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The electricity regulatory authority of Mumbai has allowed three utilities Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure and Mahavitaran to hike their tariff from this month.
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has approved an increase in tariff of 2.44 percent for Mahavitaran, whereas 5.2 percent and 3.92 percent for Reliance Infra and Tata Power (TPC), respectively. And the new rates will be applicable from June 1.
In its order, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission said, “Mumbai is an island city faced with a unique situation where it has multiple distribution licensees, RInfra, Tata, and BEST in the same supply area. All three have different cost of supply, consumer mix and consumption mix wheeling charges. Hence, different tariffs for the same category of consumers depending on the licenses areas”.
Moreover, as per the new tariff structure the consumers that are below poverty line of Reliance Infra, TPC and Mahavitaran will have to pay per unit Rs 2.72, Rs 1.41 and 87 paise respectively.


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The Commerce Department on Thursday released data on personal consumption expenditures by state, and, to be honest, many of the findings weren’t terribly surprising.
North Dakota — home of the shale-oil boom — saw per-capita spending grow the most between 2011 and 2012, at 9.2%. The national average was 3.3% per-capita spending growth. Wyoming saw the slowest growth, at 1.4%.
But what is notable is that the Commerce Department breaks down the types of spending per state. And here one state jumps out: Hawaii. Hawaiians spent the least outside of necessities, defined as food and beverages for off-premises consumption, gasoline, housing and utilities, and health care. That bundle accounts for just 34% of Hawaiians’ spending, compared with 54% nationally, as Hawaiians spent a disproportionate amount on housing (33%) and food (12%). The flip side, of course, is that they get to live in beautiful Hawaii.
There’s only other state, Wyoming — at 49.996% — where the population spend less than 50% on items besides necessities. Texans spend the most, at 58%.
Read related post: The biggest spenders are in Maine, Montana
– Steve Goldstein

domain: news


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French unemployment was at a record high in January, adding to the woes of François Hollande, the president, in the run-up to municipal elections next month, the Financial Times reported. The number of jobseekers increased 0.3 per cent compared with December and swelled the ranks of the unemployed in the eurozone’s second-largest economy by 8,900 people. The latest figure, published on Wednesday by the labour ministry, brings the total number of unemployed to a record 3.32m – about 11 per cent of the workforce. The total number of those seeking a full-time job, including those in part-time work, reached 4.92m. One bright spot in the figures was that January’s rise was slower than the 10,200 of newly registered unemployed reported in December and the 17,800 increase in November. On Wednesday, Michel Sapin, the labour minister, seized on that fact as a sign of changing fortunes. He also renewed the government’s determination to focus its efforts on reducing unemployment this year. Read more. (Subscription required.)
Daily Insolvency News Headlines
Thu., February 27, 2014
Spanish entertainment company Zinkia, owner of the children's TV character Pocoyo, entered administration on Wednesday, the latest Spanish company to seek protection from creditors in an economic slowdown, Reuters reported. Despite reaching agreement on refinancing with bondholders, banks and commercial creditors, Zinkia did not manage to renegotiate the terms of a 2.5 million euro ($3.4 million) loan with a private lender, the company said in a statement. "Zinkia continues to negotiate with different creditors and potential investors in order to find a solution which will allow it to come out of administration as quickly as possible with the least damage to its brands," the company said in a statement. Zinkia's shares were suspended from trade by the Spanish stock market regulator after the announcement. Shares have fallen by over a third this year so far. The company gave a profit warning earlier this year saying it expected 2013 core earnings to come in 97 percent less than previously estimated. Read more.
While the spotlight maybe on the new gadgets being launched at Mobile World Congress by some of the world’s biggest tech companies, spare a thought for little old Pantech, South Korea’s ailing smartphone maker, The Wall Street Journal Korea Real Time blog reported. After trying for years to eke out profits and carve a niche for itself in the smartphone industry, Pantech is now seeking help to restructure its debt. Pantech reached out to its creditor banks this week, requesting to be put under a debt-restructuring program that will, the company hopes, allow it to freeze or delay the repayment of its debt. “Through this (debt) workout, we expect to improve Pantech’s financial status and secure a stable flow of liquidity,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The move gives Pantech more time to map out a mid- to long-term strategy and seek more external investors, it said. Last year, the company received two life-saving investments from Qualcomm and hometown rival Samsung Electronics, which bought a 10% stake in Pantech. Qualcomm increased its share in the company to 12% through a debt-equity swap.Read more. (Subscription required.)
A landmark ruling will have a game-changing effect on the way landlords are paid in a corporate collapse, essentially giving them super creditor status. But what impact will this have on other creditors, and the insolvency profession? A consortium of landlords appealed and won a case that will see them repaid £3m in back rent due prior to the collapse of digital game retailer GAME from the new owners of the business, AccountancyAge reported. The business collapsed in 2012 with PwC administrators able to continue to trade the business as a going concern before its sale to Baker Acquisitions, without making a payment to the landlords. Previously, if a company entered administration the day after the quarterly rent payment is due on a property, then the rent for that quarter could legally go unpaid, with the landlords becoming a secured creditor and paid a percentage of assets realised during the administration. This process effectively allowed the administrators a three-month grace period, in which they could trade while seeking a buyer. However, the Appeal Court ruling means rent will now be classed as an expense of an administration, which is paid ahead of creditors, and administrators must pay rent for any time that they occupy a property. Read more.
A study by a leading economic think tank has shown the problem of wealth inequality has deteriorated in Germany in recent years. In no other eurozone nation are there such big differences between the rich and the poor, Deutsche Welle reported. The survey by the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research showed on Wednesday that the gap between the rich and poor in Europe's biggest economy had been widening steadily in recent years. Differences in financial asset volumes that the affluent and the less well off had at their disposal were larger than in any other nation of the 18-member euro area, the study pointed out. It said that while the 1 percent of people making up the richest members of society owned an average 800,000 euros ($1.1 billion) per person, roughly a fifth of the German population had not amassed any private capital at all. Read more. (Subscription required.)
The Co-operative Group has announced plans to sell its farms business and is considering a sale of its pharmacy chain as it faces a reported loss of more than £2bn, The Guardian reported. Britain's biggest mutually owned company, which is preparing for its worst ever loss according to a BBC report on Wednesday morning, considers the farming business – the biggest in the UK – to be peripheral to its main activities and in need of investment. The network of 750 small pharmacy stores, which employs 6,500 staff, sits apart from the group's grocery operation and the group thinks it also requires investment to compete with rivals such as Alliance Boots. In a statement, the Co-op said: "As part of the wider strategic review of all of its businesses, the Co-operative Group has decided that its farms are non-core and has started a process that is expected to lead to a sale of the business. In addition, it is exploring options for the future of the pharmacy business. This could include the sale in whole or part of the business." The chief executive, Euan Sutherland, who joined nine months ago, is reviewing the Co-op's entire business, which spans groceries, banking, funeral parlours and legal services. A £1.5bn hole in the bank's capital requirements saw the group cede control of 70% of the bank to bondholders, led by US hedge funds. The wider group had £1.2bn of debt at the end of its first half in July and is expecting further losses at its bank. Read more.


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KARACHI: Pakistan and India should not let politics get in the way of business if their economies are to flourish, said a World Bank economist on Wednesday, stressing both countries to aim for direct trade.
Talking to journalists on the last day of a workshop on sub-national taxation organised by the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB), Sebastian James, who works for the bank as a tax specialist, said routing goods via Dubai adds to costs for both countries and inflation goes up as a result. “This practice is totally inefficient. It will be a win-win situation all around should they trade directly.”
Through the three-day workshop, attended by 18 delegates from various countries, the SRB tried to make a strong case for devolution of sales tax on goods to provinces.
On the occasion, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said provinces were constitutionally entitled to collect taxes. “The people of Sindh need facilities for education, health, communication and opportunities of employment. For this, we need more funds.”
He said the past governments used to prefer Federal Board of Revenue for collection of sales tax on services for provinces and the share transferred to the provinces was based on population. As a result, Sindh, which was contributing 70 per cent of the total revenue collection, used to get only 23pc revenue share from federal government.
He acknowledged that Sindh’s revenue collection through services tax has been on the rise since the SRB, the provincial body mandated to collect GST on services, was set up in 2011.
On underutilising development funds, he passed the buck to the federal government for delaying transfers from the divisible pool.
Earlier during his presentation, Mr James observed that a negative list for taxing services can bring positivity as it would make things simpler.
He said most countries are shifting from positive to negative list, which includes only those services which will not be taxed. In an ideal world, such a list can be as simple as: “service means anything which is not goods.”
The Sindh government is planning to substitute the existing positive list of taxable services with a negative list.
Other participants who spoke on the occasion included Sher Shah Khan of the World Bank; Chris Evans, a professor of taxation at Australia’s University of New South Wales; and Catherine Bennett, a former assistant commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency.
Published in Dawn, October 8th , 2015


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Southwark Council has awarded Lend Lease detailed planning permission for the second phase of its £1.5bn regeneration of Elephant and Castle.
It approved plans for 593 new homes, including a 31-storey residential tower, and 43,000 sq ft of new retail space at Elephant Park on 3 December.
Developers aim to re-establish Elephant & Castle as a retail destination with plans for a new supermarket, a restaurant and up to nine high street and 13 independent shops.
New residential accommodation will be built around two garden squares. Some of the homes will be built in the 31-storey building, while others will be positioned above the new retail space.
It is the second phase of the Elephant Park masterplan, following the launch of 360 homes, known as South Gardens, earlier this year.
Lend Lease will build nearly 2,500 new homes on the site between now and 2025. Construction of phase two is due to begin in 2015.
Lend Lease’s project director for Elephant & Castle Rob Heasman said: “As we seek to re-establish Elephant & Castle as London’s most exciting new place to live, this latest phase of new homes and retail space adds to the considerable momentum we are now building.
“With our focus now very much on delivery, these 600 homes, together with the creation of a brand new local shopping street represent our biggest phase to date.”


