Sharing economy arrives at the airport

The park ‘n share economy has arrived at the airport, with three such rental car companies launching in the last six months. In case you don’t know, park ‘n share works like this: Someone flying out for a trip parks their car in a designated lot near the airport. Employees paid by the park ‘n share company take the keys and hand that person’s car off to someone else flying into the airport, who rents it while the owner is out of town. It’s like car-sharing with a pseudo-middleman.

The first park ‘n share company FlightCar is a Y-Combinator startup that launched six months ago and operates out of SFO and Boston Logan Airport. SFO is in the midst of suing it for not paying the airport licensing fees that other rental cars pay. Oops.

The second company is RelayRides, which has offered regular car sharing since June 2010, and launched a facilitated airport park ‘n share feature a few weeks ago. It’s backed by Google Ventures and Shasta Ventures among others and has raised $13 million in funding

The third and final company, Hubber, launched in June — it’s the first park ‘n share to hit LAX and the only one not backed by venture capital. It’s taken a very different path from the Silicon Valley-steeped RelayRides and parking sensor, although they’re all operating in the same space. Its founder, Paul Davis, never thought he would start his own company. When we chatted, he wasn’t totally sure about the difference between a seed round and a Series A round, and he didn’t see anything unusual in the fact that he didn’t take venture capital.

“I wanted to take the risk on my own because I don’t necessarily want it to not work on someone else’s dime,” Davis told me on the phone. “I’ve been bootstrapping till now.”

Davis isn’t a typical founder — he’s a non tech, non business guy who worked as a production manager in Hollywood when he came up with the idea for Hubber. In winter 2012, he leased a house in Tahoe to visit when he was between films. He purchased a car to get him to and from his vacation home and the Renoe airport. When he was working on a flick in LA, the car would sit useless near the Nevada airport for weeks on end, giving him the idea of a peer to peer airport car sharing service.

“I needed guidance, so I picked up the phone and found a consulting group in New York — Abrams Carsharing Advisors,” Davis says. “I called them up and said, ‘Is anyone doing this?’ And they said, ‘No but we like the idea.’”

Abrams pointed Davis in the right direction, told him the key players, and introduced him to vendors that could provide insurance, branding, DMV checks, parking violation processing, and all the other backbone elements to car sharing.

Here’s how Hubber works: The company has a contracted parking lot that’s a five minute shuttle ride from the airport. Car owners drop their car off with a valet at the lot who washes it and fills the gas tank. When the renter arrives, who has reserved the car in advance online, the valet checks their ID, and they hop in and go.

Renters pay $40 per day for lower-end “coach” cars, and up to $75/day for the luxury, “first class” models. Car owners get $10-$20 a day for “renting” out their car, and Hubber takes the rest. For renters, that price includes car insurance, but not gas. However, if renters return the car to the lot with an empty tank, Hubber only charges them the cost of the gas — no inflated fees.

With RelayRides and FlightCar breathing down its neck, Hubber isn’t the only park ‘n share option out there, but it’s gotten a head start by being the first in LA. Davis is glad for the parking guidance. He says his biggest business challenge in the future is getting consumers to trust these types of systems, and more startups who run this platform will raise awareness.

But there is also a more abstruse explanation. If a genuine, self-sustaining recovery is indeed establishing itself, then abundant central bank money printing will soon draw to a close, beginning the long march back to more normal interest rates. This may in turn signal the end of the present, manic hunt for yield in equities markets, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, buy to let and just about anything else that seemingly offers an above inflation rate of return.

Where does this leave investors? Let’s start with bond yields, as these are a more telling indicator of appetite for risk, or “animal spirits”, than shares. Since the beginning of May there has been a sharp uptick in bond yields across all major, advanced economies. Yields are now back where they were in the summer of 2011. Admittedly, this is still incredibly low by historic standards. All the same, the recent increase in yields has been one of the most rapid on record, and few believe the correction is yet over. Nonetheless, this ought to be seen as an overwhelmingly positive development.

Many have characterised the apparent mania for government debt as an artificially generated bubble, and no doubt there is something in the argument. Central banks have been buying bonds on an unprecedented scale (quantitative easing). Various other forms of “financial repression” have also been applied to drive investors into sovereign debt so as to fund deficits and ensure ultra-low interest rates.

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Can the Nairobi city centre hold?

