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Restaurateur Connection
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Will a Vaccine Be the Light at the End of the Tunnel for the Restaurant Industry?
2020 has been a challenging year for restaurants and hospitality professionals to say the least. The good news is that with the recent announcement of three vaccine trials that are up to 95-percent effective, the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming more apparent. MORE
Back of House 2021 Outdoor Healthcare 136
What the New 1099-NEC (Nonemployee Compensation) Means for Your Restaurant Business
If you are an owner, operator, or on the accounting side of your restaurant business, you've probably been hearing about the new 1099-NEC form for non-employee. This new form goes into effect with your 2020 tax year. MORE
Audits Document 2021 Healthcare 78
The Jewish Renaissance of Mexico City's Condesa
A handful of new Jewish-leaning delis and restaurants harken back to Condesa's roots as the Jewish heart of CDMX On the first floor of a two-story house along Mexico City's plush Avenida Amsterdam sits Merkava: Hummus and Jerusalem Kitchen. MORE
Back of House Front of House Reference Menu 100
?? 3 Exciting Secrets of Santa Barbara Chardonnay You'll Love
A Wine Story
Santa Barbara Chardonnay. California Chardonnay. Burgundy, France, is the benchmark for the finest expression of the Chardonnay grape. Top Burgundian vineyards, created over a thousand years ago by Cistercian monks. They keep their power and mystique to this day. MORE
Vineyard 2011 2001 Influencer 110
The Difference Between A Personal Account Versus A Business Account
Lady Boss Blogger
Starting a profitable blog or business is a lot to manage on its own, but promoting it can be just as much work! Instagram is one of the most popular platforms for influencers and bloggers, with the majority reporting it as being their most-used. MORE
Advertising Management Management Social Media 78
17 Tips to Be a More Successful Property Manager (2021)
2ndKitchen
With 36 percent of all households renting in 2020, the emphasis on finding qualified property managers has never been higher. WHAT WE'LL COVER: Chapter 1: What Is a Property Manager? Chapter 2: What Are the Responsibilities of Property Managers? Chapter 3: Types of Property Managers. MORE
Website Management 2021 Management Management 56
How the Right Restaurant POS Can Slash Your Raw Material Costs
Restaurant Technology Guys
The profitability and even the survival of low-margin and highly competitive businesses such as restaurants depend on rigorous cost-control – and a quality restaurant POS system is crucial in achieving this. MORE
POS Technology 2020 Blog 88
In this edition of MRM News Bites, we feature resources to help restaurants survive the winter weather and the learning how to improve bread-baking skills. Make it This Winter. US Foods Holding Corp. MORE
Restaurant Law Webinar 2002 2022 110
You Would Like Fries with That: Enabling the Next-Generation of Drive-Thru
Artificial intelligence (AI) is something most of us encounter in our everyday lives without even realizing it. Social networks, mobile banking apps, chatbots, robo-readers, connected devices and even ride-sharing apps are all powered in one way or another by AI technology. MORE
Restaurant Law 2025 Technology Innovation 125
7 Essentials for a Successful Restaurant Delivery Business
The restaurant delivery business has grown enormously in recent years, and it shows no signs of fading. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, roughly half of all consumers have ordered delivery from a restaurant, and delivery sales have increased by 120 percent. MORE
Small Business Delivery Mobile Ordering Email Marketing 78
THE RESTAURANT ECO-SYSTEM NEEDS HELP
Culinary Cues
There are a number of reasons why restaurants fail – some are predictable and avoidable, while others can catch a business off guard. None, however, are as devastatingly out of the operators control as this pandemic. Even the best operators are at a loss for solutions. MORE
Uniforms Brewery 2020 Equipment 303
Pandemic Growth Hacks for Small Businesses
Indoor Media
For many, it seemed like we rounded the curve of Covid this summer and made it into the clear. The warm weather meant a great boom for many restaurants and businesses, and outdoor dining helped a semblance of normalcy return to their sales. MORE
Small Business Social Media Advertising Outdoor 78
MARC MENEAU – ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT CHEFS
There are chefs who have mastered the craft of cooking, chefs who have built a public brand that defines a region or exemplifies a cuisine; there are others who give to their community and as a result uplift those who call that community "home"; and there are those who push cooking in new and exciting directions. MORE
Back of House 2020 Café Fine Dining 361
Holiday Spirits from Around the World?
To brighten holidays celebrations this year, add some colorful and intriguing cocktails. Deborah Grossman. Cocktails with uplifting flavor combinations add holiday spirit to scaled down celebrations this year. MORE
Reservations 2015 2016 Design 130
Keys to Running a Successful Ghost Kitchen
How virtual restaurants can help keep the industry afloat — if done right. The past several months have proven to be a wildly transformative time for the restaurant industry, as many operators shift to an off-premise strategy, relying primarily on delivery and takeout orders, to remain open. MORE
2030 Delivery Uniforms Customer Experience 139
Marketplace Collection Laws Present Unique Challenges for the Restaurant Industry
The pandemic has changed the physical and economic environment in which restaurants operate. Although food delivery has long been popular for certain types of food, pandemic restrictions and consumer preferences hastened the expansion of food delivery for almost all food and meals. MORE
Presentation Restaurant Law Audits Coupons 150
The McDonald's Commercials That Live in Our Minds, Rent Free
The ads of the late 1970s and '80s were so a part of the culture that they didn't even feel like advertising Every year during the holidays from 1982 to 1991, McDonald's would air a commercial that, thanks to its consistency, has become as synonymous with Christmas as candy canes and reindeer. MORE
Advertising Back of House Education Book 102
MRM Research Roundup: Mid-December 2020 Edition
This edition of MRM Research Roundup features news that consumers plan to put restaurants at the top of their shopping lists, the latest stats for on premise and why the restaurant of the future is here now. Diners Show Holiday Spirit. MORE
2020 2021 Merchandise Travel 93
Top Chef's Stephanie Izard Apologizes After Culturally Appropriating a Korean Dish on Instagram
A photo posted Thursday using Izard's social media handle showed a "bibimbap" without any cultural context [link MORE
Social Media 2020 114
Restaurant Success Is Closer Than You Think
In 1979, a DC-10 Passenger Jet flew from New Zealand to Antarctica on a sightseeing excursion on Air New Zealand flight 901. This 8-hour flight would provide passengers an experience of a lifetime: a chance to see the bottom of the world. MORE
Coaching 2021 2020 Reservations 295
Simple Customer Retention Strategy for Restaurants
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. The coffee shop where the baristas seem happy to serve you. The bar where you always feel welcome after a long day's work. Or the restaurant that always delivers on-time and throws in some extras. MORE
Customer Service Customer Experience Email Marketing Loyalty Program 91
Content Creation Strategy – How to Capture One Month of Content with One Dish
Smack dab, in the middle of the Covid19 crisis, suddenly we've all realized just how valuable social media can be to sustaining and rebuilding our businesses. MORE
Seasonal Menu Social Media Article Download 155
What's Your Plan for LTO Menu Innovations?
Crunchtime
Menu innovations can bump store sales and help maintain brand freshness, but your LTO success requires tremendous operational preparedness. LTO menu innovation is always a hot trend in our industry - even during a pandemic. MORE
Seasonal Menu Innovation Menu Specials 78
3 Ideas for Chemical Free Dry Cleaning to Give You a Competitive Advantage
Today, the easiest way to stay ahead of the game is to be ahead in the game literally. This can be challenging to do with quickly advancing technology, digital marketing, and changing buyer behaviors. MORE
Franchise Franchising Coupons Technology 78
How Education is Perceived in the Service World
Next Restaurants
In our modern world, education is of fundamental importance. Those who hold a college degree, whether it's a bachelor's or master's, are typically held in higher esteem than those who don't. MORE
Education Customer Service BOH 2013 86
How The Snug Took Control of Labor and Evolved Their Restaurant
The Snug is a bar-forward restaurant in San Francisco serving modern California comfort food, cocktails & craft beer offered in chic, comfortable quarters. MORE
Back of House Front of House Point of Sale FOH 94
Going e-Commerce with Cheetah: An All in One Solution for Food Distributors
Reading Time: 3 minutes. First things first: Request a demo for your distribution business! E-Commerce emerged almost as soon as the internet went mainstream. But food distributors only entered the game in the last few years. MORE
Food Order Online Ordering Customer Experience Demo 78
5 Customer Outreach Strategies for Dry Cleaners
It might be 2020, but that doesn't mean we can't be a little old fashioned. Online advertising and cyber solutions might help get customers in the door, but you'll need tried-and-true human interaction to round out your customer outreach strategies for dry cleaners. MORE
Customer Experience Loyalty Program Tip Distribution Coupons 78
5 Steps to Solve Your Restaurant's Hidden Cost Problem
Sculpture Hospitality
The restaurant industry is fiercely competitive. As a restaurant owner, reducing your monthly expenditures and improving your bottom line is of paramount importance. Yet most restaurants are struggling with this challenge. MORE
Inventory Beverage Technology Food 96
Five Ways AI Cameras Will Help Your restaurant in 2021
Goliath Consulting
In our last restaurant technology blog, we discussed COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the growth and development of AI voice technology and how it was quickly modernizing the drive-thru operations as we know it (1). The very same technology has been working on cameras, too. MORE
2021 Food Order Food Safety Kitchen Safety 105
11 Effective Bar Marketing Ideas for Bars and Pubs
App Institute
There are many bar marketing ideas you can use to promote your bar or pub. These strategies can help with everything from attracting new customers to ensuring your existing ones keep coming back for more. In this article, we've gathered eleven of our favorite marketing ideas for bars and pubs. MORE
Bar Social Media Article Marketing 77
Instagram For Restaurants: How To Dominate A Competitive Niche
Instagram is an important part of any business's marketing strategy in 2021 , but you might be wondering how the social media platform can make an impact on your restaurant. In today's world, people are constantly Instagramming their food before they eat it, especially if it looks pretty. MORE
Social Media 2021 Presentation Outdoor 95
QSR Pandemic Messaging Focused on Empathy and Convenience Wins Consumer Engagement
QSR brands that quickly adapted television advertising campaigns with messaging to respond to the pandemic saw this strategy pay off with greater consumer engagement, according to EDO, an advertising insights and analytics company that specializes in search engagement. MORE
Fast Casual Casual Delivery Advertising 121
What Is The Turmeric Latte?