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In Bucktown, a fully rehabbed, two-story home has listed for over $1 million. It’s not unusual for the neighborhood that was pushed into the spotlight after redevelopment of The 606 and now the ever-present buzz around Lincoln Yards.
In 2016, the current owners redesigned the entire four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom floor plan and added custom finishes throughout the each level. The family room has a cozy wood-burning fireplace and 20-foot ceilings. Out a two-story window and glass doors, head out to a stunning wood and brick-paved outdoor space.
The master suite is secluded upstairs with a balcony and fireplace, too. The bathroom has heated floors, a steam shower, and a large tub underneath a glowing skylight.
1720 North Paulina Street is near Walsh Park at the start of The 606 which will soon have a new dog area, playground, splash pad, and fitness equipment. Love what you see? The asking price is $1,365,000 for the 3,182-square-foot home.


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13th June, 2012
In the lucrative bottled water industry having a good brand is the key to success. After all, for many consumers one bottle of water tastes much the same as another, so turning your brand into something they want to buy is the key to making a profit.
Add to this the difficulty of advertising bottled water and you have a quandary. How do you make your bottled water stick out from the competition?
PICTURES: Courtesy of Thankyou Water
"For every bottle of Thankyou Water sold the company manages to secure a month worth of safe drinking water for someone in Cambodia, Kenya or Uganda."
For some businesses, the answer is linking their water to a charitable cause. Mt Franklin has a partnership with the McGrath Foundation and Coolridge supports Movember. But, for the team at Thankyou Water, supporting a charity for a month each year isn’t going far enough.
"If you went shopping for bottled water and had a choice between Mt Franklin or a Thankyou Water and you didn’t know about much about either brand, you’d probably buy Mt Franklin because it’s a safe choice"’ says Jarryd Burns, one of the company’s directors.
"But if you knew what Thankyou Water does it’s a simple choice - why wouldn’t you buy it?"
So what makes Thankyou Water different from other bottled water companies?
Its overall goal is the same as any of its competitors, sell as much bottled water as possible. But any money you spend on Thankyou Water isn’t going to line the pockets of Jarryd and his colleagues.
"One hundred per cent of our profit goes to putting wells over in Africa and Cambodia," says Jarryd.
In fact, for every bottle of Thankyou Water sold the company manages to secure a month worth of safe drinking water for someone in Cambodia, Kenya or Uganda.
The business had its start when founder Daniel Flynn learnt that Australians spend more than $600 million on bottled water each year, but nearly 900 million people have no access to safe drinking water at all.
When Daniel came to Jarryd - two Christian friends who had met at church - with the idea of selling bottled water to fund water projects overseas, he jumped at the idea.
"I was really impacted when I learnt about the world water crisis," he says. "Two million people die every year because they don’t have access to clean water and most of them are kids."
Having this cause attached to their brand has seen Thankyou Water jump into mainstream consciousness over the past year. Now - with nearly 2.2 million bottles sold, spots on Sunrise and The Project and more than 2,200 stockists around the country - Thankyou Water is becoming increasingly successful.
"Last year we gave $46,000 for the whole year. This year, from January to March, we’ve already given $50,000," says Jarryd. "We have about $60,000 to give for the next quarter."
This has allowed the company to finance 19 projects in developing countries, helping dig wells and install bio-sand filters to provide potable water and security for more than 9,000 people.
While it is an elegant concept, and tremendously generous, it’s not a business that many people would have attempted to start. The bottled water market, while tremendously profitable, isn’t a forgiving place.
"It was a rollercoaster ride for a while," admits Jarryd.
"It’s been a big learning curve. You start out and you think it’s going to be all roses and the bottles are going to be flying off the shelves. Then you hit the real business world. The bottled water industry is one of the most competitive markets we could have chosen to go into."
The group had trouble finding bottlers and distributors who would take a group of 20-somethings seriously. On top of this, Thankyou Water launched in the midst of the global financial crisis.
"We had distributors go bankrupt on us, suppliers just not produce for us anymore and we went from having 350 stockists to 50 stockists in a matter of two or three weeks."
Most companies would have gone under, but the team from Thankyou Water simply put their heads down and worked harder. To make ends meets, Jarryd and his colleagues ran the business as volunteers, working part-time jobs on top of their commitments to Thankyou Water.
Jarryd Burns and Dan Flynn
"I was working night shift," says Jarryd. "I’d work two or three night shifts each week, out on the roads doing traffic control. I’d get home at five in the morning, get into the office at nine and work all day, and then go and repeat the process."
Fortunately, their faith and their passion for helping people without access to water saw dividends from the start, and have helped them get through.
"Early on we met with a few different factories to make the bottle," Jarryd recalls. "We never really shared the vision of Thankyou Water until we went to one factory and when the man there said, 'I’ve been in the industry 20 years and I’ve never heard anything like this before, this is the greatest thing ever.'"
When they took their concept to one of the biggest beverage distribution companies in the country, they found similar success.
"We went in for a 10 minute pitch and came out an hour-and-a-half later with our first order for 50,000 bottles", says Jarryd.
For Jarryd, whose first steps into the world of business involved selling Coke cans out of his locker at high school, it’s a uniquely rewarding job.
"It was a hard slog at the start, but now we’re actually making a difference. I had the opportunity to visit Cambodia last year to see the results of some of our projects. To really see the difference over there was just phenomenal.
"Playing soccer with some of the local kids, it really hit me that they don’t have to worry about water anymore. They don’t need to worry about waterborne diseases, or what could happen to them if they had to go outside of their village to collect water. It was something that really hit home and showed that it was really worth it.
"I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else."
This article was first published in the Salvation Army magazine, Warcry.


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The US government has granted Clearwire approval to use gear from Huawei in a network upgrade, despite this month's intelligence committee report recommending US telcos avoid Chinese gear.
Russia will pursue international arbitration against India if the issue of the cancellation of the 2G license formerly held by Sistema's Indian JV - Sistema Shyam - is not resolved through the Indian court system, Russia's ambassador to India has warned.
China Mobile and Korea Telecom have revealed plans to collaborate on initiatives including LTE roaming, NFC and new-generation smartphones.
Vodafone Australia will lay off a reported 500 of its 5,000 staff, as part of continuing efforts to turn around the business after losing a number of customers over network problems.
Google has announced two new products in the Nexus range of Android devices - Samsung's 10-inch Nexus 10 tablet, and LG Electronics' Nexus 4 smartphone.
Analysts expect the launch of the iPhone 5 in China to help China Unicom and China Telecom narrow China Mobile's subscriber lead even further.
Complaints about mobile phones have risen to account for two in three grievances filed with Australia's Telecom Industry Ombudsman, the watchdog revealed, attributing the growth to the growing adoption of smartphones.
Chinese search engine Baidu has reported a higher than expected 3.01 billion yuan ($582.1 million) in net profit for the third quarter, on 50% higher revenue of 6.25 billion yuan.
- Webwire: NBTC postpones 3G process; Lasting comm worries from Sandy
- Webwire: Apple's software chief leaving; New Lumias to launch this week
- Webwire: Nokia loses out to RIM; DoCoMo cuts FY forecast
- Webwire: Unicom lifts 9-mnth profit 30%; Apple disappoints in Q3
- Webwire: Samsung loses round in ITC case; KDDI's $2.7b cable deal


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Duo to share £10m in biotech float
A PAIR of doctors stand to share in a £10m windfall over the next few years from the £190m stock market flotation of the biotechnology company they co-founded.
Ark Therapeutics Group's decision to float next month means Professor John Martin and Dr Stephen Barker, both of the University College London, and a co-founding Finnish doctor can cash in a series of share options over the next four years worth around £10m, half of the 9% shareholding on offer to the firm's management.
Ark is pricing its existing shares at between 120p and 146p, or up to £135m, and will raise £55m through a placing of new shares, giving it a total market value of up to £190m.
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By Paul Post For the Saratogian
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. — More than 57,000 tickets have already been sold for a major new outdoor winter attraction that’s helping make Lake George a true year-round tourist destination.
Local officials held a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday to officially open Ice Castles, a massive display — more than 25-feet-high — of sculptures, caverns, crawl spaces, and slides located at Charles R. Wood Park, just off Route 9.
The attraction has already generated national publicity including promotion on the Weather Channel, in addition to widespread regional media attention.
More than 90,000 people are expected to visit Ice Castles, coinciding with the upcoming Lake George Winter Carnival, held each weekend in February.
Visitor spending is estimated at more than $4 million, Warren County Tourism Department says.
Ice Castles is a Utah-based company that has similar attractions in Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota and New Hampshire. This is its first year in upstate New York.
Tickets and information are available online at: www.icecastles.com