After a lull in real estate development within Nairobi’s Central Business District ( CBD), activity is set to resume after the recent groundbreaking ceremony for what is slated to be the tallest building in the region.The National Social Security Fund has commissioned the construction of 39-storey Hazina Trade Centre, a vertical extension of the existing building that houses Nakumatt Lifestyle on Monrovia Street.

Though the move is a positive indicator of the city’s rising status as a global investment destination, it has shifted attention to the city’s ability to provide the requisite infrastructure to support future developments of such magnitude.

The last few years have seen a number of local and international organisations give the city centre a wide berth by relocating to Upper Hill, Westlands, Ngong’ Road, Mombasa Road, Gigiri, Kilimani and Kileleshwa. Many are running away from the persistent traffic congestion, strained water supply, power and adequate parking spaces.

“Our long list of challenges includes our current lack of capacity to manage solid waste, insufficient infrastructure development, and poor public transport and parking sensor…. There is overwhelming demand for services without commensurate capacity to provide them. The challenges ahead of us are many, and in some ways tricky, but they are not insurmountable,” said Dr Kidero.

Interestingly, the governor was the first to question the massive NSSF project in the city, citing safety concerns of those currently using the building or working in adjacent locations. Building industry experts say Nairobi — more so the city centre — has no choice but to make radical planning changes to retain its attractiveness in a region where other capitals such as Dar es Salaam, Kampala and Kigali are itching to get noticed.

They argue that even if the city was to shift to another location today, there would still be the expensive burden of laying down new infrastructure, hence the need to improve on what we already have.

“All of our operations deserve reliable, efficient parking management services,” commented Bijan Eghtedari, Park One CEO, “but luxury operations require the best of the best to meet the valet parking needs of our VIP clients. As one of the pioneers in this technology with our proprietary Valet Tracking System (VTS), Flash Valet’s technology was a natural progression for us to help streamline our operational processes and continue to impress our clientele with advancing technology.”

Flash Valet offers enormous upside for parking providers both large and small; every aspect of an operation can be managed from one platform. The system tracks parked vehicles, revenue control, guest check out, and other features with ease. Barcode scanning makes tedious paper-based vehicle tracking obsolete. Flash Valet even streamlines employee management, keeping tabs on time and attendance and providing integrated payroll processing capabilities.

Fred Bredemeyer, Park One of Florida President, had the following praise: “I was first introduced to Flash Valet when the technology was in its infancy. At the time, the Flash Valet team was still just trying to figure out how to enhance the valet parking experience with their texting and parking guidance. After revisiting them almost two years later and seeing how the software solution has evolved into a full parking management platform, I was very impressed with how much ground they have covered in such a short time. I have full confidence that Park One’s transition to Flash Valet will benefit our company.”

Rapid expansion continues at Flash Valet, with no plateau in sight. The technology is now deployed at hundreds of locations nationwide in over 30 cities. “The fact that we designed an innovative product while remaining client-centered has contributed greatly to our success,” explained Flash Valet’s Juan Rodriguez. “Our technology has been built with flexibility in mind, and is designed to be adaptable based on our client’s unique environments. We listen closely to the needs of clients and never assume that we know how to run their business. With their input, we’re able to configure our platform to meet their specific needs.”

The app for iPhone and Android is called “Find It, Fix It,” and doubles up on options for reporting abandoned vehicles, graffiti, potholes, parking enforcement, and other city-related issues.Previously, you would have to call the city, or visit one of Seattle’s six Neighborhood Service Centers to report problems.

The app allows people to report an issue using their smartphones by snapping a photo, adding information about the nature of the problem, and hitting submit. A map with a “drag and drop” feature – or the phone’s built in GPS – can be used to pinpoint the location of a pothole or abandoned car.

“When you’re out in your neighborhood and see a pothole, graffiti, or something else you think the City should know about, “Find It, Fix It” gives you an easy way to notify us so we can fix it,” Mayor Mike McGinn said in a news release.

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My Trip To Visit Freedom Fighters

This feeling in my gut is hard to describe. Driving through the luscious green valleys of Oregon’s wine country, I almost forget where I’m headed. It’s an idyllic scene, straight out of a dusty American novel. Rolling hills, winding roads and endless fields of farmland.

I have arrived at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Sheridan, home to hundreds of federal prisoners. The prison is halfway between Portland and the Oregon coast in a rural town off Highway 18. I’m often tempted to keep on driving, right past the guard towers and deprivation, until I reach the tranquility of the ocean shore less than 40 miles beyond.