Perfect Daily Grind
In recent years, coffee shop customers have come to demand more from their beverages. MORE
Beverage Consumer Goods Definition Seasonal Menu 117
What We Lose When a Restaurant Closes
Prior to the pandemic, Porsena was always busy. Photo: Greg Ramsey courtesy of Porsena. MORE
2010 Audits 2016 Document 101
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Restrictions into Opportunities: How to Make Your Restaurant Succeed
Reader Survey 2021 Restaurateur Connection
Webinar Survey 2021 Restaurateur Connection
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2020 Restaurateur Connection MVP Awards
Restaurateur Connection is a collection of the leading industry thought leadership in the form of blogs, webinars, and downloadable resources, on one convenient website. We use reader data to auto-curate the articles, meaning that the most valuable resources move to the top. Additionally, you can sign up for our Daily or Weekly newsletters to receive these top-ranked articles right in your inbox, or you can sign up to be notified when new resources like webinars or ebooks are available.
Sat.Dec 12, 2020 - Fri.Dec 18, 2020
In our last restaurant technology blog, we discussed COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the growth and development of AI voice technology and how it was quickly modernizing the drive-thru operations as we know it (1). The very same technology has been working on cameras, too.
How virtual restaurants can help keep the industry afloat — if done right. The past several months have proven to be a wildly transformative time for the restaurant industry, as many operators shift to an off-premise strategy, relying primarily on delivery and takeout orders, to remain open.
The profitability and even the survival of low-margin and highly competitive businesses such as restaurants depend on rigorous cost-control – and a quality restaurant POS system is crucial in achieving this.
POS 88
There are chefs who have mastered the craft of cooking, chefs who have built a public brand that defines a region or exemplifies a cuisine; there are others who give to their community and as a result uplift those who call that community "home"; and there are those who push cooking in new and exciting directions.
Back of House 361
Can you believe we are in 2021? 2020 was a challenging year for restaurant professionals. Here at Restaurateur Connection, we have worked tirelessly to provide guidance and a sense of community for our readers. Restaurateur Connection's many thought-leaders eased the physical distance between us by sharing their wisdom and empathy. Our goal is that through our site, we helped make 2020 as rewarding as it was challenging. We would love for you to share your experience about how our site has affected your learning, and also your thoughts on how to make it better. The total time to complete the survey is 3-5 minutes. To view the survey, click the "View Now" button.
In 1979, a DC-10 Passenger Jet flew from New Zealand to Antarctica on a sightseeing excursion on Air New Zealand flight 901. This 8-hour flight would provide passengers an experience of a lifetime: a chance to see the bottom of the world.
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. The coffee shop where the baristas seem happy to serve you. The bar where you always feel welcome after a long day's work. Or the restaurant that always delivers on-time and throws in some extras.
To brighten holidays celebrations this year, add some colorful and intriguing cocktails. Deborah Grossman. Cocktails with uplifting flavor combinations add holiday spirit to scaled down celebrations this year.
Reservations 130
Sign up to get articles personalized to your interests!
Restaurateur Connection brings together the best content for restaurateur professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
There are a number of reasons why restaurants fail – some are predictable and avoidable, while others can catch a business off guard. None, however, are as devastatingly out of the operators control as this pandemic. Even the best operators are at a loss for solutions.
Uniforms 303
In this edition of MRM News Bites, we feature resources to help restaurants survive the winter weather and the learning how to improve bread-baking skills. Make it This Winter. US Foods Holding Corp.
Restaurant Law 110
The Snug is a bar-forward restaurant in San Francisco serving modern California comfort food, cocktails & craft beer offered in chic, comfortable quarters.
Back of House 94
It might be 2020, but that doesn't mean we can't be a little old fashioned. Online advertising and cyber solutions might help get customers in the door, but you'll need tried-and-true human interaction to round out your customer outreach strategies for dry cleaners.
Customer Experience 78
Speaker: Patrick Cottrell and Joe English
The restaurant industry has changed so dramatically in the pandemic era that it's time to redesign your business strategy. This requires us to take a look at our menus, inventory, staff, and even our seating strategy. Whether your state allows outdoor dining, takeout only, or a little bit of both, we're here to help. Join Patrick Cottrell and Joe English from Sculpture Hospitality, and fit your restaurant to thrive in face of pandemic restrictions.
If you are an owner, operator, or on the accounting side of your restaurant business, you've probably been hearing about the new 1099-NEC form for non-employee. This new form goes into effect with your 2020 tax year.
Audits 78
2020 has been a challenging year for restaurants and hospitality professionals to say the least. The good news is that with the recent announcement of three vaccine trials that are up to 95-percent effective, the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming more apparent.
Santa Barbara Chardonnay. California Chardonnay. Burgundy, France, is the benchmark for the finest expression of the Chardonnay grape. Top Burgundian vineyards, created over a thousand years ago by Cistercian monks. They keep their power and mystique to this day.
Vineyard 110
Instagram is an important part of any business's marketing strategy in 2021 , but you might be wondering how the social media platform can make an impact on your restaurant. In today's world, people are constantly Instagramming their food before they eat it, especially if it looks pretty.
Can you believe we are in 2021? 2020 has been a challenging year for restaurant professionals. Here at Restaurateur Connection, we have worked tirelessly to provide guidance and a sense of community for our readers. Restaurateur Connection's many thought-leaders eased the physical distance between us by sharing their wisdom and empathy. Our goal is that through our webinars, we helped make 2020 as rewarding as it was challenging. We would love for you to share your experience about how our webinars have affected your learning, and also your thoughts on how to make it better. The total time to complete the survey is 3-5 minutes. To view the survey, click the "View Now" button.
Reading Time: 3 minutes. First things first: Request a demo for your distribution business! E-Commerce emerged almost as soon as the internet went mainstream. But food distributors only entered the game in the last few years.
Food Order 78
The pandemic has changed the physical and economic environment in which restaurants operate. Although food delivery has long been popular for certain types of food, pandemic restrictions and consumer preferences hastened the expansion of food delivery for almost all food and meals.
Presentation 150
The restaurant industry is fiercely competitive. As a restaurant owner, reducing your monthly expenditures and improving your bottom line is of paramount importance. Yet most restaurants are struggling with this challenge.
Inventory 96
Starting a profitable blog or business is a lot to manage on its own, but promoting it can be just as much work! Instagram is one of the most popular platforms for influencers and bloggers, with the majority reporting it as being their most-used.
In recent years, coffee shop customers have come to demand more from their beverages.
Beverage 117
Smack dab, in the middle of the Covid19 crisis, suddenly we've all realized just how valuable social media can be to sustaining and rebuilding our businesses.
Seasonal Menu 155
A handful of new Jewish-leaning delis and restaurants harken back to Condesa's roots as the Jewish heart of CDMX On the first floor of a two-story house along Mexico City's plush Avenida Amsterdam sits Merkava: Hummus and Jerusalem Kitchen.
With 36 percent of all households renting in 2020, the emphasis on finding qualified property managers has never been higher. WHAT WE'LL COVER: Chapter 1: What Is a Property Manager? Chapter 2: What Are the Responsibilities of Property Managers? Chapter 3: Types of Property Managers.
Website Management 56
For many, it seemed like we rounded the curve of Covid this summer and made it into the clear. The warm weather meant a great boom for many restaurants and businesses, and outdoor dining helped a semblance of normalcy return to their sales.
Small Business 78
Artificial intelligence (AI) is something most of us encounter in our everyday lives without even realizing it. Social networks, mobile banking apps, chatbots, robo-readers, connected devices and even ride-sharing apps are all powered in one way or another by AI technology.