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Google Gives Gmail Users 10GB of Storage
In conjunction with the release of Google Drive, Google today said that it is upping the amount of storage available to Gmail users from 7.5GB to 10GB. The change will go into effect in the next 24 hours.
Google Simplifies Two-Factor Authentication in Gmail
Google has reduced the complexity of using two-factor authentication for Gmail in an effort to encourage more people to take advantage of the tool. Moving forward, iPhone and iPad users can receive security prompts within Gmail.
Google Releases Lightweight Gmail Go for Low-End Android Phones
Google has made a light and quick version of Gmail available to select handsets. Gmail Go is a slimmed-down version of Gmail that works better on devices with limited resources or spotty network connections.
Google to Slowly Move Everyone to the New Gmail
Google is preparing to more broadly roll out its new Gmail design to users on the web and mobile devices. For the moment the new Gmail is opt-in, but that is going to change over the next few months.
Google Revamps Gmail, Drive, Hangouts with Businesses in Mind
Google this week made significant change to its core productivity suite, including its email, online storage, and messaging tools. Gmail gains support for add-ons from the G Suite Marketplace, which will let third-party companies create small apps that can hook into an enhance Gmail.
Google Brings Anti-Phishing Tools to Gmail for iOS
Google today said its Gmail app for iOS devices now relies on similar anti-phishing technology already available to Gmail for Android. Google began using a new algorithm earlier this to spot possible phishing attacks and emails with suspicious links.
Any FTP service included in that 10 Gig allowance?


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Earlier this week, Kash Doll took to social media to unveil some new photos and clips from a recent shoot, reminding followers that she's unbothered. She posted a carousel that shows her rocking a sheer black bodysuit and tights, complete with silver details. She accessorized the head-turning fit with a pair of matching boots, a blinged-out watch, and some sassy shades.
"What do i look like i worry about? Not a damn thing," she captioned the post. Fans, of course, have flooded the rapper's comments section with compliments, weighing in on the eye-catching look. "Who told you, you can eat this up like that????" one commenter wonders. Another simply writes, "Good lord."
Kash Doll's New Thirst Traps
While Kash Doll has made it clear that her list of worries is nonexistent these days, that hasn't always been the case. Back in October, the Detroit native hosted a get-together at her home, inviting various people over for an evening of fun. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse after the event, when she began packing for a trip. According to Kash Doll, as she started to gather her belongings, she realized that various items were missing. "I'm looking for sh*t, I don't get a hold to it until its time for it to wear it. I can't find this one purse, I can't find my glasses," she said in a clip. "And I'm gonna ask God who went and robbed my house, and when he tell me I'm beating your a**!"
She went on to name a few of the luxury items she couldn't find, including a pair of Hermes slides. "I'm tired of being a big person and not saying sh**," she noted. What do you think of Kash Doll's latest Instagram post? Are you a fan of her sheer black fit? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.


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WhatsApp users on both Android and iOS can create a status using their voice. On Monday users spotted a notice from WhatsApp confirming the…
Uber drivers aren’t self-employed, UK court rules
In a case that could have far-reaching implications, a UK court has ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed.
According to The Guardian, an employment court has ruled that Uber drivers are entitled to a “national living wage”.
Two drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam (part of a group of 19 aggrieved drivers), argued that there was “tremendous pressure” to work long hours and that there were “repercussions” for a cancelled ride.
“The notion that Uber in London is a mosaic of 30 000 small businesses linked by a common ‘platform’ is to our minds faintly ridiculous,” the judges were quoted as saying in their ruling.
“Drivers do not and cannot negotiate with passengers… They are offered and accept trips strictly on Uber’s terms.”
On-demand services might need to splash out a bit more on their “self-employed” workers as a result of the Uber ruling
A legal representative for the drivers said the case could have a major effect on the gig economy.
“This is a ground-breaking decision. It will impact not just on the thousands of Uber drivers working in this country, but on all workers in the so-called gig economy whose employers wrongly classify them as self-employed and deny them the rights to which they are entitled.”
Tim Goodwin, a legal expert representing law firm Winckworth Sherwood, told the publication that the ruling could mean that paid holidays and a minimum wage could apply to similar businesses.


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ATF Goons Raid Firearm Store for Selling Forced Reset Triggers & Pistol Braces
Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) raided the Shooters Den — a firearm store in Albuquerque, New Mexico — for selling forced reset triggers (FRTs) and pistols featuring stabilizing devices.
The store was at the center of a controversy in September for its confiscation of a firearms owner’s privately manufactured firearms (PMF) for not possessing a serial number.
The gun store owner, Anthony Stephen, made a call to the ATF to report the young gun owner.
The ATF currently has the firearm as evidence. Curiously, John Crump of AmmoLand News noted that the ATF and law enforcement claimed that the young gun owner was not in violation of laws. It seems he is not the one at the center of the federal investigation.
The store let the young man know that they would serialize the gun without his consent. This move would make the young man unable to regain his firearm since he is below the age of 21.
Any lawful individual under 21 can own a pistol provided that they are over 18. However, anyone under 21 can’t go through a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check for a handgun. All serialized handgun transfers from an FFL have to go through NICS.
Starting in March, the ATF started investigating the gun store.
The ATF allegedly discovered a rifle with “illegal” devices attached. The Bureau confiscated the firearm from the store and sent Stephen a warning. Stephen appeared to have not complied with the ATF’s warning and continued selling devices that the ATF has criminalized.
The ATF asserted that the gun store sold AR-style firearms equipped with pistol stabilizing devices. The ATF issued a regulation in early 2023 that reclassified the majority pistols featuring braces as short-barreled rifles (SBRs).
Furthermore, the gun store sells FRTs. The ATF deems this accessory as a device that can convert standard firearms into machine guns.
On top of the braced pistols and FRTs, the ATF asserted that the store was constructing firearms without the proper license.
Crump noted the following about firearms licenses: “There are different types of federal firearms licenses (FFL). To make firearms, a store needs a Type 07 FFL. The store only had a Type 01 FFL, which only allowed the store to sell firearms.”
The ATF’s accusations did not stop there. It also claimed that Shooters Den was not conducting background checks. Not running background checks could lead to the revocation of an FFL, which holds especially true under the Biden regime’s current zero-tolerance policy.
The FFL allegedly did not collect taxes and nor did it report taxes. Per the search warrant, the ATF completed three controlled purchases at the gun shop. The government asserts that the store sold something illegal to the undercover ATF agents. Due to these purchases, the ATF confiscated all the store’s firearms, accessories, and records. Per the gun store’s Google listing, it is currently permanently closed.
This is yet another case demonstrating the need to abolish the ATF. This agency is a major blemish on this constitutional Republic. In effect, unelected government agents have the power to arbitrarily infringe on Second Amendment rights.
The ATF doesn’t need to be “reformed”, it ultimately needs to be defunded and subsequently abolished. The longer this agency exists, the more likely gun rights will continue to be violated.


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Warby Parker is coming to the market with a $5 billion market capitalization — blowing past the $3 billion valuation it scored in a private fundraising round last year.
The ever-buzzy eyewear brand shares were priced at $40 each in preparation for the company’s direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The process is similar to an IPO, but instead of creating new shares, private investors use direct listings to sell existing stock directly to the public.
Going into the listing, Warby Parker had 412 stockholders, with Class A shares and Class B stock, which carry additional voting rights. Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, cofounders who lead the company as co-chief executive officers, will together control 48 percent of the voting power.
Now, everyday investors will be able to easily get a piece of the company, a direct-to-consumer pioneer that helped start a kind of digital revolution, but is pinning a good bit of its growth on brick-and-mortar.
The company’s sales jumped 53 percent to $270.5 million for the six months ended June 30, but with losses of $7.3 million. For all of 2021, Warby Parker is looking for sales to grow by up to 36 percent to $537 million, with the help of 30 to 35 new stores for a total of up to 160 locations.
Investors will be watching closely to see how the company develops — as a business and as part of a rush of pandemic-era offerings. Warby Parker has lots of brand exposure and a business model that spawned a wave of direct-to-consumer followers, but still holds a relatively small piece of the market.
More from WWD:


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Credit scores can have a large impact on things like buying homes and cars, borrowing money, and even gaining employment. So it makes sense that people like to know their current scores. There are plenty of sites that allow people to learn their own credit scores. But how many have used these credit report sites? And how many are aware of their current scores?
In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 30% of respondents said they know their current credit score. Another 32% said they at least have a rough idea. And 39% said they have no idea what their current credit scores are.
31% of respondents said they have received at least one of their credit scores within the last 6 months. 17% have received their credit score within the last year. 15% have found out their credit score within the past 2 years. 5% have done so within the last 5 years. 7% said the last time they checked their credit score was over 5 years ago. And 25% said they have never learned their own credit scores.
There are plenty of ways to get credit scores. Many people receive them when they apply for loans or new purchases. But online credit report sites have grown in popularity in recent years. 21% of overall respondents said they have checked their own credit scores online many times. 36% said they have checked their credit scores online once or twice. And 44% have never checked their own credit scores online.
So what do people think about their scores? Is there room for improvement? 31% of those who know their scores said they are very happy with them. 32% said they are somewhat happy with their current credit scores. 19% are somewhat unhappy with their credit scores. And 18% are very unhappy with them.
You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.
What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.
Results were collected on February 11 via AYTM’s online survey panel.