Even after driving four and a half hours to get here, I am very grateful. Many families drive for days to see their loved ones. The costs are so prohibitive that some turn to carpools and sharing motels. For me, this visit is a welcome chance to reconnect with a close friend. For the families that surround me, it is the glue that keeps their shattered lives from Car park management system.

These visits bring hope and a sense of calm during a time when reality is often unbearable. Most important are the hugs and warm embraces being exchanged between husband and wife, father and son, brother and sister, friends and lovers. I can feel the tide of emotion as it floods the room. Though physical contact is limited to 30 seconds at the beginning and end of each visit, the love that flows during these brief moments cannot be quelled.

Everyone here is sacrificing individual freedom to earn the privilege to visit this place. First up is the approval process. With serious consequences on the table for any false statement, I cautiously fill out a battery of questions, divulging everything from my social security number to how and when I met Chris Williams.

I agree to a criminal background check to ensure that I won’t “present a management problem for the institution.” Deep down, I quietly sweat this step, knowing that I have prior cannabis convictions. After what seems like an eternity, I am given the green light for visits. Now, it’s time to study the rules.

No shorts or sleeveless shirts. Hemlines on dresses must fall below the knees. No hats of any kind. Money for drinks and snacks is limited to $20 and must be in coins, carried in a clear plastic purse or ziplock bag no bigger than five by seven inches. The only other items allowed are a single car key and photo ID.

I drive past a security booth and begin to assess my surroundings. Towards the back of the property is a medium-security lockup where visitors must pass through metal detectors, sending their shoes and accessories through an x-ray machine. Closer to the front is what looks like a super-max facility, with razor wire woven through every inch of chain link fence. For an added shock to the system, this is where prisoners are sent upon arrival and it is where they go when problems arise, be it medical or disciplinary. The impenetrable fortress also serves as a constant reminder for the guys at the minimum-security camp next door; one wrong move and they get put “behind the fence.”

As I pull into the parking lot of the camp, I find myself thankful once again. I try not to imagine what life would be like if Chris had to spend five years in a prison more restrictive than where he is now. Then, I take stock of the drug reformers who don’t have to imagine because they are living it. Jerry Duval, Aaron Sandusky, Eddy Lepp, Luke Scarmazzo, Virgil Grant, Marc Emery, the list goes on — all assigned to higher security prisons than the one I’m visiting now.

There’s a batch of forms and assorted pens on the built-in counter next to the doorway. As I fill out the paperwork, I notice a flimsy divider nearby that partially blocks a bank of windows. On the other side of the glass are dozens of eager prisoners milling about, waiting for their names to be called over the loudspeaker, notifying them of a visitor’s arrival.

I return my gaze to the questionnaire at hand. Along with a long list of prohibited items comes a warning about the five-year prison term I face for having any contraband. I reluctantly sign away my rights and hand the form to a guard along with my ID.

This place reminds me of a cafeteria, bathrooms and vending machines line one wall and windows line the other. The view of the parking lot is underwhelming, to put it mildly. There are about 50 tables scattered about with chairs squarely placed on two sides to discourage intimate contact. I select a spot on the opposite end of the room, close to a courtyard that is permanently shuttered.

I watch as one prisoner after another walks in from a door near the guard desk. The happy reunions that I witness fuel the excitement for my own visit. Chris is the next one to enter the parking system. My grin spreads from ear to ear. He looks healthy and happy, which is more than I can expect under the circumstances.

We start the morning with a cup of coffee; Chris likes his black and extra strong. The vending machines are out of bounds for prisoners, so I’ve quickly figured out his personal tastes while guessing which food and beverages to buy.

Within the first hour or two, the guards call “count time.” The prisoners are herded into the hallway where they’re officially accounted for, one of five times daily that this ritual is performed. The process takes about 20 minutes, so I line up for the restroom with other women who are visiting. We chit chat to pass the time, but leave meaningful friendships just out of reach. None of us wants to think of this awful place any more than we do already.

Chris is sitting back down by the time I return. We decide to play cards and he grows amused by my frustration after beating me time and again. Half our visit has passed and it is now lunchtime. I buy Chris a sandwich and an iced tea. A meal in the visiting room of a federal prison isn’t particularly appetizing for me, so I grab a bag of chips instead.

After lunch, we decide to play Scrabble. Chris doesn’t know it yet, but I specifically chose this game so I can get even for the whooping I took at cards. There are no writing materials to keep score with, so we eventually lose track of the points. By the time we finish one game, it is nearly 3:00 p.m. and our visit is almost over.