The ads of the late 1970s and '80s were so a part of the culture that they didn't even feel like advertising Every year during the holidays from 1982 to 1991, McDonald's would air a commercial that, thanks to its consistency, has become as synonymous with Christmas as candy canes and reindeer.
In our modern world, education is of fundamental importance. Those who hold a college degree, whether it's a bachelor's or master's, are typically held in higher esteem than those who don't.
The restaurant delivery business has grown enormously in recent years, and it shows no signs of fading. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, roughly half of all consumers have ordered delivery from a restaurant, and delivery sales have increased by 120 percent.
This edition of MRM Research Roundup features news that consumers plan to put restaurants at the top of their shopping lists, the latest stats for on premise and why the restaurant of the future is here now. Diners Show Holiday Spirit.
A photo posted Thursday using Izard's social media handle showed a "bibimbap" without any cultural context [link
Menu innovations can bump store sales and help maintain brand freshness, but your LTO success requires tremendous operational preparedness. LTO menu innovation is always a hot trend in our industry - even during a pandemic.
Seasonal Menu 78
There are many bar marketing ideas you can use to promote your bar or pub. These strategies can help with everything from attracting new customers to ensuring your existing ones keep coming back for more. In this article, we've gathered eleven of our favorite marketing ideas for bars and pubs.
QSR brands that quickly adapted television advertising campaigns with messaging to respond to the pandemic saw this strategy pay off with greater consumer engagement, according to EDO, an advertising insights and analytics company that specializes in search engagement.
Fast Casual 121
Prior to the pandemic, Porsena was always busy. Photo: Greg Ramsey courtesy of Porsena.
Today, the easiest way to stay ahead of the game is to be ahead in the game literally. This can be challenging to do with quickly advancing technology, digital marketing, and changing buyer behaviors.
Franchise 78


For white-sand seashores, salty breezes, freshly caught seafood, and no crowds, head to one of the world's best secret islands. "So it's severe news that Turin will likely be considered one of two principal lecturers at The Secret of Scent, a three-day residential course in Luberon, hosted from October 20 to 24 by Science & Trip, an organization that specialises in luxurious learning with a scientific bent.
I've a particularly hospitable cousin within the better Chicagoland area, for example, and she or he completely insisted a number of times that we spend several days within the Chicago space, the place she took care of almost all of our meals and our housing for us. That is an enormous discount and it allowed us to have a a lot smaller trip budget and to give attention to a handful of experiences we really wanted to have (like visiting the Artwork Institute).
His advisers would have known that a number of the Trudeau family's vacation plans had been ethically questionable and legally problematic, as they involved accepting luxurious travel advantages from the Aga Khan, a household pal of Mr. Trudeau's who also occurs to go a charitable group registered to foyer the federal government, and which has received tons of of hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from it.
Hidden away on 6 personal acres, Wildflower Cottage is ideal for a romantic getaway or to put your head after an awesome day's activity of climbing, biking, swimming or just meandering the sweeping roads and sleepy towns alongside the Sunshine Coast.
Just a few days in the past, while listening to an old podcast of Clark Howard's radio show, he was discussing holidays and mentioned, Purchase the deal, then determine why you wish to go there." I realized instantly that, to an extent, we did precisely what he was talking about.


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Walter E. Balcerski
Obituary of Walter E. Balcerski
Please share a memory of Walter to include in a keepsake book for family and friends.
Walter E. Balcerski died Friday, February 4, 2022, at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick after a sudden, brief illness. He was 73.
Born in New Brunswick to the late Louis J. and Anna (Kozielec) Balcerski, he lived in North Brunswick for most of his life. After graduation from high school he was accepted to Seton Hall University. He felt it was more important to enter the United States Navy, where he served for four years. After serving, he joined the United States Postal Service in North Brunswick as a mail carrier. In 2008 Walter retired, after 32 years, to care for his mother.
Walter was a devoted uncle and brother. He could be found with his golf clubs on the green or with his fishing gear down the beach. Spending time in his cottage at Duck, North Carolina was his second pleaser.
Surviving are two sisters – Joanne von Bischoffshausen of North Brunswick and Ann Louise Winkler and her husband Robert of North Brunswick; nieces and nephews – Michael and Susanne Winkler, Laraine and Michael Rizk, Jill and Daniel Cenzano and Joelle von Bischoffshausen and her husband Stephen Bailer; and great nieces and nephews – Bryan Winkler, Carolina Winkler, Jackson Parker Rizk, Robert Winkler, Amelia Cenzano and Reagan Cenzano.
Visitation will be 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM Thursday, February 10, 2022, at Selover Funeral Home, 555 Georges Road, North Brunswick with a funeral service to be held at 6:00 PM at Selover Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Homeless Veterans Fund, c/o VFW Post #370, 1301 Blossom Circle, Dayton, NJ 08810.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Vedika Jain
I'm joining Weekend Fund
Let me tell you why.
In December last year, while working at my day job as a Product Manager at TrueLayer, I spent nights and weekends writing "fantasy" investment memos on startups. I sourced my fantasy "deal-flow" from funding announcements tech media, VC fund portfolio pages, and investors that I respect on Twitter. If a startup that looked interesting got funded, I would write down what I liked/disliked about the company and why I would invest/not invest. The memos covered details about the team, product, market and risks.
The idea was to "reverse engineer" startups investments, even though I didn't have the capital to deploy myself. As with most careers, employers often look for previous experience, so I "hired myself" and started dressing for a future job in venture capital by doing the work I wanted to do.
One of my favorite nights and weekends work spots: fast WiFi, comfy couches, and good vibes
Over a few months of writing memos, I started to build up my investor instincts (or at least my memos started to suck less). Of course, I'm aware that I didn't "see" these deals, "pick" the deals, or have to convince the founders to take my money, all of which is the hard part of investing in startups. I loved my fake it till you make it version of startup investing wanted to do less of faking it, more actually doing it.
A few months in, my friend Harry Stebbings (I am grateful for you, Harry) introduced me to Ryan Hoover as he was searching for a Weekend Fund Chief of Staff. Ryan started Weekend Fund in 2017, shortly after AngelList's acquisition of Product Hunt. He continues to lead Product Hunt and spends his nights and weekends investing in early stage companies. Sound familiar? 😉
Why I'm excited to work with the Weekend Fund
I'm excited to work with founders building for the future. Weekend Fund invests in startups that have a unique perspective about the future they're trying to build. Our investments include a startup building a social network on top of AirPods to a "no code" tool for creating advanced voice applications.
I'm excited to learn more about platform or behaviour shifts in technology. Weekend Fund's focus is to invest in companies that are capitalizing on these shifts early (ex. Instagram hit the market just as their smartphones and their poor quality cameras went mainstream). Audio/voice, remote/distributed teams, and synthetic media are a few areas we're active following.
I'm excited to learn from and with Ryan. He has built a strong reputation by helping thousands of founders around the world over the years. When Ryan announced the fund in 2017, Kerry at Mashable wrote an article titled, Silicon Valley nice guy Ryan Hoover has a new side hustle. Founders respect, trust and love working with him. So have I in the last month.
Weekend Fund isn't your typical VC fund. We don't have Monday partner meetings to attend before we get back to founders. We're quick (yet thorough) with due diligence. We are here to help founders, particularly when it comes to product, community building, press and fundraising. It's Ryan and me for now, and we have a lot of ground to cover.
What I'll be working on at the Weekend Fund
Finding, researching and evaluating the best investment opportunities
Setting up the Weekend Fund Advisor Community to offer on-demand problem solving to companies as they make their way towards product-market fit. More on this coming soon!
Supporting Weekend Fund portfolio companies as they grow their business (here are some of the companies we are lucky to work with)
Scaling the support we provide portfolio companies as they grow beyond Ryan, me, and our networks
Helping with fund operations, administrative housecleaning and scheduling meetings
A little bit more about me
I grew up in Bangalore, India. My parents run a family business, and did their best to teach us that "starting real businesses selling real products/services causes real improvements in real lives"
I am lucky to have a day job working as a product manager at Truelayer. We do the necessary work of building financial infrastructure for small startups to the world's biggest technology companies. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and I'm excited to keep doing it with an amazing team — together. I remain committed in my work at TrueLayer as ever.
I was also lucky to have spent time at companies like Stripe during periods of explosive growth and funds like like Mithril Capital (college internship) and Kalaari Capital (during a "gap year" in India) on the investing side.
I spend my days learning about what it takes to build, launch and sell successful technology products, and try to make the best of the 30,000 or so days allocated to me.
Where do I live?
I live in London and the Weekend Fund mostly lives on the internet.
Lastly, here's a photo of me out in the world:
I work for Weekend Fund. We back your next favorite thing. If you're interested in partnering with us, feel free to email me at vedika@weekend.fund.
See you on the internet, and thank you for reading!
Weekend Fund
Thanks Ryan for giving me an opportunity to do work I love at the Weekend Fund and for reading drafts of this.