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U.S. dairy exports are on their way to a fourth consecutive record-setting year.
August exports of U.S. dairy products totaled $614 million, up 45 percent from $424 million in August 2012, and were led by increased sales to China, the Middle East and North Africa and Southeast Asia.
The total volume was up 26 percent from year-ago levels. U.S. exporters shipped 175,684 tons of milk powder, cheese, butterfat, whey and lactose during August, according to a new report by U.S. Dairy Export Council.
Conditions have been favorable for U.S. dairy exporters, but the increase is also attributable to the growing sophistication of U.S. dairy suppliers and their increased commitment to foreign markets, said Alan Levitt, USDEC vice president of communications.
U.S. exporters are making the right products with the right specifications and right packaging and offering better customer service to overseas buyers, he said.
U.S. suppliers are no longer viewing exports as a market for selling excess product only. They are seeing foreign markets as a customer that has to be serviced and attended to all the time, in good and not so good conditions, he said.
“They realize they can’t just flake in and out of these markets,” he said.
To be successful, they have to be committed to being in the markets day in and day out, he said.
Hand-in-hand with that commitment, U.S. exporters have been able to capitalize on favorable conditions and being in the right place at the right time, he said. Milk production in most of the other dairy exporting countries has been down, while production in the U.S. has been up slightly.
In the first eight months of 2013, milk production was down 9 percent in New Zealand, 6 percent in Australia, 0.5 percent to 1 percent in the EU and 5 percent in Argentina. Meanwhile, it was up a little less than 1 percent in the U.S., he said.
That gives U.S. competitors a less dairy product to sell at higher prices, and the U.S. a little more to sell at favorable prices, he said.
“Most of the year, our prices have been more of a bargain than our competitors to overseas buyers,” he said.
U.S. dairy exports are up in all of its major markets, with U.S. suppliers able to backfill some of the markets other countries had to let go, he said.
The strong gains in August brought January through August sales to $4.34 billion, 23 percent ahead of last year’s pace of $3.53 billion. For the first eight months, aggregate export volumes of milk powder, whey products, lactose, cheese and butterfat was almost 1.3 million tons, up 14 percent from the same period in 2012. Gains have been made across all categories, with nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder, cheese, whey and lactose at record highs.
USDEC projects 2013 sales will total $6.6 billion, up more than 25 percent from 2012’s $5.2 billion. Barring a dramatic change in market conditions, 2013 would be the fourth consecutive record year for U.S. dairy exports.
With fundamental conditions conducive to continuing world demand and the U.S. having a place in filling that demand, USDEC is very hopeful regarding future U.S. dairy exports. But it will be up to U.S. suppliers to make those sales, Levitt said.
U.S. dairy exporters took market share from competitors this year and hopefully they will defend that market share, even when market conditions are not as favorable as they were this year, he said.


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Today Mythic Entertainment went out and announced the open beta of Warhammer Online. 7th September 2008 is the date and thousands of fans will be able to play the very much anticipated PvP-focused MMORPG. Furthermore, WAR will be released the 18th September this year.
In order to access the open beta there's a few ways, you can either pre-order the game or hope you get one of them limited spots via FilePlanet.com, which is the site that Mythic Entertainment and Electronic Arts will work together to distribute open beta access.
"For three years we have been saying that ‘WAR is coming’ and the team has been working hard to deliver on this promise,” said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. "In just a few weeks, we are going to throw open our doors and invite more players into the game than ever before. They will have a chance to delve into the open beta and see for themselves that WAR has arrived and it is glorious!"
There are a total of 75.000 open beta keys which will go out and they already started to have the beta client available via Fileplanet as of last Friday the 15th. http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/warhammeronline/... is the URL and it’s a first-come, first serve basis! Hurry. Apparently they are hosting the client only for North America, Australia, and New Zealand players.
If you previously had North American closed beta access your account will carry over to the closed beta – which is great news, but also kind of expected.
If you have pre-ordered the game go to the account center at http://accounts.warhammeronline.com and enter your open beta code, then you get access to download the client via FilePlanet at zero additional cost.
Prior to the open beta, Mythic will be hosting a special North American Beta Preview Weekend, from August 22nd through August 25th, and 100,000 players will be invited to end the closed beta with a bang. Those who pre-ordered the now sold-out Collector’s Edition will get top priority, but all are welcome to sign up at FilePlanet.com and try for a spot in this exciting event!
Don't forget to check out Warhammer Alliance for the latest Warhammer Online discussions and much more!


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So you might know that right now there’s growing tension between the us and china it’s probably not good news for u.s companies it’s almost definitely bad news for chinese companies but for korean samsung it’s like the stars are lining up i’m not talking a small victory here i think this is samsung’s big shot at world technological domination if we take a look at the top smartphone vendors globally one thing stands out that huawei is huge in the last five years this company’s grown from five percent market share to 20.
That’s ludicrous this company was the single biggest threat to samsung’s mobile operations but now is where i think that ends the us ban means that huawei can’t offer google apps they can’t build their own flagship chips and now just suffers from a general lack of trust and without these things i think it’s just a matter of time before huawei returns to just serving the chinese market so just theoretically if we took huawei out of the picture samsung becomes a clear number one leaving only really xiaomi as a realistic android rival and don’t get me wrong xiaomi will also benefit if huawei disappears.
They’re already managing to scoop up current huawei users looking for an alternative with these attractively priced globally available devices plus xiaomi’s putting particular emphasis on the fact that their phones can run google play services so as not to be confused with their other chinese counterpart but you see this is the issue that xiaomi faces a lot of the people who are unwilling to buy a huawei phone because they don’t trust it might also not be willing to buy from other chinese brands the us banned chinese huawei they banned chinese ZTE a few years before that they literally just announced a ban for chinese tick tock like a week ago it’s not looking good for chinese brands in general and here’s the thing right the worst this u.s china relationship gets the better samsung does.
Going back to that list pretty much every one of samsung’s main competitors oppo vivo and even a lot of companies sitting in that other section like real me they’re all chinese but samsung dodged that bullet by being a company that is korean and one that is publicly withdrawn from manufacturing in china instead moving to india and vietnam and guess what those two just so happen to be regions that the us is trying to strengthen its relations with so samsung has kind of just found themselves in a position where people want their phones more and they started responding to it this new galaxy s20 fan edition was literally launched with the very purpose of capitalizing on increased appetite for samsung and i would fully expect them in the next year to start releasing more models than ever oh and there’s more you might be aware of apple is very soon planning to launch their first ever 5g iphones.
Now generally when apple does this when they introduce a feature on their phones that has actually been around for some time they do it in a big way apple is often the company to catapult relatively niche features into the mainstream they did it with voice assistance they did it with fingerprint scanners they’re about to do it with 5g and the reason this helps samsung is that believe it or not they are one of the few companies that builds 5g infrastructure now there’s a pretty reasonable chance that you had no idea samsung did this because the main three companies are huawei nokia and ericsson but samsung is fourth and i think they’re about to climb see with this political conflict china is separating from the west i mean huawei has physically been ripped out of a lot of europe’s 5g infrastructure and it’s looking like china might retaliate in the exact same way that the west has vetoed use of huawei it’s very possible that china will just veto the use of european companies like ericsson and nokia and would you believe it that leaves samsung as the only neutral party who could potentially supply to both sides of the conflict and i could bet my bottom dollar they’re gonna try literally a couple of weeks ago samsung signed a five-year deal with verizon in the u.s to build 5g infrastructure.
For them they’re already wrestling in basically offering themselves as a china-free alternative to huawei 5g they’ve just recently dropped over 20 billion dollars into 5g and ai and something as well on their way into planning their 6g infrastructure to come in 2028 and see the better samsung’s networking business does the better their smartphone business does if samsung starts building really close ties with verizon and other carriers then that puts samsung’s hardware right in the limelight for us customers because carriers are the ones selling the phones but there’s even more to this something like 30 of samsung’s revenue right now is actually from its semiconductor business which sells chips and whilst this division might lose a bit of money in the short term because they used to sell bits and pieces to huawei for their phones in the long term
It’s looking pretty good for starters huawei was one of the few other companies who made mobile chipsets every year they’d come up with an increasingly advanced kirin chip to power their flagship phones but the us ban makes this almost impossible it’s looking likely that after 2020 oh i just won’t be able to do it anymore so that 20 percent of the market that used to be powered by kirin is now open to being powered by samsung plus looking at the next generation chipsets are going to be built on the tiny five nanometer fabrication process and it looks like samsung was ready for this it looks like samsung has built the processes to be able to manufacture five nanometer chipsets with relatively high efficiency and that means two things a that samsung’s next exynos processors should be way higher performance and this is backed up by ice universe
Who also adds that in 2022 they’re gonna start building in amd’s graphics cores which might even flip their current achilles heel into a strength and b that apparently samsung as well as building their own have been picked to build the next qualcomm snapdragon 875 chips too samsung’s supposed efficiency means that they can offer a five nanometer chip to qualcomm for less than tsmc who qualcomm usually works with so samsung rakes in money from qualcomm and at the same time might just be able to build their own exynos chipset which is comparable and if they can do that they will fly because while samsung can then happily use their own exynos chips in their phones for no extra cost every other android maker will either have to fork out an extra thirty to fifty dollars to buy one from qualcomm or come straight to samsung and buy an exynos chip for their phones either way samsung wins they’re in a position.
Where they can leverage their 5g and their chipset business to push their mobile phone business forward i mean obviously they do still have apple to compete with but if us cuts ties with china then i think even apple will struggle because it’s very possible that china will retaliate with the same sentiment no one in china buy an iphone and even though this doesn’t really directly help samsung because samsung has almost no market share in china it would hurt apple besides a lot of apples manufacturing happens in china too which means that if they are pressured to pull out it might well mean they have to raise their prices for the rest of the world but to be fair just generally i would argue that samsung isn’t particularly worried about apple i think the average consumer is actually quite averse to jumping between android and ios which means that if chinese android brands fall in popularity their users are way more likely to turn to samsung as opposed to iphone plus samsung just serves a much wider net of users than apple everything from the budget section which apple doesn’t dare build for to foldables apart from chinese companies.
The only foldable competition samsung faces is from motorola they would pretty much have the entire foldable market so the us and china seem to be falling out and intentionally or not i feel like samsung is in the perfect position to gain from this and because a lot of the world follows the us’s lead if this carries on which is looking like it will then this won’t just be some small win for samsung in the united states this will be a global victory and it could well be self-reinforcing if all of a sudden 40 of smartphone users become samsung users then samsung’s going to sell more appliances they’re going to sell more tvs and more services all of which will be made to work with each other .