Is it time to let the banks die a natural death?

Since the banking crisis of 2008 and subsequent chaos in the global financial system, governments and central banks around the world have implemented all manner of extraordinary policies to prevent another major bank failure.

Interest rates have been cut to zero, banks have been flooded with reserves and governments have taken on huge quantities of toxic assets. Understandably, people are angry. Yet although investment banking is widely blamed for the ultrasonic sensor, the roots of these problems lie in retail banking.

It is generally known that two of the UK’s four biggest banks – Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group – failed and had to be part-nationalised during the credit crunch. It is less widely known that the other two biggest banks – Barclays and HSBC – have also undergone major restructuring since the crisis, shedding thousands of jobs and shrinking their balance sheets considerably.

The building society sector also experienced a considerable shakeout in 2009 as a consequence of the global meltdown. One, Dunfermline, was nationalised, others were bought by larger banks and building societies and another, Kent Reliance, was even bought by a private equity company.

Unfortunately, this has caused indigestion for some buyers. The Co-operative Bank is about to undergo extensive restructuring owing to its 2009 purchase of Britannia Building Society, which it transpires had sufficient toxic loans to overwhelm the smaller Co-op’s balance sheet. Meanwhile Nationwide has struggled to integrate the three smaller building societies that it absorbed and it too has had to undergo major restructuring in the past few years.

So the UK’s biggest lenders and its entire building society sector have undergone radical surgery, with many still in intensive care.Nor have smaller retail banks been immune. Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley both failed and were nationalised in the crisis. A significant number of small banks, building societies and credit unions have also gone belly-up. Most depositors in smaller institutions are below the Financial Services Compensation Scheme limit, while in the US, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation records show that thousands of small banks have failed in the past five years.

After the financial crisis, there were extensive inflows of deposits to small banks and building societies as people – encouraged by campaigns such as Move Your Money – moved funds out of banks that were seen as ‘risky’ and ‘bad for society’ into institutions that had a better image. We now know that these other institutions are no safer, and perhaps no better for society, than the big banks that are criticised so widely.

The 2008 crisis was no more a crisis of big banks than it was a crisis of investment banks. It was a crisis of banking in all its forms. And it has not yet ended.The continuing shakeout and restructuring across the banking industry is immensely damaging to the economy. Weak banks stuffed with risky non-performing loans cannot lend productively and deleveraging bank balance sheets and building capital have deflationary effects in the wider economy.  

But at least these banks are still alive,  although badly wounded. If we keep them on life support for long enough – keep funding costs down with low policy rates and subsidies, guarantee riskier lending so that they appear to be doing something useful and provide them with lots of cheap liquidity – eventually they will recover, won’t they?

Unfortunately, the treatments being used to keep them alive themselves have toxic effects. Most were supposed to be short-term interventions to prevent disorderly collapse – it was never envisaged that they would continue for years on end. And some interventions seem to maintain banks at the expense of the Parking assist system.Very low interest rates are supposed to encourage the flow of credit to borrowers who would be reluctant to pay higher rates. What they actually do is prop up highly indebted households and businesses, preventing bankruptcies and foreclosures.

New loans are generally at higher rates – in some cases much higher – than old ones, even though official rates are on the floor. Preventing bankruptcies and foreclosures protects banks (and, indirectly, savers) as a sudden swathe of business and household debt defaults would spell disaster for many lending institutions, particularly the smaller ones. Unpopular though it is to say this, large universal banks are actually less likely to fail than small lenders concentrated in particular market sectors such as residential mortgages.

Very low interest rates also prop up the prices of safe assets, which are used as liquidity buffers by financial institutions. And they depress bank funding rates, both in the wholesale market and, perhaps more importantly now that banks are trying to reduce their reliance on unstable wholesale funding, for rates to depositors.

The problem is that banks have overheads – staff costs and premises, for example. When interest rates are very low, banks do not earn much. Yes, if funding costs are low too they make a profit on the difference. Yet margins are being squeezed, which is affecting bank profitability across the board. All the major banks report reduced interest income and rising costs.  

Margin squeeze is particularly tough for small players, so very low interest rates tend to benefit large retail banks at the expense of smaller ones. When margins are tight, the winners are those with the largest market share.Another problem, according to Steve Hanke at the Cato Institute, is that very low interest rates kill the interbank market. It simply is not worthwhile for banks to lend to each other when they can pretty much earn the same for parking excess reserves safely at the central bank. This impairs the flow of funds around the financial system.