Thanks Harry for the introduction to Ryan and for looking out for the best opportunities for me.
Thank you to Francesco, our CEO at TrueLayer, for supporting my side and weekends hustle.
Thank you Varadh for reading every one of "fantasy" investment memos, for reading drafts of this and introducing me to Harry.
Ryan Hoover
Hackernoon
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Investing at Weekend Fund. Previously @TrueLayer @Stripe @Kalaari Capital | UC Berkeley
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Ten Finless Porpoises Appear in Yangtze
An endangered Yangtze finless porpoise is seen in the river on Aug 16. [Photo by Zhao Zhijie/For China Daily]
A group of highly endangered Yangtze finless porpoises was recently seen in the Yangtze River in the area of Wuhan, Hubei province, which an expert says may be a result of less interference from human activities or an increase in food availability.
A group, or pod, of about 10 porpoises appeared some eight months after the country initiated a 10-year ban on fishing in the river at the beginning of the year.
The rare appearance was recorded in a short video by a local resident and soon attracted attention online.
The finless porpoise and the Baiji dolphin, or Yangtze River dolphin, both members of the cetacea family and the only two aquatic mammals in the river, were designated as "critically endangered" and placed on the red list of threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2013.
Among the very few porpoise species, the Yangtze finless porpoise is the only one that lives in freshwater, according to Zhang Xianfeng, an aquatic wildlife researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its small size and cute "smile" make it a much-loved animal in China and beyond.
"Rising water levels during the flood season and the fishing ban may both contribute to this rare animal's appearance, given that sandbanks are covered by water and more water plants are available for fish. Without interruption from human activities, the finless porpoise might be more active," Zhang said.
He said it's a good thing that the public has become more aware about the urgency of saving the finless porpoise and protecting the Yangtze ecosystem. However, the appearance of the pod of porpoises cannot necessarily be seen as a sign that the population is increasing.
"Its total remaining population, around 1,000, is very limited, which has severely affected its reproduction rate. It is estimated only about one out of three in the population is able to reproduce offspring. In such a long river like the Yangtze, the chances for them to have babies are very slim," he explained.
The finless porpoise is widely believed to be an important indicator of the health of the Yangtze, which stretches over 6,300 kilometers and includes rich and complex terrains and climates along its basin, giving it one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world.
Over the past 40 years, the porpoise's number has declined dramatically due to many factors, such as climate change and habitat loss, according to Zhang Xinqiao, senior program manager of the World Wide Fund for Nature in China.
Scientific research on the species released by the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs in 2018 shows that its population was just 1,012-fewer than the giant panda.
However, he said the population has shown some stability in recent years thanks to joint protection from government organs, research institutes and other social organizations.
To preserve biodiversity along the Yangtze, China started a 10-year fishing moratorium in 332 natural reserves, extended along the river's entire primary course, its major tributaries and lakes linked to the river, protecting not only the finless porpoise but also more than 4,300 kinds of aquatic life living in the Yangtze River Basin.
"The fishing ban is crucial to ecological restoration of the whole river basin. Usually, it takes three to five years for fish to produce a new generation. A 10-year fishing ban means two to three generations of fish will be produced, which will significantly expand the finless porpoise's food supply," Zhang Xinqiao said.
Also, he said the fishing ban removes the threat to the porpoise from tools used in fishing.
"But the effect of the fishing ban, supported by scientific monitoring data of aquatic resources, will be known only after three to five years," he said. (China Daily)
Artificially Bred Male Finless Porpoise Turns Two
A male finless porpoise "E'bo", artificially bred by IHB, celebrated its second birthday on Tuesday, equivalent to less than ten years old in humans.
Breeding Project of Endangered Porpoise Sees Success
The world's first captive-bred Yangtze finless porpoise to have a parent that was also born in captivity reached four months old this week, marking a breakthrough in the research on artificial breeding technologies of the endangered species.


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Climate Fund 'Transforms Economies From Brown to Green'
Workers who helped install Mongolia's largest solar energy farm in the Sumber Soum area of the country's Govisümber province with a few of the solar panels they put in place. The solar facility began generating power on January 28, 2019. (Photo courtesy Green Climate Fund) Posted for media use.
SONGDO, Incheon, South Korea, January 31, 2019 (Maximpact.com News) – An emerging "super grid" of renewable energy is beginning to stretch across the Asian region, linking Mongolia, China, Japan and South Korea; and it is relying on the Green Climate Fund for the money to make it happen.
The Green Climate Fund, established within the framework of the UNFCCC, was founded by 195 countries in 2010. It is the first international fund under the United Nations with the goal of supporting countries in the global South build clean energy, climate resilient economies to counter climate change.
Javier Manzanares of Argentina is Interim Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund. (Photo courtesy Northwestern University) Posted for media use.
"We facilitate climate action and the transformation of economies from brown to green," said Javier Manzanares, the GCF's interim executive director. "In the area of mitigation, much of the energy generation we work with is through renewables. We also branch into other areas that combine elements of both resilient economies and mitigation of emissions."
Controversial from the first, the Green Climate Fund is supposed to take in US$100 billion a year by 2020 from developed countries and the private sector for investment to help developing countries meet their climate change needs.
By comparison the Green Climate Fund has been promised about a tenth of that sum – US$10.3 billion over its first four years of operation from 2014 – mostly from developed countries. It has a current portfolio of 93 approved projects, worth a total US$4.6 billion in investment.
The GCF can provide funds in the form of grants, concessional loans, equity investments and guarantees. The GCF partners with other institutions to run and manage activities, rather than funding projects directly. These
partners are known as "accredited entities" because they undergo an accreditation process that is supposed to test their ability to manage funds, implement projects and apply safeguards.
The GCF has so far accredited 75 entities, including several Multilateral Development Banks, UN agencies, developed country bilateral aid agencies, regional and national environment centers, national ministries, three large international commercial banks, a private social impact investment fund and an international non-governmental organization.
The accreditation of Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Crédit Agricole caused immediate controversy. These are among the world's largest private financiers of coal, and have been implicated in human rights violations and market manipulations.
Most, but not all, of the Green Climate Fund's investments have gone to renewable energy projects, although the GCF has refused to impose an explicit ban on fossil fuel projects.
In Mongolia, January 28 was marked by the start-up of a new solar generating facility in the Sumber Soum area of the country's southern Govisümber province.
In a financing partnership with the Green Climate Fund, Mongolia's XacBank is now the country's first private bank to fund the completion of a large-scale solar plant.
The widespread use of coal in Mongolia's factories and homes led the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to declare an "air pollution crisis" in the country at the beginning of last year.
The government's plan to expand its use of renewables, including solar and wind power, is designed to wean the country from its current reliance on coal for most of its energy needs.
The 10 MWh solar photovoltaic plant, built with a total investment of US$17.6 million, is forecast to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,270 tons annually, while at the same time providing 15,395 MWh of electricity every year.
GCF alleviated the financial risk through a long-term, concessional loan of US$8.7 million.
Dr. Zamba Batjargal, formerly with the Environment Ministry of Mongolia, and now the government's liaison with GCF, said this project aligns closely with the country's Green Development Policy, approved by the national parliament in 2014.
The policy sets a renewable energy target of installed power capacity in Mongolia of 20 by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030.
"The Sumber solar power plant is the first successful project jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism with XacBank, based on strong GCF support," Dr. Batjargal said during the official opening ceremony for the solar plant in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. "This project will contribute significantly to Mongolia's efforts to upgrade its emissions reduction targets."
The start of the solar power plant operations comes as the Green Climate Fund implements a growing number of climate finance initiatives around the world.
GCF Backs Indonesia's Geothermal Gold Mine
The Green Climate Fund supports Indonesia's energy transition by removing some of the risk of geothermal development.
Indonesia's geothermal potential is estimated to be 29 gigawatts, which is about 40 percent of the world's known reserves. Despite this potential, the country relies heavily on fossil fuel to meet its electricity demand.
A key barrier to geothermal development in the country has been the limited availability of suitable financing instruments and options that adequately address the early stage exploration risk taken by geothermal developers with the uncertainty of finding geothermal resources.
At its 21st meeting in Bahrain, the GCF Board approved the first tranche of US$100 million out of the US$185 million requested from GCF to finance public and private sector geothermal development in Indonesia.
The first tranche of the GCF multi-year support facility will mobilize US$410 million with contributions from the World Bank, the Government of Indonesia and private sector developers to achieve 600 MW to 900 MW of additional geothermal capacity.
The full project facility will mobilize US$760 million to support exploration and resource confirmation for one GW to 1.5 GW of geothermal energy. This translates to 187-281 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent mitigated over the lifetime of the generating geothermal assets.
GCF is providing a package consisting of a senior concessional loan for public sector projects, a reimbursable grant for private sector projects, and a grant for technical assistance.
A key innovation in the financing package is the use of convertible bonds that will enable private sector geothermal sponsors to mitigate the exploration risk while providing an adequate upside in case of success.
