile exports, particularly knitwear, apparel, garments, leather products and rice besides promoting the furniture industry of the country which has great export potential. He said that the government, in consultation with stakeholders, would devise comprehensive policy guidelines to promote textile and industrial exports. “I would call representatives of textile and rice sectors and exporters as well as other stakeholders for consultations to devise future guidelines for growth in these sectors,” he remarked.
He added that Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) sector would also be encouraged for playing its role in economic growth and prosperity. He said that the government would also revisit trade policy to make it more result-oriented and in favor of the country. “We would focus on promoting ‘made in Pakistan good’ and discourage imports,” he remarked.
Highlighting the need for reducing dependence on imports, the Adviser said that the government would allow import of raw material for industry. “We are already in trade with North and South American countries including South East Asian Economic and there is more trade potential which needs to be explored”, he expressed. The Adviser further said that the government would also explore new international markets for its exports, adding “we are committed to explore new market by mainly focusing on African continent.


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Second Top Gear Live show in Antwerp
Such has been the demand for tickets for the Top Gear Live show at Antwerp’s Sportpaleis that Jeremy Clarkson and the boys have decided to put on a second show.
Many Flemings follow the BBC’s popular motoring show on BBC2 and the programme is also shown on the VRT’s second television channel Canvas. Sunday 28 April will be the first time that the Top Gear team have brought their live show to Belgium.
Top Gear live features spectacular stunts, flashy sports cars and the strangest creations on four wheels. The show has already visited cities as far apart as Melbourne and Moscow, where last July's show was held on Red Square.
As the 4PM Antwerp performance planned for 28 April sold out so quickly, the Top Gear team decided to put on a second show that will start at 8pm. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig will be on hand to treat the audience to driving demonstrations, stunts and spectacular special effects.
Up until now, around 1.5 million people have seen the show around the world. Ticket for Top Gear Live cost 40 euro and can be booked via this link or by calling 070 345 345.
[Flandersnews.be / Expatica]


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Jeep revealed Wednesday the first steps in a plan to reshape its portfolio, starting with the launch of two EVs in North America by 2025 and one in Europe next year.
The Jeep Recon and Wagoneer S will be the first fully electric Jeeps for the U.S. market when they enter production in 2024. Two more will be announced later, as the automaker charges ahead in electrifying its lineup.
The 80-year-old rugged Detroit brand, which aims to become the global leader in electrified SUVs, plans for EVs to compose half of its sales in North America — and all of its sales in Europe — by 2030.
Until now, the brand had focused on creating plug-in hybrid versions of its popular Jeep models, planning to offer an electrified version for each of its models by 2025. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the top-selling plug-in hybrid for both North America and Europe. The Grand Cherokee 4xe will go on sale in the U.S. later this year.
Leveraging the global scale of Jeep’s parent company is crucial to the brand’s electrification, said Jeep CEO Christian Meunier. Amsterdam-based Stellantis has poured more than $35 billion into developing batteries, software and technology through 2025, and expects to launch more than 75 new battery-electric models, including 25 nameplates in North America, by 2030.
“Stellantis gives us that scale to capitalize on the resources for engineering, design, software and all the horsepower that we need to accelerate the electrification and keep the Jeep DNA intact,” Meunier said.
Here is a preview of what’s coming.
The Jeep Recon will be robust and efficient enough to cross the 22-mile off-road Rubicon Trail located outside of Lake Tahoe, with enough battery range left to drive back to town and recharge, according to the company.
The EV will come with traditional Jeep features, including the brand’s Selec-Terrain traction management system, e-locker axle technology, under-body protection, tow hooks and off-road tires. Its one-touch powertop and removable doors expose the EV to the elements, while the latest generation of Jeep’s Uconnect infotainment system provides detailed guides for off-road trails.
Both the Recon and the Wagoneer S open for customer orders early next year. They’ll be built on STLA Large, the automaker’s full-size EV platform. Though the SUVs are targeted toward different customers, they share several common elements, according to Meunier.
“The underpinnings are pretty much common,” he said. “The platform is the same, the battery packs are the same, but then the suspension, the top hat and all of the capabilities are going to be quite different.”
Jeep Wagoneer S
The all-electric Wagoneer, codenamed Wagoneer S, will produce nearly 600 horsepower and travel roughly 400 miles on a fully charged battery. The performance-oriented SUV will zip from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
It’s designed to appeal to a different customer than the Jeep Recon.
“One is really an adventure machine, and the other one is more of a reinvention of the American modern icon: high performance, very fast and very premium,” Meunier said.
The Wagoneer S and Recon won’t be Jeep’s first battery-electric models worldwide. That distinction goes to the Jeep Avenger, arriving in European showrooms early next year.
The Jeep Avenger will be smaller than the Jeep Renegade — the brand’s smallest U.S. model — and won’t make its way stateside.
“There is no real market potential in North America” for SUVs of that size, according to Meunier.
Jeep said the Avenger, which will be built in Tychy, Poland, will feature roughly 250 miles of range, as well as “impressive ground clearance, breakover and approach angles for its segment.”
The Avenger will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. Meanwhile, the European market has demonstrated an appetite for electrified Jeeps.
In addition to the Wrangler 4xe, Jeep also sells plug-in hybrid versions of its smaller Renegade and Compass SUVs. Half of the brand’s European sales derive from its 4xe lineup.
Jeep did not detail its plans for the Chinese market, but Meunier said that the EVs will make their way to the local market eventually.
“The strategy in China is a little bit in flux, but that’s the goal,” he said.
Stellantis said in July it planned to pull out of a long-running joint venture with China Guangzhou Automobile (GAC).


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Manor are getting Mercedes engines next year and naturally, we all joked that McLaren Honda might be getting some tough competition from the plucky underdogs.
When Fernando Alonso was asked what he thought to Manor’s Mercedes engine deal, he said ‘they could put an airplane engine in and they will be no further ahead.’
In response to Alonso’s jibe, Manor wrote the most brilliant comeback on their Twitter account, effectively saying McLaren were going to finish last-but-one in the Constructors’ Championship.
We'll let that comment lie for now. Plenty of time to discuss it when we're garage neighbours next year 😘 https://t.co/4kFoF7z3jw
— Manor Racing (@ManorRacing) October 9, 2015