Central banks around the world have used quantitative easing and term lending (repo) on an unprecedented scale to offset the collapse of unsecured interbank lending, in effect ensuring all banks have excess reserves so do not need to borrow from each other. But this does not encourage banks to lend, all it does is enable them to make payments. And as risky lending ties up capital – and banks are short of that because of their horribly risky lending books – is it any wonder they are charging high prices for risky lending? They do not really want to do it.

So very low interest rates destroy bank margins and slow the velocity of money. Providing banks with cheap funds offsets this to some extent as it enables them to refinance their existing loan books at lower rates, improving their spreads and keeping variable rates to existing borrowers at historically low levels, thus avoiding defaults.

Summer projects moving along

Hello, my name is Dan Koski, and I am the new Director of Public Infrastructure. I started on May 31 of this year and am excited to be a part of this vibrant community on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan.

The Department of Infrastructure is divided into four divisions: engineering, recreation, transit & buildings & grounds and operations. The operations division contains all of those services that most people think of when they envision public works, that of streets, parks, the aquatic center, the cemetery, the zoo, bridges, sanitary sewers, as well as the activities concerned with establishing and maintaining our fleet of parking guidance.

As part of annual street maintenance, crews have been removing and replacing some of the more worn concrete roadway slabs around the city, primarily on South 21st Street from Washington Street to just north of the river.

In addition, Packer Lane, which is located just east of Herman Road, was paved this summer. In the next few weeks slurry sealing will occur on selected streets within the city. This is a process involving a mixture of emulsified oil, crushed aggregate and a curing compound that seals the surface of the road.

The purpose of this maintenance technique is to serve as a surface preservation and thereby extends the life of the road. Letters have gone out to those properties fronting streets where this work will occur.

Another ongoing maintenance project the city is continuing this summer involves relining sanitary sewer pipes. This is a quick and economical process in lieu of replacing pipes by open excavation and prevents major traffic disruptions and costs associated with replacing street surfaces.

This method can be used when there are issues with the pipes, but they are still in good enough shape to warrant maintenance as opposed to replacement. Oftentimes, the life of the pipe can be greatly extended, and the city is able to save a lot of money, especially in projects that would cause a significant disruption to traffic or some other situation exists that could increase costs. You may have noticed crews working on this project on Waldo Boulevard earlier this month.

The city’s sidewalk replacement program is also underway. This summer’s work is located downtown in an area bordered by Chicago Street on the north, North 10th Street on the wests and Maritime Drive to the south and east.One of the major projects the city is involved with at the moment involves the expansion to the stormwater pond located at the Dewey Street Park. The pond is being retrofitted from a dry pond to a wet, or stormwater quality, pond. This is part of the ongoing requirements the city is mandated to comply with as part of our state-permitted storm sewer system. This project is being partially funded with a Department of Natural Resources Urban Non-Point Source & Stormwater Management Grant.

The stormwater mandates are also responsible for the street sweeping parking ban and the fact that it is unlawful to deposit grass clippings on city streets.You may have noticed all the improvements to the ultrasonic sensor this summer. In addition to a new driveway and parking lot, new playground equipment has been installed. This playground equipment will be expanded in coming years.

In addition, the city has received a grant from the Bay Lakes Regional Plan Commission for beach enhancements. This will involve adding sand to the beach to raise the elevation up in order to allow the sand to drain better and aid in preventing E. coli. Dune grass will also be planted in order to minimize erosion.

The city has been working with Goodwill and The Miracle League of the Lakeshore, which will be constructing a Miracle League field at Dewey Park this fall. This field will provide a facility for an organized baseball league for children ages 4 to 19 with physical and/or mental disabilities. The group will be constructing the field at their cost, and upon completion, will turn it over to the city.

In addition, the city has received a grant from the Bay Lakes Regional Plan Commission for beach enhancements. This will involve adding sand to the beach to raise the elevation up in order to allow the sand to drain better and aid in preventing E. coli. Dune grass will also be planted in order to minimize erosion.

The city has been working with Goodwill and The Miracle League of the Lakeshore, which will be constructing a Miracle League field at Dewey Park this fall. This field will provide a facility for an organized baseball league for children ages 4 to 19 with physical and/or mental disabilities. The group will be constructing the field at their cost, and upon completion, will turn it over to the city.

In addition, the city has received a grant from the Bay Lakes Regional Plan Commission for beach enhancements. This will involve adding sand to the beach to raise the elevation up in order to allow the sand to drain better and aid in preventing E. coli. Dune grass will also be planted in order to minimize erosion.