It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the global geothermal capacity has been tapped so far, mainly because early stage exploration risks in geothermal development is a barrier that needs to be addressed with the right calibration of financing packages.
Pierre Telep, renewable energy senior specialist at GCF, said that "convertible bonds facilities are promising … because of their nonrecourse features that follow the value of the developer and provide the adequate premium in case of success."
The Indonesian geothermal project is at the heart of Indonesia's energy transition drive. It promises to improve the country's share of renewables, which currently accounts for 12.5 percent of the country's electricity generation.
The project will support the government's goal of increasing the share of renewables in the electricity generation mix to 23 percent by 2027 and geothermal energy is expected to contribute seven percentage points of the 23 percent.
German Velasquez, Director for the Division of Mitigation and Adaptation at GCF, said "this project emphasises the Fund's commitment to low-carbon climate resilient investments and represents a clear climate mitigation delivery pathway that will assist the Government of Indonesia achieve its emissions reduction targets."
Latin America Gets GCF Help
The Green Climate Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recently signed funding agreements which will enable the GCF channel climate finance to four projects in Latin America.
The following projects are now ready to be implemented by the IDB:
GCF will provide a US$20 million loan to the National Development Bank of El Salvador, which will help open a credit line to fund energy efficiency projects for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in El Salvador.
In Guatemala and Mexico, GCF and the IDB will set up a risk-sharing facility that will unlock innovative financial instruments for micro, small and medium enterprises in the agricultural sector.
To support SMEs in Paraguay and help them increase energy efficiency, GCF will provide US$23 million in concessional financing. GCF will also assist the local government in developing the policy and regulatory framework to incentivize further energy efficiency investments in Paraguay.
A GCF loan of US$100 million will support SMEs in Argentina investing in sustainable energy technologies, namely biomass, biogas, and energy efficiency. A separate grant will also help strengthen the capacities of financial institutions, SMEs and energy, and technology providers.
"Increasing energy efficiency is at the very core of sustainable energy transition. Our partnership with IDB will enable small businesses in Latin America to access finance for energy efficiency projects, which are often perceived as too risky for SMEs," said Andreas Biermann, deputy director at the Division of Mitigation and Adaptation of GCF.
"We are confident that these projects will build trust in the market and help attract further private sector investments," Biermann said.
Amal-Lee Amin, chief of the Climate Change and Sustainability Division at IDB, said, "We are delighted that following the signing of these four Funding Activity Agreements with the Green Climate Fund we can start to execute these projects that will help promote energy efficiency in El Salvador and Paraguay, increase finance for renewable energy and energy efficiency in Argentina, and support low carbon agriculture in Guatemala and Mexico."
Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the core priority regions for the Green Climate Fund. To date, GCF has approved 18 projects in 22 countries in the region, with a total GCF investment of US$822 million.
At its latest Board meeting in October 2018, the Green Climate Fund approved over US$1 billion of new renewable energy and water projects and programs to support climate action in developing countries, and formally launched the Fund's first replenishment drive, which continues today.
GCF Interim Executive Director Manzanares said, "With a rapidly growing portfolio, accelerating implementation on the ground, and a pipeline of US$17 billion showing huge demand, GCF is now entering its first replenishment ready to step up its support of developing countries' climate action."
Featured Image: Steam and brine gathering system test of the Sarulla Geothermal Project in Tapanuli Utara, Indonesia. September 24, 2016 (Photo by Mike Krahmer / Geothermal Resources Council) Creative Commons license via Flickr.
climate Climate change El Salvador energy efficiency geothermal Green Climate Fund Guatemala Indonesia Inter-American Development Bank Mexico Mongolia Paraguay renwable energy Solar XacBank
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Bai Qi 白起 (d. 257 BCE) was a general of the state of Qin 秦 during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent-221 BCE) who was famous for his cruelty.
He was also called "Ducal Grandson" Gongsun Qi 公孫起 because he was related to the house of Qin. Bai Qi was appointed to the position of Right Militia General (you shuzhang 右庶長) after he had been recommended to King Zhaoxiang 秦昭襄王 (r. 306-251) by Counsellor-in-chief Wei Ran 魏冉, and was granted the twelfth grade of nobility (zuogeng 左更).
In 293 he defeated the armies of Han 韓 and Wei 魏 at Qique 伊闕 (modern Longmen 龍門 southeast of Luoyang) where he had 240,000 troops of the enemy massacred. For this victory he was promoted to Defendor-in-chief (guowei 國尉), and shortly after to supreme commander (daliangzao 大良造). In 278 he attacked the state of Chu 楚 and was able to conquer the city of Yan 鄢, a year later he took the capital of Chu, Ying 郢. King Zhaoxiang thereupon gave him the title of Lord of Wu'an 武安君.
In 272 his troops defeated the joint armies of Zhao 趙 and Wei at Huayang 華陽 (south of modern Zhengzhou 鄭州, Henan), where he again had massacred submitting soldiers, this time numbering 150,000. He ordered a third large massacre of submitting soldiers in 259 after the battle of Changping 長平 (northwest of modern Gaoping 高平, Shanxi) where he had defeated the army of Zhao, this time burying alive more than 400,000 troops.
After this battle he suggested leading the Qin army directly into the heart of Zhao to destroy that state. But at the court Fan Ju 范雎, envious of Bai Qi's successes, persuaded the king to adopt a softer stance. Zhao had to cede territory and was forced to demobilize its army. Two years later the army of Qin suffered defeat during the siege of Handan 邯鄲, the capital of Zhao. Bai Qi, who felt hurt because of Fan Ju's intervention at the court, refused to take over the siege. If the former victory had been used directly to destroy Zhao, he argued, the actual defeat would not have been possible. He feigned sickness instead of offering his serve.
Fan Ju, highly estimated by the king at that time, suggested demoting Bai Qi to a common soldier and to summon him to the court. On his way to the capital Bai Qi committed suicide at Duyou 杜郵.
Ge Zhiyi 葛志毅 (1992). "Bai Qi 白起", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 19.
Huang Banghe 黃邦和, Pi Mingxiu 皮明庥, ed. (1987). Zhong-wai lishi renwu cidian 中外歷史人物詞典 (Changcha: Hunan renmin chubanshe), 79.
Ji Qianyun 冀遷運, Zhu Zhenghao 朱正浩, ed. (1996). Shaanxi gudai renming cidian 陜西古代名人辭典 (Xi'an: Shaanxi renmin chubanshe), 7.
Li Shuping 李淑萍 (2000). "Bai Qi 白起", in Zhonghua Qin wenhua cidian bianweihui 《中華秦文化辭典》編委會, ed. Zhonghua Qin wenhua cidian 中華秦文化辭典 (Xi'an: Xibei daxue chubanshe), 144.
Li Zhengfu 李正夫 (1993). "Bai Qi 白起", in Shi Quanchang 石泉長, ed. Zhonghua baike yaolan 中華百科要覽 (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), 286.
Wei Wei 魏崴 (1996). "Bai Qi 白起", in Junshi kexue yuan baike yanjiu bu 軍事科學院軍事百科研究部, ed. Junshi renwu baike quanshu 軍事人物百科全書 (Beijing: Zhonggong zhongyang dangxiao chubanshe), 8.
Yang Qingwang 楊慶旺, Ha Hua 哈鏵, ed. (1987). Zhongguo junshi zhishi cidian 中國軍事知識辭典 (Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe), 204.
Yang Shengnan 楊升南 (1992). "Changping zhi zhan 長平之戰", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 77.
Yi Xingguo 衣興國, ed. (1988). Shiyong Zhongguo mingren cidian 實用中國名人辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 86.
Yuan Mingren 袁明仁 et al., ed. (1992). Sanqin lishi wenhua cidian 三秦歷史文化辭典 (Xi'an: Shaanxi renmin jiaoyu chubanshe), 426.
Zhang Lirong 張麗榮 (1998). "Bai Qi 白起", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Junshi 軍事 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo baike da cidian chubanshe), Vol. 1, 26.
Zou Yuanchu 鄒元初, ed. (1996). Zhongguo gudai jiangshuai yaolu 中國古代將帥要錄 (Beijing: Haichao chubanshe), 10.


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On Friday June 30th Roger Dubuis dared to race in Tokyo with the perfect racing partner timepieces – Excalibur Spider Pirelli and a brand new innovation Excalibur Cobalt Chrome. Get a glimpse of the opening celebration together with Roger Dubuis.
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Home » The first year as First Minister
The first year as First Minister
On 19 November 2014 I was privileged to stand up in the Scottish Parliament and accept the nomination to become First Minister of Scotland.
At that time, I said my intention was to be a First Minister for all of Scotland – regardless of politics or point of view – and to work tirelessly to build a more prosperous, fairer and better society.
Twelve months on, my passion to deliver that fairer society is undiminished and I am proud that the Scottish Government has been able to build the strong foundations that will allow us in the months and years to come to make a difference in areas such as educational attainment, fair work, gender balance and childcare.