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DOZENS of British holidaymakers are claiming up to £1million compensation
after falling violently ill in Egypt.
Some were left bed-ridden for days at the four-star Tropicana Sea Beach Splash
resort in popular Sharm El Sheikh.
Others soldiered on, despite suffering from diarrhoea, sickness and stomach
cramps. Many complained of undercooked and reheated food. There were even
claims of faeces being found in the hotel’s pool.
Up to 50 tourists are now suing holiday firm First Choice.
They include engineering surveyor Paul Carty, who paid £2,500 for a two-week
all-inclusive break with wife Jacqueline and their children in July. Paul,
47, of Colton, Leeds, West Yorks, said: “It was a nightmare.
“Looking after the kids while being ill was very hard. We saw staff mixing
cooked meat and chicken with raw food. There were birds and flies in the
Amandeep Dhillon, a travel law solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The number
of complaints we’ve received from guests at this hotel in a short space of
time is very worrying.”
A First Choice spokeswoman said: “We’re sorry this group of customers did not
enjoy their holiday experience. Tropicana Sea Beach remains a popular


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Underwater rights issues
The Daily Mail city team explains what is meant by underwater rights issues.
What are they?
A rights issue goes under water when the share price falls below the level at which investors are offered new stock. It's bad news because shareholders have no incentive to subscribe for new shares.
That's why companies usually take out insurance before they raise cash by selling shares. If no one subscribes, firms still get their cash as the underwriters pay up.
Why do I care?
A £4bn rights issue by HBOS plunged deep under water this week. If the shares are still submerged by next month's deadline, it's odds on that the Halifax owner's 2.1m small shareholders will shun the deal. So underwriters at Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort will be left holding shares wherever the price finally settles.
It is in their contract. When a £105m cash call by JJB Sports flopped in 1998, investment bank Warburg Dillon Read was left with £40m in unwanted shares.
The underwriters of the government's 1987 sale of a £7bn stake in BP also shouldered huge underwater losses. The October stock market crash plunged BP shares well below the offer level, but the then Chancellor Nigel Lawson stood firm in the face of City calls to lower his price.
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UK hit by EU’s €2 bn bill for “repeatedly ignoring warnings” over trouser tax fraud.
The UK is facing a €1.98 bn bill from the EU for “repeatedly ignoring warnings” of tax frauds on imported Chinese shoes and apparel. The case highlights grave systemic complications in Britain’s handling of trade which threaten to complicate further its preparations for leaving the EU.
The EU’s case…
The EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF claims UK customs’ “continuous negligence” deprived the EU of €1.987 billion in revenues in lost import duties between 2013 and 2016 on Chinese merchandise and took €3.2 billion from the value-added-tax income of major EU countries. OLAF has sent a recommendation to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget that the UK government should be forced to pay the €2 billion directly to the EU.
OLAF says a growing amount of Europe’s imports from China began to be cleared through UK ports from 2013, with UK Customs (known in Britain as HMRC) accepting what sound at first hearing like absurdly low valuation: the example most quoted is ladies’ trousers at €0.91 per kg, compared to OLAF’s estimates of an EU average of €26.09. The more serious allegation is against the UK, rather than the criminals: it is that, in OLAF’s words, “Despite repeated efforts deployed by OLAF, and in contrast to the actions taken by several other member states to fight against these fraudsters, the fraud hub in the UK has continued to grow.” OLAF added that Britain had also failed to open any criminal investigation into the fraud.
…turns into a spat…
HMRC’s reply has been that Olaf’s estimate “is not one that is recognised by our experts who will be challenging their calculations”. It added that HMRC was “considering” OLAF’s findings and recommendations. To which OLAF in turn replied that it had “repeatedly drawn the attention of HMRC over the last years to the scale of the phenomenon and to the on-going revenue losses”. It states that it has “also alerted the UK authorities to the need to implement EU-wide risk profiles and to investigate the fraud networks active in the UK”. Between governments, this is language not far short of declaring war.
…to which there’s more than meets the eye…
Behind all this there are several different issues going on:
- The nature of Customs clearance The numbers quoted by OLAF make it clear that for much of Europe’s imports, the financial risk to governments that Customs have to control is lost VAT revenue, rather than lost import duty revenue. In fact, for the UK, excise duty (the origin-blind tax placed mostly on alcohol, tobacco and petroleum) is also a greater source of revenue from imports than import duty. So the importance of physically checking imports once Britain leaves the EU is not just about import duty: Customs will assess a consignment partly on the total amount of government revenue at stake. If Britain does negotiate a free trade deal with the EU meaning zero duty on apparel, physical checks will still be required on incoming goods.
- The Channel marks a deep philosophical difference about tax HMRC prides itself on being “facilitative”: that is, it sees itself almost as responsible for ensuring trade flows freely as for protecting the government’s revenue. That simply is not the view of Douane Francaise, HMRC’s French counterpart, which provided the staff for much of the OLAF investigation. Nothing alleged so far, of course, constitutes judicial proof Europe’s governments have actually been defrauded of €5.2 billion
- HMRC is under constant cost-saving pressure HMRC is smaller than its Continental counterparts (5,000 Customs officials compared with 15,000 in France) and is required to justify resources spent conducting investigations. HMRC may have misjudged the seriousness of what was going on here – leading OLAF to resent the lack of UK co-operation.
- Lessons for post-Brexit international relations. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this case, OLAF and Douane Francaise clearly do believe HMRC is an unreliable partner. So, when after Brexit goods from the UK become subject to Customs clearance on the EU side of borders, EU Customs administrations generally and in particular Douane Francaise (which will become the single biggest clearer of UK exports) are liable to treat goods cleared by HMRC as peculiarly unreliable. This is potentially catastrophic, both for conventional UK-based apparel exporters (like Amazon or Sports Direct) and for UK buyers sending raw materials to manufacturers in the EU and Turkey. Meanwhile, whatever the reason for HMRC accepting valuations of €0.91 per kg for trousers (and there are some perfectly legitimate possible explanations), the likelihood is that it will require far more backup evidence to justify such cases in future, and subject apparel imports to a higher likelihood of stop ands search.
The scandal cannot make life easier for apparel traders. What looks at first like a modest scam has the makings of Customs procedures likely to undermine seriously much of Britain’s apparel industry