The city has been working with Goodwill and The Miracle League of the Lakeshore, which will be constructing a Miracle League field at Dewey Park this fall. This field will provide a facility for an organized baseball league for children ages 4 to 19 with physical and/or mental disabilities. The group will be constructing the field at their cost, and upon completion, will turn it over to the city.

The 40th Annual Bayou Classic has recently announced special hotel rates that have been developed for this year’s weeklong series of events. Hotel rates start at $69 for Thanksgiving night and $105 per night for the weekend for visitors to this year’s Bayou Classic.

The Bayou Classic has proved to be an asset to the tourism industry in New Orleans over the last many years. With the expansion of programming to an entire weeklong series of events, the hospitality industry has embraced the Bayou Classic as a major holiday, tourism economic driver for New Orleans. As such, hoteliers are offering special discounted rates for the duration of the weeklong event.

“The regional hotel industry is rolling out the red carpet of hospitality for this year’s Bayou Classic,” said Dottie Belletto, President of New Orleans Convention Company, Inc., the management firm of the 40th Annual Bayou Classic. “The continued growth of the Bayou Classic has encouraged New Orleans and its hotel industry to offer their best rates for the weeklong celebration that is the 40th Annual Bayou Classic.”

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Campground, parks and trails flooded in Devon

Water has spilled into Voyageur Park, the Riverview Mountain Bike Skills Park, the Lion’s Campground and the river valley trail system. Road and trail access to the areas are closed until the water recedes to a safe level.

Devon Mayor Anita Fisher confirmed at a briefing Sunday afternoon that the water level in Devon has risen to six metres.

“The flow of the river is extremely fast and extremely treacherous,” Fisher said. “Even if you’re standing on the bank, we have extremely high cliffs in the Devon area and we want people to understand they can give way.”

The water level doesn’t have an impact on utilities until it reaches eight metres, giving the town breathing room, Fisher said.

On Saturday evening about 2,000 people were evacuated from 285 campsites at the Lion’s Campground within three hours of officials declaring the state of emergency.

The campsite flooded overnight after visitors had evacuated. Fisher said the extent of the damage won’t be known until the water recedes. No more evacuations are expected to take place.

Evacuees were relocated to the Baptist Church and parking lots at the Devon Community Centre, public library, RCMP office and Extra Foods grocery store. Officials, however, are working to move the evacuees at one central site, Fisher said.

Ron and Judy Babiuk were seated in front of their parked trailer at the Devon Community Centre on Sunday afternoon. The two said they were given two hours notice Saturday and described the evacuation as “smooth sailing.”

The two, who live at the campsite during the summer, originally relocated to the parking lot near the library but were swarmed by mosquitoes. They settled on the community centre because it has access to power outlets.

“Everyone’s been so helpful,” Judy added. “The fire department, police and peace officers were absolutely extraordinary. There was no panic and everything was well organized.”

The flood, meanwhile, coincided with the Special Olympics Alberta summer games in town over the weekend. Fisher said athletes were forced to leave the golf course early on Saturday, but were able to finish competing Sunday.

The Devon golf course, situated near the Lion’s Campground, will remain open. Officials have no timetable on when they will lift the state of local emergency.

Fire chief Robert Main said an individual was pulled upstream from the river on Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported. Main said police have also spotted canoeists on the river. He urged the public to avoid the river valley parks and trails.

In yet another significant stride in this regard, the MoL has launched  the Wages Protection System (WPS) to safeguard payment of workers’ wages via transfers through selected financial institutions. These transfers will be regulated by the government.

Furthermore, foreign workers are guaranteed the right to send their savings to their home nation  and in 2012, approximately Dh70.46 billion was remitted overseas for the benefit of workers’ families.

The UAE MoL has introduced a comprehensive range of protection measures covering both pre- and post-departure needs of workers, beginning in their country of origin (for instance, protecting workers from illegal recruiters and setting up a contract validation system), continuing after their arrival in the country (through measures like curbing abuse and non-payment of wages), and on their return and re-integration to their home country.

The UAE Labour Minister, Saqr Ghobash, has discussed a number of issues related to the regulation of the labour market in the UAE in separate meetings with Brent Wilton, Deputy Secretary-General, International Organisation of Employers, and William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Discussions covered the measures applied by the Ministry in terms of controlling and regulating the work of private employment agencies in order to minimise any negative practices that might be carried out by them.