I knew that making progress in these absolutely critical areas was not going to be easy – especially given the extremely difficult financial backdrop that we face in Scotland. But I remain absolutely committed to removing the barriers that can stop young people achieving their potential.
That is why I have put closing the education attainment gap at the forefront of my priorities. I have acknowledged that this challenge would be difficult, but I believe we are now set to make progress.
Central to that will be a new national improvement framework to provide consistent evidence to allow us to judge what is working. This will be backed by the £100m Attainment Challenge, launched in February that is already providing funding to schools in the most deprived areas to find innovative new ways of teaching.
Of course, it is not just deprivation that can hold young people back. In my First Minister acceptance speech, I said I wanted to nurture the ambitions of girls and women in Scotland. I hope my efforts over the past year have provided some encouragement to them and, that more importantly, my government has provided some help.
Practical steps, like compelling public authorities with 20 employees or more to publish pay scales will help bring attention to the continuing scandal of the gender pay gap, and I hope that my 50/50 by 2020 pledge will begin to redress the imbalance that still exists at the top level of businesses and other sectors.
These are specific actions I have taken to address gender inequality, but one of the most important policies will also bring a huge benefit to women in Scotland. Too often, women find it difficult to re-enter the jobs market after maternity leave. That's not just a tragedy for those individuals; it's a real waste of talent. That is why I was extremely proud that, this year, we were able to expand our free childcare policy to 600 hours for two year olds from low-income households. This means 20,000 two-year-olds across Scotland are now eligible and many more people will find it easier to get back to work.
That is a considerable achievement, but it's just the start. In February I was able to confirm that – over the lifetime of the next parliament – funding for this policy will double, from £439m this year to around £880m.
All of this will remove barriers to people entering the workforce. But it's important that when people do get jobs, that they are treated fairly and paid a decent wage. We'll have less success encouraging people back into work if the conditions or contracts are bad, the wages are poor or the progression opportunities are limited.
Over the past year, the economic debate in this country has been completely transformed. I am proud to think I have played my part. Yes, there is – rightly – still the strongest focus on investment, jobs, and innovation, but increasingly we are also interested in the quality of that work. When I came to office, there were around 30 living wage accredited employers in Scotland. Today, they number more than 380 and 81 per cent of the Scottish workforce are paid at least the living wage – the highest proportion in the UK.
The living wage is a crucial component of the Scottish Business Pledge I launched in May. This new partnership is based on inclusive growth – the notion that fair working practices, like the living wage, ending exploitative zero hours contracts and a balanced workforce increases productivity and helps businesses succeed.
Making sure we have health services that people can rely on is also essential to a strong economy and a fair society. That's why the last year has seen a renewed focus on transforming primary care and continued progress on integrating health and social care.
On that day in November 2014, when I accepted the nomination to be First Minister I pledged that my government would be bold, imaginative and adventurous, a government with purpose.
The work that has been delivered in the months since is an excellent start on those aims, a strong foundation on which to deliver further progress for the people of Scotland.
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The Scottish Government has lodged a Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) with the Scottish Parliament, recommending that consent cannot be given to the UK Government's "inadequate and damaging" Brexit deal with the EU. More information: gov.scot/news/brexit-de… pic.twitter.com/aF6hfFmDqX
First Minister @NicolaSturgeon has addressed the Zero Carbon Forum and committed to working with our European partners to fight climate change. We are delighted that Mayor @AnneHidalgo signed the Edinburgh Declaration on biodiversity this week, on behalf of the city of Paris. pic.twitter.com/V87NNkLQ2V
We have a winner! Sophie Blackett, Age 10 from Calderwood, East Kilbride has designed the First Minister's 2020 Christmas card.🎄📨 Well done Sophie and thank you to everyone who took part, we had almost 700 fantastic entries.🌟 Sophie's design along with the message inside⬇ twitter.com/ScotGovFM/stat… pic.twitter.com/EjBNmEaPk4
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First Minister @NicolaSturgeon has met staff co-ordinating the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh. The hospital is one of 23 centres where priority groups will be vaccinated against coronavirus. Read more ➡ bit.ly/36OawE6 pic.twitter.com/pH0jRSvGgD
The First Minister @NicolaSturgeon delivered a speech at the @USChamber Space Summit, and underlined that Scotland is keen to work with partners around the world on a what is a priority area for inward investment. twitter.com/USChamber/stat…
Entries can be scanned and emailed to firstminister@gov.scot with the subject heading 'Christmas Card Competition' 🖥 Or posted to St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG marked 'Christmas Card Competition' ✉ Good luck! 🤞
Then make sure they enter before midnight on Monday November 30. ⏰ Pictures should be no larger than A3 and drawn in pen/pencil/crayon/paint only. No stickers or glued on pieces please. ✏🖍🖌🎨
The First Minister is looking for a picture that represents kindness to use for her Christmas card this year.🎄📨 Do you know a young person under the age of 16 who can present the perfect festive picture to wrap up 2020? 🎁🎀
The original artwork for the First Minister's 2019 Christmas card will go to auction on Friday 27 November, Lot 870: bit.ly/361HnoO twitter.com/ScotGovFM/stat…
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Chapel Hill - Six hundred people came out Monday, January 20, for a march and rally in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's dedication to radical social change. The Chapel Hill/Carrboro NAACP, in coalition with more than thirty other organizations, organized this year's march to mark recent gains by the UNC Housekeepers Association and the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Black Public Works Association. According to long-time Chapel Hill activist Joe Straley, this was the largest such event the town had ever seen.
The size of the march reflected two months of dedicated coalition work. The NAACP, the BPWA, and the HKA worked with the Carolina Socialist Forum, the Coalition for Economic Justice, the Lesbian Avengers, the Feminist Alliance and other groups to build a coalition to plan the celebration. Organizers sent over 800 letters and flyers asking community and work place organizations, churches, and campus groups to spread the word and to join the march. They spoke before congregations, on the radio, and local cable access television, and passed out thousands of flyers advertising the event.
The day before the march, Carolina Socialist Forum began the celebration with a panel discussion entitled Civil Rights for the 1990s: A Call for Economic Justice. Dr. Gerald Horne, director of the Black Cultural Center, began the forum with an historical view of the relationship between racism and economic exploitation in the United States. Lesbian feminist activist Mab Segrest followed by pointing out the need for a global perspective on social inequality in the present period. Lizbeth Melendez, who is helping Guatemalan poultry workers organize a union in Morganton NC, concluded with a local view of the relationship between racial justice and the union movement. All three speakers stressed the centrality of economic justice in civil rights struggles for people of color, women, lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals, and other targets of discrimination.
Martin Luther King Day began with a rally on the steps of the Chapel Hill post office. Dave Lippman warmed up the crowd with songs, and the Internationalist Bookstore displayed a selection of books on Dr. King and the civil rights movement. As the crowd grew from 50 to 75 to 150 people, Hank Anderson of the NAACP called them closer for a series of speeches.
Speakers included Joe Straley, John Herrera, Gerald Horne, and other Chapel Hill activists. Alley Murphey brought greetings from the Housekeepers Association at Eastern Carolina University, and Chris Smith of the UNC Housekeepers read a poem. By the time Ange-Marie Hancock of the Feminist Alliance and the Coalition for Economic Justice introduced the chants for the march, the crowd had grown to 400.
The march began with a short walk to Silent Sam, a confederate war memorial on the UNC campus. There NAACP president Fred Battle and Yonnie Chapman of the Internationalist Bookstore spoke of the need to acknowledge the history of racism at UNC. Silent Sam, they explained, represents the hypocrisy of a university fabled for its liberalism where many of the campus buildings are named for slave owners. One hall, Saunders, is even named for the founder of North Carolina's Ku Klux Klan. Chapman suggested that one way to rectify UNC's racist past would be to replace Silent Sam with a monument to the black workers who had built and maintained the University for 200 years. UNC student Courtney Scott then led the crowd in the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
The crowd, which had grown to 600 strong, marched down Franklin Street chanting "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Racist Silence Has Got to Go" and "Tear Down Sam, Tear Down Greed, Workers Rights Are What We Need." Banners demonstrated the participation of Chapel Hill High School students, the NC State Employees' Association, graduate students in the UNC Math Department, the Feminist Alliance, the Lesbian Avengers, and of course, the UNC Housekeepers. To the words of "We Shall Not Be Moved," and other songs and chants, marchers made their way to a closing service at the First Baptist Church.
At First Baptist, reverends Gene Hatley, Marie Mann, and Larry Jones, and Gloria Brooks of the NAACP welcomed the marchers and members of the congregation. Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf greeted the crowd, R.D. Smith of South Orange Black Caucus spoke of the need for educational reform, and BPWA president Steve England provided observations on his organizations achievement of higher wages for the towns workers. Perhaps the most inspiring presentations came from young people. Joel and Teal McCauley read beautiful poems, and a horn quartet played several songs. Throughout the service, the Hickory Grove Inspirational Singers provided musical background and interludes.