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Brits spent an extra £1.9bn in stockpiling spree before coronavirus lockdown
Brits made over 79 million extra trips to supermarkets in the four weeks leading up to the coronavirus lockdown, as people rushed to stock up on groceries ahead of restrictions being introduced, according to industry data.
The stockpiling drove a 20.5 per cent jump in supermarket sales up to 21 March, with customers spending an additional £1.9bn on groceries, data from Neilsen showed.
In the week to 21 March, two days before Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the nationwide lockdown to try and limit the spread of coronavirus, supermarket sales rose 43 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Nielsen found that in the four-week period shoppers typically added just one extra item to their basket during each trip, with the average basket increasing from 10 items to 11, and average basket spend rising from £15 to £16.
“With households making almost three extra shopping trips in the last four weeks, this small change in individual shopping behaviour has led to a seismic shift in overall shopping patterns,” said Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight.
Nielsen data showed that in the last week of February and the first two weeks of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling essentials, such as medicines, cleaning supplies, and ambient groceries, such as pasta and rice.
However by the week ending 21 March, many shoppers had filled their cupboards with the so-called “pandemic pantry” necessities, so they turned to their freezers, with sales of frozen food rising 84 per cent year-on-year.
Separately, data published by Kantar showed that stockpiling helped make March the biggest month on record for grocery sales, with the average household spending an extra £62.92 in the past four weeks.
Shoppers in London, where the coronavirus outbreak is ahead of other regions, increased their spending the most, with a 26 per cent increase during the month.
“Retailers and their staff have been on the frontline as households prepare for an extended stay at home, with grocery sales amounting to £10.8bn during the past four weeks alone – that’s even higher than levels seen at Christmas, the busiest time of year under normal circumstances,” said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight.
With pubs and restaurants closed due to the lockdown, shoppers stocked up on alcohol for virtual pub trips with friends on apps like Zoom and Houseparty, boosting booze sales by 22 per cent.
Convenience stores also benefited from people shopping more frequently and following government guidance to stay closer to home.
Smaller branches of the major retailers and independently-owned shops increased their share of spend to 13.3 per cent in March, growing sales by 30 per cent year-on-year.
“We expect restrictions on movement and relatively full grocery cupboards will mean the incredibly high levels of shopping trips made in March will drop off over the coming weeks,” said McKevitt.
He added that regular trips to smaller shops were “likely to continue, as people avoid travelling and queues at stores with one-in-one-out policies in place”, and predicted that sales of non-perishable goods would slow as households shift to focusing on replenishing supplies of fresh food.
“While much-reported panic buying has been concentrated to a relatively low number of individuals so far, we anticipate that this too will subside as consumers gain confidence in the retailers’ abilities to maintain grocery supplies and keep stock on the shelves,” he said.


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Toby Gard slinks back to Lara
In what many will see as a somewhat humiliating move, the creator of Lara Croft, who left Eidos to form is own studio to develop the lacklustre Galleon, has joined the US development team Crystal Dynamics. This is the studio that is working on the next Tomb Raider game, which was originally developed by Core Design, the team that Toby left after the success of the very first Tomb Raider.
Gard's own studio, Confounding Factor, is wrapping itself up after the release of Galleon, leaving the dejected talent of Gard with nowhere to go. So he's upped sticks and headed over to join Crystal Dynamics, a team that up until now has been most famous for the Soul Reaver games. They got the Tomb Raider reigns after Core made such a pig's ear of the last Lara Croft title, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. According to a spokesperson for publisher Eidos, "Toby will complement the existing talented team creating the next Tomb Raider title. As the creator of the Lara Croft character, he brings a unique perspective to the development process."
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text:
Forecast for pre-tax profit is at top of expecations at £91m on turnover of £1.32bn
WS Atkins has said results for the year ended 31 March 2008 will be at the top end of expectations.
The consensus forecast for the group is £91m pre-tax profit on turnover of £1.32bn.
Panmure Gordon said the scale, business mix and exposure to the Middle East made the group a good bet and reiterated its buy recommendation.
Atkins said it had performed well over the year and had a strong order book and cash generation, with net funds expected to be about £165m.


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A Quick Glimpse at the State of the Automotive Industry
Manufacturing Insights Blog
By Tim Burke, Vice President of Global Motor Vehicle Industries, Plex Systems
Attending the Center for Automotive Research’s (CAR) annual Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City always presents a wonderful opportunity to take the pulse of the industry and get a sense of how the OEMs and suppliers are preparing for the next generation of vehicles.
This year the mood is considerably brighter as manufacturers are invigorated by designing innovative ways to meet the magic number of 54.5 – the MPG average which all manufacturers must meet by 2025 or face fines from the U.S. government. They are relentlessly seeking to reduce the weight of components through redesigning parts and using new materials like aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber. Mazda has set an ambitious goal: to reduce the weight of every redesigned vehicle by 220 pounds.
And as OEMs seek to reach that MPG goal, all options are on the table: hybrids, electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell, clean diesel – even three-cylinder engines, which we’ve not seen in the United States for quite a while.
But as enthusiastically as the industry seeks solutions for the MPG mandate, there are some trends that cause concern, including the slowdown of the economies in Asia and the downturn in Europe, even as we expect an uptick in sales in North America.
Annual sales in North America are currently running at about 14.3 million units, but forecasters like R.L. Polk anticipate a 12 percent increase in vehicle sales next year to 15.2 million vehicles. Other forecasters are less optimistic and note that joblessness, a sluggish housing market and global uncertainty may create economic headwinds that will slow sales.
And while OEMs want to sell as many vehicles as possible – they’d love to get back to 17 million units per year, as they were in the “good old days” – increasing production may have some challenges.
When the economy tanked in the middle of the decade, a number of Tier Three and Four suppliers folded. They couldn’t operate efficiently enough to meet quality standards or reduce costs low enough to be competitive. Many Tier One and Tier Two suppliers consolidated. The result is that lower-tier suppliers are working at their capacity to keep up parts delivery to meet the 14.3 million unit volume.
As Plex Manufacturing Cloud customer Larry Jutte from Ernie Green Industries shared in a panel discussion at MBS, “A lot of the Tier Twos have been running six days a week trying to keep up with 13 million the best they can; what’s going to happen when the industry needs 15 million?” That’s what he describes as a supplier pinch point.
For Plex Systems, this challenge for suppliers presents an opportunity. The only way for suppliers to operate efficiently, reduce waste and maintain high quality is through leveraging technology. Those unwilling to make the investment in technology will gradually disappear because of inefficient, costly work processes and more nimble and capable competitors.
At Plex, we’re in the business of helping companies leverage technology to drive inefficiencies out of manufacturing. If the supplier community is taking heed of the vehicle sales projections – and are currently challenged to maintain volume at today’s sales levels – then they’ll see that the best solution for them is to invest in technology.
Plex Systems customers have already made that choice and are benefiting from the ability to scale production as needed to meet demand. I just hope that suppliers recognize the challenges coming their way and plan accordingly. Making the right decision about a technology solution positions them for success as the market improves and sales accelerate.
Tim Burke (left) speaking with WJR-AM's Paul W. Smith during MBS 2012


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World leader in cell phone market achieve a milestone target in Indian market. According to the latest report from Samsung, that the handset Samsung Z1 sales cross 5,00,000 units in India which they can’t event expect. The handset was launched back in January this year.
Not only in India, the lovers of the handset also available in neighbored country Bangladesh, where it has captured 23.4% of the smartphone market.
By looking that much success for Samsung Z1 Samsung planning to unveil another Tizen-powered Samrtphone possibly Z2. which will be launched in Russia, China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, the report said.


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Remote Team is Now Privacy Shield Certified
Remote Team achieves new certification verifying and demonstrating that their privacy programs, policies, and practices meet the requirements of EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield.
We pride ourselves on having a security-first platform and enables our users to feel confident in the privacy of their data. With this in mind, we are excited to announce that we’ve now achieved Privacy Shield Framework certification,
Remote Team Legal Counsel, Omer Faruk AYDIN, further commented, “This is not just a cool badge. Our team spent countless hours invested in the process to ensure full compliance.”
What is EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework?
In Privacy Shield website: “The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the European Commission and Swiss Administration, respectively, to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce”.


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Facebook, Inc. lost during the first round of trial over the case filed by Illinois residents against the company’s alleged “unlawful” collection of biometric data from its users through the system’s automatic photo-tagging feature.
According to the presiding judge, Facebook’s claim that the social networking site is not covered by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is invalid despite the fact that the social networking site reminded its users in its terms and services agreement that only California laws would govern all disputes related to the site.
Based on court findings, Illinois laws would also apply to Facebook since the complainants have a valid claim. However, both parties already agreed to transfer the case to California.
Meanwhile, technology analysts predicted earlier this month that Facebook could reach a record-high value of $1 trillion soon after the company recently posted a nearly 10 percent surge in stocks.
According to them, Facebook’s stocks have reached the total value of $350 billion on Thursday last week; making it one of the most valuable companies in the United States of America.
Market researchers also noted that the company is projected to post an annual increase of 32 percent on the average; doubling and tripling the expected earnings of Alphabet-subsidiary Google, Inc. and multinational tech company Apple, Inc., respectively.
“It was another big beat driven by the soaring mobile ad business. User and engagement levels were at the highest levels ever,” said Brian Pitz of the global investment banking firm Jefferies.