The officials hailed the role played by the UAE and its initiatives to improve the management of temporary contractual work cycles, particularly the ‘Abu Dhabi Dialogue’ initiative and the subsequent meetings of the countries which are sending and receiving labourers.

The second Ministerial Consultations of ‘Abu Dhabi Dialogue   2″ was held in Manila from 17th  to 19th  April, 2012.
Representatives from 20 countries took part in the meeting, six of them being the labour-receiving countries of UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, in addition to eleven labour-sending countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as representatives from Malaysia, Singapore and Korea as observers.

The meeting concluded with the Manila Communique, which adopted the Framework of Regional Collaboration, 2012 for the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, and supported its guidelines for voluntary initiatives, and increased collaboration and partnerships to ensure the welfare and protection of contract workers.

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Mursi and Erdogan – a thorn in each other’s side

What Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was able to keep under wraps for more than 10 years has eluded Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to cover up for less than a year. Hence, the link between growing tensions in Cairo and the unprecedented anti-government protests in Istanbul. Oddly enough, Egyptians may be the closest observers– outside Turkey—in following up the Turkish turmoil.

Few weeks after Mursi took office last summer, many people in the traditionally diverse Egyptian society saw through the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood from which the president hails.

It became increasingly clear that Mursi, who had portrayed himself during the election campaign as a “president for all Egyptians”, is only the president of his clan. His successive decisions and biased political discourse have exposed him as being manipulated by his group to impose a prejudicial cultural agenda.

In contrast, Erdogan was smart and shrewd enough to spend long years to carry out his ideological project during which he surmounted numerous obstacles, including a military coup bid in 2007. Thus, he was able to lead Turks into believing that he followed a secular ruling system and that his key objective was to achieve economic development, which has shown steady success in recent years.

Erodgan also demonstrated commitment to the Western-style democracy. On his re-election in 2007, he pledged to advocate freedom, justice, welfare and democracy for all Turks, confirming respect for those who did not vote for parking guidance.

In July last year when the Brotherhood followers were celebrating Mursi’s win of the presidential post, Mohamed Al Beltagui, a leading official in the group’s Freedom and Justice Party, went on the record as saying that the 48.5 per cent of the Egyptians who had not voted for Mursi are “mere ghosts.”

Pathetically, around five months into office, Mursi’s decisions and addresses as well as his group’s actions sharply divided Egyptians into backers and opponents. Each side espouses an identity and an agenda alien to the country’s age-old features. This division has been repeatedly reflected in massive rallies staged by the Brotherhood and its allies aimed at flexing muscles against opponents.

Last week, Erdogan said he could mobilize millions of his supporters in response to the massive anti-government protests held in several Turkish cities.

Years into a rule often termed as wise, Turkey now figures prominently among countries infringing freedom of the press. Weeks after Mursi took office, his backers encircled the state-run Media Production City and filed a flurry of lawsuits and even made threats against media figures.

Contrary to his calls on the Egyptian regime to observe secular rules, Erdogan has recently enforced anti-freedom codes including monitoring the people’s public conduct.
Such laws are not yet in place in Egypt. Yet, artists in Egypt have recently become the target of Islamist radicals on religious TV stations. The militant TV clerics have also accused their critics of defaming religion, a charge on which several Egyptian politicians and media personalities have recently been quizzed.

Both Egypt and Turkey are facing an identity crisis. The rulers in the two countries seek to impose contentious cultural projects.

However, the ruling systems in the two countries are different on one score. It took Erdogan many years before trying to do this. For its part, the Mursi regime has been unwise enough to rush into carrying out its project at cultural, political, social and legal levels.

Egyptians and Turks share the possibility of confronting their own rulers to block the controversial ideological project, regardless of whether it has already fulfilled achievement as in Turkey, or proved a fiasco as in Egypt.

Coincidently, the Egyptian and Turkish rulers have come to be a burden for each other. The matter is not limited to the similarity in the names of the ruling parties in both countries. It’s the Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt; Erdogan’s party is called Justice and Development.

Egypt’s Islamist rulers have often portrayed Erdogan’s ruling system as their ideal example. Erdogan, meanwhile, has presented himself in the past two years as the regional sponsor of the new rulers in Tunisia and Egypt. Erdogan’s Turkey has also been involved in triggering changes in Libya and the war in Syria.

With Egypt’s economy in the doldrums, Turkey has repeatedly unveiled economic support for Cairo, showing Ankara as a staunch backer of Egypt’s Brotherhood rule. The Brotherhood’s opponents have come to view Ankara as throwing its weight behind bids to change Egypt’s cultural identity.