The service culminated with a key note address by Ajamu Dillahunt of the Postal Workers' Union and Black Workers for Justice [see selections this page]. A fitting end to a day celebrating the struggle for racial and economic justice, Dillahunt's speech stressed the importance of acknowledging Dr. King's increasing radicalism in the last years of his life.
Not only is the King holiday a celebration of struggle, explained the labor organizer. It is also struggle to reclaim King's legacy from the corporations and politicians who have watered down the civil rights leader's radicalism. President Clinton, for example, would certainly evoke King's name in the inauguration ceremony that also occurred on January 20. After signing the Welfare Reform bill, which would drive thousands of black and white Americans into desperate poverty, Clinton and others were only, in Dillahunt's words, "pimpin' off King's message."
Chapel Hill's growing movement for economic justice demonstrated how progressive coalitions could reclaim King's radical legacy. Dillahunt called the Housekeepers "Shining Stars" who had inspired public workers across North Carolina. The BPWA had demonstrated the awesome power that organized workers could wield in local political struggles. By supporting these movements, progressive activists in the Coalition for Economic Justice, the Black Student Movement, the Internationalist Bookstore, and other groups were forcing Chapel Hill to live up to its reputation as a progressive community.
Turning to national politics, Dillahunt defended the controversial decision to introduce Ebonics, or Black English, into the public school curriculum in Berkley, California. He chastised Jessie Jackson and other black leaders for denouncing the decision without knowing all the facts. For example, Jackson overlooked the fact that Berkeley's school board had only supported instructing teachers and parents to recognize and appreciate black speech patterns. Instead of checking the facts, he had denounced the motion for advocating the teaching of black English in place of standard English.
Dillahunt argued that the attack on Ebonics was really an attack on the black educators who had studied and developed the curriculum. Had journalists and politicians investigated more carefully, for example, they might have asked for a clarification of the school board's assertion that black English had "genetic" roots. Could educators really have believed, he asked, that black people's DNA produced a different language? They had, after all, quickly retracted the word "genetic" from their proposal. Whatever the meaning of their use of "genetic," criticism of the school board's decision was at its root an attack on African-American "peoplehood."
Dillahunt concluded by asking his audience to "keep the struggle in front of" them. Activist coalitions for economic justice can grow in all communities, and they should mimic Chapel Hill's movement by allowing workers to set the agendas. He criticized the Democratic and Republican Parties, and urged local activists to support the Labor Party, the Green Party, the New Party, or any other party dedicated to an agenda based on the needs of working people. Only by reclaiming King's commitment to radical social change, can a truly progressive movement continue to grow in Chapel Hill, and across North Carolina.
Will Jones is a graduate student at UNC and an activist with the Carolina Socialist Forum, Internationalist Books, and the North Carolina chapter of the Committees of Correspondence.
• Too many people want to freeze Dr. King in time and dwell on his 1963 "I have a dream" speech with its eloquent phrases and optimistic tone....He became clear on questions of poverty, class, private propoerty and the role of big business and the rich in setting the country's priorities and foreign policy agenda.
• The developed industrial nations of the world cannot remain secure islands of property in a seething sea of poverty. The storm is rising against the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter in isolation and armament.
• The Texaco Corporation ... concedes that there is rampant discrimination. In Wilmington, an Avis franchise refuses to rent cars to black people. Hundreds of churches have been burned and there is still resistance to the idea that they are racially motivated....In Charleston, South Carolina, a white teacher paints a reminder on a black child's face and up the road in Clarendon County a white couple puts a hangman's noose around the neck of a nine-year-old, ties him to a tree and fires a shotgun blast past his face....At a Walmart in Knightdale an assistant manager tells a black woman she can't quit because slaves can't quit.
Brothers and sisters, they think they can do and say whatever they want....In fact, they have been encouraged by the atmosphere created by the government, media and the corporations.
• Black workers bear the burden of class exploitation and race discrimination, and our sisters have the added oppression of gender.
• We call on you to support union organizing drives. Be a part of coalitions fighting for a Living Wage or, as Dr. King proposed, a "guaranteed income." And be there to defend the working class from the attacks that have taken the form of welfare reform.
Gerald Horne, professor of history and Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center at UNC-CH, spoke at a January 19 forum in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. The event, "Civil Rights for the 90s, a Call for Economic Justice," was hosted by the Carolina Socialist Forum.
Horne is author of The Fire this Time, the Watts Uprising in the 1960s, and formerly served as Director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers and Local 1199 of the Hospital Workers Union in New York. Here are excerpts from his talk.
• The promise of the Revolution [of 1776] was not fulfilled until the Civil War, when in order to defeat the slaveowning South the US government was forced to move toward emancipation of the slaves....Those Africans who had been slaves still found it difficult to improve their working conditions and income, precisely because they discovered that Euro-American workers by and large sought to bar them from unions...[T]hese unions' concern with racial exclusion hampered their ability to engage in class struggle against the boss.
• With few exceptions...this discrimination against African-Americans within unions remained the case until the organization of the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO), began organizing in the 1930s beyond craft workers targeting production workers....[T]his organizing drive was aided immeasurably by the Communist Party, which...broke decisively with the old Socialist Party idea that the question of racism would be solved once there was socialismŠ The CIO organizing drive, the need for black labor during World War II, and the dictates of the Cold War were decisive factors in breaking the back of US apartheid and bringing on the so-called civil rights movement.
•In the late 1920s and early 1930s Tokyo worked closely with the Nation of Islam and other black nationalist organizations on a common platform of "anti-whiteness." The US had been encouraging black workers...to migrate to Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles during World War II to work in defense factories but it was...the West Coast that was most vulnerable to attack from Japan. This dynamic led the US to conclude that anti-Jim Crow measures were not just a question of morality but...a question of strategic good sense.
•The erosion of legalized segregation had significant impact....This general rise in democratization came with a huge price tag. As the US elite was forced into making concessions on the racial front, they won givebacks on the class front. During the civil rights era the labor movement, principally the AFL-CIO unions, descended into the dark night of anti-communism, spending more time backing genocidal wars in Korea and Vietnam than organizing workers in North Carolina and Mississippi.
• One of the tactics devised to bring on economic justice is affirmative action, a remedy that King endorsed more than once....Malaysia, [with very high growth rates], has some of the most...stringent affirmative action requirements in the world. India's affirmative action...guarantees certain groups reserved seats in universities...[and]...in Parliament. Raising the question of India and Malaysia reminds us of a basic fact....It took the Union army, which was forced to incorporate recruits from abroad to undo human slavery; it took the federal government...and the weight of the international community to break the back of Jim Crow.


Who doesn't love to smell good? Having a signature scent can be a powerful anchor. Scents are engrained in our memories; my grandmother wore Shalimar and it still reminds me of her, 30 years after her death, if I get a whiff of it.
Sadly, most perfumes on the market today are not safe to inhale or apply to our skin on a regular basis. Long ago, rare essential oils and fancy plant extracts were commonly used as fragrances by the upper class. While it's hard to know for sure that they were pure and safe, there were fewer synthetic ingredients available at that time.
Today, the goal for the big perfumers seems to be profit at any cost, potential health consequences be damned. More and more evidence is showing that hormone-disrupting chemicals are interfering with our reproductive and immune systems. Yet, the major players dial up the fragrance boldly and shamelessly—from perfume to air fresheners to laundry products. They are chock full of phthalates, known endocrine disruptors, and should be avoided as much as possible.
The good news is that many companies are popping up with nontoxic perfumes. I have tried a lot of them and, in my experience, it's hard to find the right scent and the lasting power is definitely less than traditional fragrances. My signature scent (prior to becoming enlightened on ingredients) was Chanel No. 19. I looked up the notes in Fragrantica to see if I could find something similar—a tall task!
PHLUR — tried three samples for $18 and didn't like any of them so they sent me two more at their expense (great customer service!). I haven't settled on one yet; packaging and concept make it worth checking out.
CLEAN — does not say phthalate-free on the website, but I reached out to them and they said they are. This brand is also focused on sustainability with regard to its packaging and raw materials sourcing, which is terrific.
Lavanila — this is still my go-to after several years. I use Pure Vanilla in rollerball and spray and just simply love it. I get a lot of compliments, and while it's a straightforward, uncomplicated scent, other variations are available.
Strange Invisible — tried some samples of these and was intrigued but the scents did not speak to me. Very beautiful articulation of their brand and they offer body products as well for layering.
French Girl Organics Parfum — I tried the stick perfume in Madame Blond (of course) and liked it. I don't see that on the site now, but they do offer five scents, which look to be very complex. Those are on my list to try.
Daniela over at Drops of Lemon and Honey wrote a great post with her favorites—most of which were unfamiliar to me. I did try LURK and didn't find a scent I liked (got samples through Integrity Botanicals).
Treehugger also covered 12 natural perfume companies, only one that Daniela or I mentioned (LURK), and there look to be some excellent options here as well.
What have you tried...and what do you recommend? I would love to hear!
P.S. If you're interested in identifying other hormone-disrupting chemicals, EWG provides a list of the top 12 — where they commonly show up and how to avoid them.
