Monthly Archives: July 2013

Girl Scouts auction off plantation amid financial troubles

"The camp in South Carolina is one of dozens of Girl Scout camps in 28 states that have closed, been sold or are for sale as chapters across the United States face financial struggles. The realignment that took full effect in 2009 consolidated local councils. It reduced their number by two-thirds, eliminated staff jobs and set new Girl Scout priorities for building leadership skills. Girls Scouts has about 2.3 million youth and about 800,000 adult members nationwide. The organization is struggling with plummeting membership, a dearth of adult volunteers, declining cookie sales and a pension fund that is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt." Continue reading →

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Transforming the Future of the Automotive Industry

"More often than not, innovation is born from destruction. That’s why it’s all too fitting that Tesla’s facility in California was once the site of a now-defunct joint venture between two traditional automotive powerhouses. General Motors and Toyota. In Early 2010, Tesla purchased the 5 million-square-foot facility for $42 million. Tesla took advantage of the soft economy, buying one of the biggest auto factories in the country for just pennies on the dollar (the factory is valued at approximately $1 billion). And that’s not the end of it. After the purchase of the factory itself, Tesla scooped up the usable NUMMI assembly equipment at fire-sale prices." Continue reading →

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Spain museum uses robot to spot cracks in artwork

"In the basement of Madrid’s Reina Sofia museum, a giant robotic machine painstakingly scans a painting by Catalan surrealist artist Joan Miro, slowly snapping hundreds of microscopic shots. The pictures taken by the machine, which uses infrared and ultraviolet photography, will help experts determine the condition of the 1974 oil on canvas painting in unprecedented detail. The device lets restorers see cracks, scratches and creases as well underlying preparatory sketches and all subsequent touch-ups that would be otherwise undetectable. The robot can work unsupervised round-the-clock and can be controlled by a computer from a remote location." Continue reading →

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World’s first fleet of marine drones being tested in the Mediterranean

"Under the scrutiny of their masters, whose eyes are glued to computer screens, the world’s first fleet of 'marine drones' is being put through its paces. Five European countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal — have sent prototypes here under a four-year, four-million-euro ($5.32-million) programme to build a squad of unmanned underwater rovers. Deployed from a surface vessel, but communicating among themselves and using artificial intelligence, the wireless scouts would spread out in a surveillance network." Continue reading →

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Malta: new residency scheme for foreign buyers & renters

"The new residence scheme, referred to as Global Residence Programme, will allow people who buy or rent a property in Malta and direct their income to Malta to benefit from a residence permit (and thus income tax at 15 per cent). In order to qualify for residency, under the new Global Residence Programme, a non-EU foreigner will need to buy a property of €220,000 or over. Foreign nationals who are interested in renting a property, can also do so and they are eligible for residency given that the annual rental value is of €9,600 (or €800 monthly). The new Residence Scheme for Foreigners replaces the High Net Worth Individuals Scheme." Continue reading →

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The Smart Money is Investing Here…

"Wal-Mart paid $2.4 billion for Massmart, a major retailer in South Africa, in 2011. This year, Coke is launching solar-powered kiosks to reach some of the remotest parts of sub-Saharan Africa – parts that lack electricity – with ice-cold soda. Pepsi announced a $30 million manufacturing plant in Kenya to compete against Coke for market share of the continent. And Yum! Brands is expanding quickly, adding another 50 stores in Africa this year alone. Google is also investing in a solar plant in South Africa and developing high-speed internet access across the continent." Continue reading →

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Why Buffett Bailed on India

"Buffett isn’t alone in voting with his feet. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ArcelorMittal (MT) SA and Posco are pulling back on investments in India that they had announced with great fanfare. What’s scaring foreigners away? A rampant political dysfunction that has stopped India’s progress cold. Headwinds from New Delhi are contributing to the slowest growth rates in a decade, a record current-account deficit and a 7.9 percent plunge in the rupee this year. Fiscal neglect has bond traders demanding higher yields for government debt than India wants to pay. Foreign-direct investment slid about 21 percent last fiscal year, and this one doesn’t look promising." Continue reading →

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Walmart tells India it can’t buy enough local products for new supermarket

"Walmart has told India that it is unable to meet local sourcing requirements for foreign supermarket groups wanting to open stores in the country, a report said Wednesday. Under rules introduced when the government opened up the sector in 2012, foreign supermarkets are required to buy 30 percent of their products from local small-scale industries. India’s left-leaning government has opened up or proposed opening the banking and insurance, airline, energy and media sectors to foreign investors but has imposed conditions in each case." Continue reading →

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India seizure of smuggled gold zooms 365% in Q1

"After a two-decade lull, gold smugglers seem to be back in business in India, thanks to recent hikes in import duty on gold — from about one per cent to eight per cent in 18 months. In the April-June quarter of this financial year, seizure of smuggled gold hit Rs 59.82 crore — an increase of 365 per cent over Rs 12.86 crore in the same period a year ago. In volume terms, the increase would be even higher, because the average gold price in the quarter came down 6.6 per cent from that in the same quarter last year. According to rough estimates, only 5-10 per cent of smuggled gold is caught by authorities, while the rest manages to get into the country unnoticed." Continue reading →

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Paul Rosenberg: The Beauty and Dignity of the Productive Class

"If you are a member of the productive class, you should re-arrange your mind and stop responding to the demands of hierarchy and status. Instead, pay attention to things that really improve human life in the world. Creating things, improving things, or making it possible for other people to create… these are noble, beautiful, and important things. We should gain a deep and enduring satisfaction from doing them. And, indeed, when we put our minds and efforts to it, that’s exactly what we will gain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Rosenberg: The Beauty and Dignity of the Productive Class