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In an effort to position Salesforce.com as more of a software platform and less of a sales-force automation service, Salesforce.com and Google today announced that Google will provide its Google Apps offering as part of the Salesforce.com platform.
That means Google's spreadsheet, text editor, calendar, instant messaging, e-mail, and other tools will work with Salesforce.com's tools, not just be available through the same interface. For example, Google Gmail e-mails can be sorted and saved in the appropriate components of the Salesforce app as leads or to-do tasks.
And Salesforce.com officials say that any third-party applications designed for Salesforce.com's AppExchange platform are automatically integrated with Google Apps. AppExchange is a marketplace of add-on software delivered through the Salesforce.com platform that uses the same APIs and database engine as the Salesforce app.
A major test of cloud computing
Should the Salesforce.com-Google effort deliver on its promise, it could help cloud computing gain serious traction businesses, including larger enterprises that have been cool to the idea of software as a service outside confined niches such as timesheet management and sales contact management. That's because both Salesforce.com and Google have a broad group of major companies that use their products separately, including Salesforce.com customers A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions, Delta Dental, Dow Jones News Wire, and Ryder. In the meantime, Google also has its share of marquee names, such as American Express, Bank One, Jenny Craig, and Kimberly Clark.
The Salesforce.com-Google deal makes the concept of cloud computing harder to ignore, and it's part of a series of such efforts by several providers. For example, in March, ZoHo announced its multiple-application offering, the first to go beyond a specific niche such as productivity apps or CRM and instead present a broader portfolio of "cloud computing" applications. At the platform level, Google announced last week the decision to open its own platform to outside developers to deploy their own applications. And Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, Sun, and others have even more basic IT functions available through the cloud.
So far, Microsoft has put just a toe in these waters: In 2006, SAP and Microsoft introduced Duet, basically a mashup of some Office features with SAP's R3 ERP components. Via Duet, an e-mail to a customer in Outlook can pull in and view customer data from R3. Likewise, a budget in Excel or a contract in Word gives users the capability to pull up customer data from R3.
The latest Duet release includes templates that focus on specific business events such as budget monitoring and time management taking place in the mySAP business suite.


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Stroll around your local supermarket or farm shop and there are no shortage of environmental prompts and reassurances. From grass-reared beef and organic eggs to Rainforest Alliance-assured tea, locally-grown tomatoes and plastic-free fruit. There is something to ease every shopper’s eco-anxieties. Or is there?
Amid this cacophony of eco-cues, one – and arguably the most important one – has been missing. Greenhouse gas emissions, presented in the form of a carbon footprint label, are pretty much invisible to shoppers. Until now.
Last week, we got sight of a new eco-labelling scheme that will be piloted in September on brands including Costa, Naked Bacon, Abel & Cole and M&S. Each product will be rated from A+ to G, a sliding scale from low environmental impact to high. Carbon footprint is the most important factor (49 per cent weighting), but the score also takes account of water usage (17 per cent), water pollution (17 per cent) and biodiversity loss (17 per cent).
It’s loosely designed on the traffic-light labels we’ve got used to for nutritional information – so you’ll be able to see whether a product is ‘green’ at a glance. “We’re going to put the scores on whether they’re good, bad or ugly [and] some of them will be pretty ugly,” Jago Pearson from Naked Bacon told me. “But our consumers deserve to know.”
This is key. A handful of products have been adding carbon footprints to their packs but it’s those who know their figures are low – the plant-based brands like Quorn or Oatly. If this labelling scheme takes off – and it’s backed by some pretty big hitters in industry and academia – then it won’t only allow you to compare beans with bacon but bacon with bacon.
Of course, this could throw up some intriguing results. Bacon from an intensively-reared pig might actually score better than an outdoor-bred one. What’s more important: animal welfare (not included in the new label) or environmental impact? We, as consumers, will need to decide. Can we be expected to do that?
Those involved in the new scheme – which is being run by a new non-profit organisation called Foundation Earth, the brainchild of the late food entrepreneur and founder of Finnebrogue Artisan, Denis Lynn – say wrapping more than environmental impacts into one score is too complicated.
However, there is already a scheme in Europe, called Eco-score, which is actually doing just that. Products are given a score from A to E. This starts with a life cycle analysis (LCA) of the environmental impacts but additional points can be won or lost depending on provenance, animal welfare standards and fair pay. One of the milks available scores 54 out of 100 for its LCA, for instance, but then gets bonus points for being organic and 100 per cent Belgian, then loses points for its hard-to-recycle packaging.
Eco-score, which isn’t available in the UK yet, arguably provides a more rounded sustainability score (or what the founder Shafik Asal calls a “solid and feasible” score). Tens of thousands of products in Carrefour, Lidl and Colruyt (a Belgium retailer) have the score alongside them on the websites or supermarket app. Some are starting to appear on packs.
However, the LCA data isn’t very accurate. What Foundation Earth wants to do – and let’s be clear eco-labelling food is a competitive space currently – is drill down to the data on individual products. That’s exciting given that you could pick up two those packs of bacon with very different scores. British could also come out better.
“A steak from South America from cleared rainforest will be reported as substantially more impactful than a steak from a UK-based farmer with natural pastures, hedgerows, and low impact feedstocks,” Jason Barrett, from Mondra, the tech firm helping develop the Foundation Earth scheme, told me in 2018.
Indeed, this scheme has been a long time in the making. Whether this level of analysis is possible for thousands of products remains debatable (Tesco wanted to assess just the carbon emissions from all its products but gave up).
Professor Chris Elliott from Queen’s University Belfast (who led the UK government’s review into the horsemeat scandal) is leading a panel of experts from the UK, Belgium and Spain to come up with a robust scoring method for wider rollout of the new eco label over here. This won’t be ready in time for the pilot – that is really to see whether shoppers like the idea, and how they use the labels.
Almost nine in 10 of us, according to a Eurobarometer survey, apparently want information like this to be on our food and drink. But how it’s presented, what data is used and whether it actually shifts behaviour continue to be hotly debated. There is an argument that the food industry just needs to get on with this (the government has no interest in developing a scheme). So Foundation Earth and Eco-score are both doing just that. They are not perfect but they could help us make better choices.
More importantly, however, these labels will force food companies to change their products and their sourcing. Few will want to score ‘red’ so they’ll have to ‘reformulate’ – exactly as makers of dishwashers and fridges have had to rethink their products because of mandatory energy labels. Both Eco-score and Foundation Earth are voluntary schemes and some brands will be very reluctant to take part. But if this pace continues it won’t be long before a bad score is seen as better than no score.


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It looked like fast food was just about to get a little faster, but Burger King says it is not making hands-free Whopper holders.
All you multi-taskers will need to look elsewhere to shave a few more minutes out of your action-packed days. The online video featuring the hands-free Whopper holder in use by a dog-walker, policeman, dancer, landscaper and others is a whopper in its own right.
“The video featuring a ‘hands-free’ Whopper Sandwich holder was produced by an agency in Puerto Rico to celebrate the brand and the iconic Whopper Sandwich in a humorous way. However, the product depicted in the spot was not produced, or distributed to guests as some reports indicate,” reads the short statement from Burger King to CNBC.
What is true, the company said Monday, is that the first Burger King in Puerto Rico opened in 1963. So this is indeed the chain’s 50th anniversary in Puerto Rico.
The videos, produced in both Spanish and English versions, feature a guitar player singing the benefits of the device, which looks like a thick plastic necklace that bends up to feeding position. The item gets ritually unboxed with the fervor of the hottest new tech gadget.
“As part of Burger King’s 50th anniversary in Puerto Rico we wanted to hand out a special gift to the Whopper’s most loyal fans; members of BK’s loyalty program with the highest 50 scores,” the video promises. “Using the loyalty program’s CRM database, the lucky winners were notified via e-mail or phone. They received the very handy: Hands free Whopper.”
The website built for the campaign http://handsfreewhopper.com/ also features a video of the alleged production of the device on a 3D printer. Burger King officials declined further comment on the campaign including whether the prototype was indeed made on a 3D printer or if the schematics would be released to the public.
The ads were created by DLC/Ogilvy & Mather, according to Creativity Online, but neither Burger King nor Ogilvy would comment on the matter to CNBC.


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Dangote Group’s annual revenues exceeded $4.1 billion in 2017, the President of the group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said.
Giving an update on the strides of the group in the food sector, Dangote said, “In the sugar sector, we developed a sugar backward integration project plan targeted at the production of 1.5MT/PA from various sites across Nigeria in the next 10 years and we are acquiring about 150,000 hectares for sugar plantation in Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi and Niger States. We signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nasarawa State Government for the construction of an integrated sugar complex located at Tunga.”
Speaking at the 2018 Customer Celebration and Distributor Awards night for Dangote Flour Mills and NASCON Allied Industries held in Lagos on Wednesday where 77 winners emerged from all the geo-political regions, Dangote said the plants will generate over 100,000 employment opportunities, saying “we will establish integrated sugar mills within these locations, generate electricity and produce animal feeds from bagasse and molasses.
For Dangote Flour Mills, he said, “We have a three-point growth plan to focus on sustaining high product quality, improving customer engagement and strengthening supply chain capabilities.
Dangote stated that new investments in NASCON Allied Industries would boost efficiency and enhance better returns.
He pointed out that the group’s push for backward integration in providing its own raw materials on a massive scale had led to the planned investment of $4.6bn over the next three years in sugar, rice and dairy production alone, noting that this would eliminate the country’s reliance on imported materials and the foreign exchange headaches that came with it.
Also, Director, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Ms. Bennedikter Molokwu, in her welcome remarks on behalf of the three companies, commended the distributors’ effort in making it possible for Dangote food products to be the preferred choice in all households.


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A recent update from NPD Group's "Entertainment Trends in America" tracking survey indicates that Apple users, specifically iPhone and iPod users, lead the field when it comes to downloading content from the Web. According to the survey, as many as 75 percent of these users are connecting to the Web to download entertainment and applications.
A recent Variety article decried the lack of compassion in new forms of communication such as e-mail and Twitter. While based upon the entertainment world, this insight into the current state of business etiquette is valid across the business world.
A recent blog post in the Silicon Valley Watcher asserted that Google dislikes marketing and PR and that this is the reason for several new service offering failures. According to author Tom Foremski, the company has no problem investing in research and technology, but when it comes time to launch a new service there is a gaping hole in its marketing strategy.
According to information from Price Waterhouse Coopers, consumers are adopting new media technologies at a dizzying rate. These changes in how consumers use media for entertainment have led to a resurgence in the entertainment and media markets. The company identified three themes that it believes will emerge from changing customer behavior.