Going gluten-free (GF, yo) has never been so delicious.
If you haven't experimented with how different foods make you feel, look or act and you think all bodies are the same, act the same and react the same, this article is probably not for you. Just move along with your "gluten-free is a fad" thinking. We can still be friends. Really.
If, like me, you've found that curbing intake of gluten makes you feel better, or you have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance, then this article is for you!
When I eat gluten, I shortly thereafter feel tired, my face breaks out in little dry patches and my system gets, let's just say, messed up. Am I sensitive or allergic or making it up in my head? Who cares. I like the energy I have when I don't eat it. So I have tried a lot of GF versions of products normally made with wheat. Some are downright terrible. Many are okay but not worth repurchase.
Some really stand out. Those are the ones that deserve a shout out.
Canyon Bakehouse breads. The best GF bread, hands down. It's the closest thing to normal bread you will find—and it's really close. Buy it fresh at Target (preferred) or frozen at Wegman's. I love the white and the multi-grain is also excellent. We keep ours in the fridge and use within a week. It is great for a grilled cheese sandwich. It holds up in the lunchbox with my son's favorite chocolate almond better spread (surprisingly not unhealthy). Canyon Bakehouse also makes focaccia, buns and more, to wonderful acclaim, but I have yet to try those because our lame stores carry a very limited selection.
Pamela's pancake mix. We tried a lot of flours and mixes and Pamela's is by far the best. (If you're interested, Bob's Red Mill was the absolute worst. I actually took it back to the grocery store, it was that bad.) Pamela's pancakes are a little more dense than fluffy. But they are not heavy. The texture is normal and the flavor is all pancake. Of course, my kids douse enough natural maple syrup on them that they can't taste the pancake anyway! It's available in a 24-ounce size, which makes about 34 four-inch pancakes. It also comes in a 4-pound bag. We use this same mix to make delicious waffles, which are easy to freeze for use during the week. This mix is also designed for muffins and cakes, though I have not used it for those recipes yet.
Bionaturae pasta. Pasta is delicious and when you have kids with a busy schedule, it's a fast and filling dinner. Even though we have tried some very bad GF pastas, I did not give up. Thankfully, I found Bionaturae spaghetti. These noodles are so good, my husband asked me if it was really gluten-free. Fooled him! It may be the combination of rice, potato and soy flours that makes it better than others. We don't eat a lot of soy, but this at least is organic soy flour, so I make that concession. Pasta made with only rice flour has a terrible texture and does not hold up in pasta salads at all. It gets hard and crumbles. Corn pasta is a less expensive substitute (Wegman's brand), however Bionaturae is our hands-down favorite.
Evol Chicken Tikki Masala and Fire Grilled Steak bowl. We all try not to buy processed, convenience foods. But let's not pretend it's not great to open the freezer, grab a boxed meal and microwave it for a quick and healthy lunch or dinner. While they violate my "ideal" of avoiding the microwave, particularly in a plastic container, I make an exception for these delicious quickies. I am super weird about meat in general and I've never had a bad piece of chicken or steak from Evol. The serving size is on the small side, but they are filling, taste fresh and have no fake ingredients. I usually buy them at Target, and they are often on sale. If you're wimpy about spices, start with the Fire Grilled Steak bowl because the Tikki Masala is spicier.
Jilz Original Crackerz. If you like a crunchy, hearty, peppery cracker, you will love Jilz. These gems are packed with nutrition, Paleo-compliant and filling. I found them on Thrive.com but they are also available on Amazon now. Not inexpensive, but definitely a high-quality snack. I've only tried the Original; Jilz also offers Tuscan and Mediterranean and the reviews are excellent for all three flavors. They would pair well with almost any cheese and definitely a glass of red wine.
Kinnikinnick donuts. I haven't seen many GF donut options, but Kinnikinnick's are very good, worth an occasional splurge. We have tried the cinnamon sugar and the chocolate coated and both cake-style donuts are delicious. You'll find them in the freezer section. A quick pop in the microwave and they are good to go. I also recently saw that Stonewall Kitchen has a dry mix that gets excellent reviews, so I am going to put it on my list to try (along with buying a donut pan).
Against The Grain rolls and baguettes. Against The Grain came up with a unique way to solve the dryness often found in GF breads—add cheese. As long as you're a dairy-eating person, you will find this to be ingenious. Their baguettes and dinner rolls come frozen. After thawing them for about 30 minutes, I pop them in the toaster oven. Out comes a crusty, chewy, delicious bread that is awesome for dips and cheese plates. It is crumbly on the outside, for sure. But the flavor and the texture when it first comes out of the heat is just perfect. Against The Grain Gourmet also makes a pizzas, bagels, pitas, and a 100% plant-based chocolate chip cookie that I have yet to try. I love that they are against not only grain, but also fillers, binders and gums.
Capellos Grain Free Lasagna Sheets. You will never know these are made with almond flour and eggs. I mean, seriously, these make the best lasagna. Use your normal recipe but layer these sheets instead of normal pasta and prepare to be amazed. I will warn you, their products are a little pricey. I buy them in the freezer section of the natural foods area at Wegman's. Capellos also makes cookie dough and pizzas. People love this brand and for good reason.
Do you agree with my picks? What are your favorites? Please share. That's how I found Canyon Bakehouse—thank you very much, Liz!
I'm a sucker for great design and remarkable customer service. So I have to share a quick story of my shopping experience with IntegrityBotanicals.
1. Instant delivery of coupon code for signing up for their newsletter.
2. Very well curated product selection.
3. Free samples with every order.
4. Gorgeous design and usability.
5. Responsive on social media.
6. Free shipping with minimum order.
7. High quality products at fair prices.
9. Careful packing with branded materials.
10. Hand-written note and coupon with order.
I was able to try a few Lurk and Strange Invisible scents, as well as a lip stain and Acure argan oil. I bought 100% Pure body wash, W3ll People lip gloss, skinnyskinny dry shampoo and Theodent chocolate toothpaste for the kids.
Excited to try everything and will definitely order again from Integrity Botanicals.
My first review following two whirlwind days at EXPO East comes from a company I didn't set out to see. So glad I stopped to chat.
My go-to healthy dinner used to be a chicken Caesar salad but when I went gluten-free, I found myself missing the crunch. And fell out of the habit.
Among the gems at the show, I found my way to Metropolitan Gourmet, purveyors of gluten-free croutons and bread crumbs. Jerry kindly gave me a sample of their new garlic croutons and a box to take home.
I must really have been missing croutons in my life. After an eight-hour day on my feet and a 90-minute drive home, I took one look at a piece of grilled chicken left over from the kids' dinner and chopped up a chicken Caesar salad...because I had croutons!
Chicken caesar salad with Metropolitan Gourmet Gluten-Free Garlic Croutons.
I always have Parmesan cheese on hand but it was lucky that my favorite yogurt-based Caesar dressing and fresh romaine also happened to be in my fridge. Voilá!
It was delicious. MG's GF croutons were fresh, crunchy, flavorful and just the right size (thankfully not those giant ones that don't easily break and are too big to eat politely).
In addition to being gluten-free and non-GMO certified, the products are soy-free, corn-free, dairy-free and egg-free. Their goal is simple ingredients and great taste. Mission accomplished.
I'm looking forward to baking with the bread crumbs and trying Metropolitan Gourmet croutons to make GF stuffing for the holidays. Yum!
You can purchase them on their website under the Retail tab. Check out the recipes while you're there, too!
Natural Products EXPO East is this week!
Last year was the first year I attended Natural Products EXPO East and I was unprepared for the scope of brands I'd get to meet. I didn't even plan a full day there! This year, I am booked for two full days, so I can take my time and see all the new products launching as well as see companies I love.
I'm armed with a list this year. Very excited to connect with like-minded people and introduce my readers to healthy, delicious options.


Fungi that digest wood in novel ways could fuel new avenues of research on cellulosic ethanol, and suggest a need to move beyond traditional classification systems.
Fungi that digest wood are typically categorized as white rots, which degrade both lignin and cellulose, or brown rots, which only have enzymes that act on cellulose. But two newly sequenced species are capable of digesting lignin, even though they lack the enzymes typically found in white rots, according to a study published recently in PNAS.
The species, Botryobasidium botryosum and Jaapia argillacea, appeared to be white-rot fungi based on the microscopic patterns they created in decomposing wood. However, at the molecular level, researchers found that the key enzymes considered markers of white-rot fungi were missing.
The results suggest a continuum rather than a dichotomy between the white-rot and brown-rot modes of wood decay, and highlight the need for a more nuanced categorization of rot types, according to the authors. Identifying the decay mechanisms in these new species could also have practical applications in the production of cellulosic biofuels.


Quality Sarge®* folding knife with assisted opening pocket and bottle opener. Features a camouflage anodized aluminum handle and 2-1/8" black coated blade. Fits comfortably in your pocket and includes a pocket clip. Knife measures 6" when open. Laser engraved.
*Registered trademark of Sarge Knives.