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Charity event tribute to terror attack victim
AN outdoor and camping store is hosting a charity fun day in Haslingden in memory of a teenager who was tragically killed in the Manchester terror attack.
Winfields is staging the event at its store on Blackburn Road on Saturday, August 26 to raise funds for a high school’s music department in honour of pupil Olivia CampbellHardy’s love of music.
There will be live bands, including the Boutiques and The Joe Publix, a scooter and motorcycle rally, raffles with prizes from local businesses and kids fun fair and face painting at the store, as well as appearances from TV personalities and Star Wars stormtroopers.
A spokesperson for the Hazel Mill store said: “All money raised will be donated to Olivia’s school, Tottington High School, in the hope that they can buy school instruments for pupils to carry on the love that Olivia had for singing and her passion of music.”
There is a £5 entry fee for all scooters and motorcycles with awards going to the best bikes and the fun day runs from 11am until 7pm.
Olivia, 15, was among 22 people who died in the suicide bombing at Manchester Arena on May 22.
●● Olivia CampbellHardy


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Amazon.com's 1-Click patent confirmed following re-exam
- Eric Engleman
- Staff Writer
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is confirming Amazon.com's controversial 1-Click patent following a re-examination that lasted more than four years.
Amazon's 1-Click has come under a lot of fire over the years from critics who question whether such a broad technology should be patented at all. It refers to the process by which online shoppers make purchases with a single click, having previously entered their payment and shipping information.
The re-examination of Amazon's 1-Click patent was triggered back in 2006 when a New Zealand actor raised questions about it. At one point in the re-examination process, the U.S. Patent Office rejected many of Amazon's claims in the patent.
But according to a "notice of intent to issue a reexamination certificate" dated March 2 (pdf, 8 pages), the patent office is now satisfied with amendments that Amazon made back in 2007 that base many of the patent's claims on a "shopping cart model."
"The modified patent is still quite broad — especially since the leading retail ecommerce model still uses shopping carts," said Dennis Crouch, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri Law School and editor of the patent law blog Patently-O.
Crouch said the 1-Click patent, after Amazon's amendments, is "a slightly narrower version but essentially the same version." He added: "This case may be a public relations boon for supporters of patent reform that have been calling for an overhaul of the reexamination system."
The 1-Click patent, which lists Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos as one of its inventors, was filed in 1997 and refers to a "Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network." Amazon in the past has used 1-Click to sue rival bookseller Barnes & Noble and licensed the technology to Apple.
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Bath voted as the world's favourite British spa destination
4th May 2010
The TripAdvisor 2010 Travellers' Choice Awards have voted Bath as the second best relaxation and spa destination in the world. Bath also featured in the Top UK Destinations.
The Awards are voted for by the public and users of TripAdvisor in the UK and abroad and attract thousands of votes for different places around the world.
Chris Astbury, Head of Marketing at Bath Tourism Plus said: "It's fantastic to see that Bath has again featured in the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards and has been voted as the second most relaxing and best spa destination in the world. Bath has been attracting visitors for 'rest and relaxation' ever since the Romans first came and this award shows that Bath has continued to maintain its appeal and reputation as one of the best spa cities in the world. Of course, we would like to see Bath appearing higher in the favourite UK destinations, but with around 4.5 million visitors every year, Bath still remains one of the most popular UK destinations of choice for British and overseas visitors, despite only being voted in at 12th place".


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ASTANA, 18 June 2012 – An OSCE-supported meeting on improving interaction between customs and businesses to facilitate international trade was held in Astana today.
The meeting of the Consultative Council of the Customs Committee of Kazakhstan, a body uniting public stakeholders, brought together some 130 participants from the Parliament, the Government, local companies and business associations. The meeting focused on recently introduced electronic online declarations for goods at border crossings, and the World Customs Organization’s Authorized Economic Operator Programme (AEO) in Kazakhstan, which aims to simplify customs procedures and significantly reduce non-tariff barriers to exports, imports and transit.
“The introduction of modern advance-notification online customs declarations and AEO customs procedures by Kazakhstan will help save time, minimize the overall costs of foreign trade operations and increase business opportunities for small and medium enterprises,” said OSCE Centre in Astana’s Economic and Environmental Officer Alexander Peytchev in the welcoming remarks. “OSCE fully supports this modernization, and through its field missions in Central Asia, including the Centre in Astana, encourages the continuation of this process at regional level.”
Mazhit Esenbayev, the Chair of Kazakhstan’s Customs Control Committee said: “This meeting is part of a national advocacy campaign ‘Customs - open dialogue with the business’. We believe that the ongoing modernization of the customs administration procedures and control, implemented in constant dialogue with the business community and civil society, will help eliminate corruption practices in customs clearance of goods”.
The event is part of the OSCE Centre activities in Kazakhstan focused on good governance at border crossings, the facilitation of the international trade, transport and transit, and support for small- and medium-sized enterprises.


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The world-famous Elon Musk has now come up with a perfume called “Burnt Hair” according to him, He sold 10,000 bottles in just a few hours. Musk said it made him a million dollars within a limited hour of its launch. The price of ‘Burnt Hair’ is $100 a bottle (about Rs 8230).
“With a name like mine, getting into the fragrance business was inevitable – why did I even fight it for so long!?” Musk asked on Twitter, where he now labels himself as a perfume salesman.
Musk’s ‘Burnt Hair’ fragrance is described as “the essence of repugnant desire.’ According to Musk, one can buy this perfume using cryptocurrency. He wrote on Twitter, “And you can pay with Doge!”
His Boring Company, a delving firm valued at $5.7 billion, retailed flamethrowers at $500 apiece in early 2018, raising $10 million. He similarly sold 50,000 Boring Company hats.
Musk’s determinations over the years have reached from colonizing Mars to generating a new supportable energy economy. In the process, he has manufactured Tesla, rocket company SpaceX, and smaller companies.
Last week the billionaire projected to proceed with his original $44-billion offer to take Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) private, stating it would end a social media corporation lawsuit that could have required him to pay up, whether he wanted to or not.


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Local department bans the use of shopping bags in Multan over environmental concerns. An official letter has been received by the authorities from the Environment Department.
According to the letter the use of plastic bags has been banned completely under the written petition number 227807/2018 as per Lahore High Court’s directive. The letter also mentioned that the ban needs to extend across the province. People who do not conform to this be it stores, restaurants or any other utility will be going against the law.
Plastic polythene bags tend to disrupt environment. Global efforts to curb plastic pollution has been a prime focus for major international organizations. However, despite restricting or banning complete use of polythene bags, small vendors and people still use them. Strict monitoring is required with frequent checks to stop the use altogether. Some vendors without any information are also using oxo-biodegradable bags which are environmentally hazardous. Oxo-biodegradable bags when exposed to sunlight convert into fragments that are active and toxic chemicals. The ministry ensued a fine on people using plastic bags but it turned out to be a weak deterrent.


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TUCSON, Ariz., July 1, 2014 — Mr. Beer, Arizona based home-brewing manufacturer, is pleased to announce the promotion of former VP of Operations, Rick Zich, to President effective July 1, 2014. Mr. Zich has been with the company since 2004.
“Mr. Beer has been the leading provider in complete home brewing kits for the past two decades, and I am excited to step into this leadership role as the company continues to grow and adapt to the needs of today’s home brewer,” said Mr. Zich. “After partnering with Coopers Brewery in 2012, we had a drastic improvement to the quality of our malts and extracts. Over the next year, Mr. Beer will continue to progress with the addition of several staff members, as well as the release of two new brewing kits.”
These new kits, the 8Lx and the 24L, will be new additions to the Coopers DIY LLC dba. Mr. Beer home brewing line. Adapted from Coopers Brewery’s home brewing kits, which have been wildly successful in Australia, these new kits will offer consumers larger kegs, more advanced brewing equipment, and an increased variety of world-class refills and recipes to choose from. The 8Lx will be released in late 3rd Quarter, while the 24L kit will hit shelves early 4th Quarter, just in time for the holidays.
Mr. Beer has also appointed several new staff positions to accommodate their brewing kit’s growing demand. Since March, the company has added Matthew McCollom as Graphic Designer, Tammie Cornitius as Controller to absorb Rick’s previous CFO responsibilities, and Sarah Scott as Marketing Assistant.
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Coopers DIY LLC
Coopers DIY LLC dba. Mr. Beer joined forces with Coopers Brewery in 2012, resulting in the first DIY brewing kits to be backed by a world-renowned brewery. The Mr. Beer home brewing kit was created in 1993, and continues to be the only complete home brewing system to include all the necessary equipment and ingredients needed for successful home brewing. Their malts are produced by three World Master Brewers, are made from 100% natural ingredients, contain no additives or preservatives, are vegan and GMO free.
Coopers DIY LLC dba Mr. Beer