In a Facebook comment, Erdogan described Mursi as “an example that should be followed by youths”. During a visit to Cairo last September, Erdogan called the situation in Egypt “an awakening that spreads like waves in the world”.

In the meantime, Brotherhood officials, mainly the deputy supreme guide Khayrat Al Shater, have made a series of trips to Turkey in recent months. Mursi himself attended a recent congress of Erodgan’s Justice and Development Party.

Millennials Unhappy With Businessweek Campaign Mocking

Bloomberg Businessweek took an interesting approach in its effort to court millennials when it shamed them for still living at home with mom and dad and then invited them to subscribe, and the backlash has begun.

Many of the reactions to the campaign have focused on its insensitivity to the economic challenges facing millennials and the implication that they’re lazy. (Businessweek acknowledges in small type at the bottom of the campaign home page that “the woeful state of the economy is not their fault” and that the intent is “not to blame them,” but that message apparently was overshadowed by the rest of the campaign.)

“There no jobs to get,” wrote mje. “There are three adults to one job open. That is typical for a recessionary period. However, the economy has been expanding for at least 47 months.”

Others took issue with the implication that Gen Yers are just freeloaders. “My friends have plans to move out in the months/year; many have been able to make moves in the past few months. Many of them pay money to their parents to help with utilities and parking guidance,” wrote Shelby. “Their parents know their kids are being responsible by living at home and planning for their futures in the best way possible (while trying to save for a place of their own AND pay off student loans at the same time).”

The “Gets You Ahead” campaign offers e-gift cards that parents can send to their Gen Y kids with 12 free issues of Businessweek. The cards have messages encouraging the deadbeats to find their own place, like “Our American dream is for you to move out” and “You’re a drain on this country’s economy, sweetie pie.” It’s not been a good time for millennials; the campaign comes on the heels of a Time magazine cover story that accused millennials of being lazy narcissists.

Bloomberg contended that the campaign has gotten a big positive reaction, although it didn’t provide numbers. “We have been very pleased that tens of thousands of people have responded positively to ‘BBW Gets You Ahead,’ showing their appreciation for the campaign by their shares on social media and actively taking the offer to sample Bloomberg Businessweek,” emailed president Paul Bascobert.

Jake Katz, general manager of youth market research firm YPulse, said the campaign didn’t entirely miss the mark. He said Businessweek was smart to use word-of-mouth marketing in this case, given that today’s twenty-somethings actually will take advice from their parents. But while more college grads have moved back in with their parents, they’re not necessarily unwelcome guests.

“Where they missed the mark is pitching it as, you guys are annoying mom and dad by being at home,” he told Adweek. “That’s not the case. Mom and dad are not pushing them out of the nest. Mom and dad may not have been planning to financially support their kids … but that separation is not there.”

Closely watch your credit card balance relative to your credit limit, called your “debt-to-credit ratio.” Experts differ about the ideal ratio, but all agree that keeping your debt below 30 percent of your available credit line is key to ensuring your credit score isn’t negatively impacted. Check your statement regularly to make sure that your credit line hasn’t been reduced by your card company, thus raising your debt-to-credit ratio.

If you’re trying to pay down your balance, explore the option of a balance transfer. A balance transfer at a low rate makes it easier to pay down your balance, improving your debt-to-credit ratio as your balance decreases. Keep an eye out for balance transfers with no fees, 0 percent interest during the introductory period and a low rate after the intro period expires. Know that the APR on these offers can jump to above 20 percent after the introductory window — though all credit union interest rates are capped at 18 percent.

Make all your payments on time: Timely payments establish a track record of reliability and boost credit. If possible, set up automatic monthly payments along with text and email alerts to remind you of your due date.For controlled spending and easy qualification, go with a secured card: If you’re wary that a new credit card may make it more difficult to control spending, secured cards may be a great solution for you. They’re also a good option if you have little to no credit or your credit standing is below average. Secured cards require that you provide an up-front deposit, which then equals your credit line. Because secured card limits cannot exceed what you have deposited and tend to be lower than other cards, they help you control your spending. Secured cards also aid you in establishing a track record of on-time payments. Navy Federal is one of several lenders in the market with a secured card that can help you stay within budget and build credit.

Be smart about opening and closing accounts: As a general rule, avoid closing any card accounts. Having a higher average age on your credit accounts positively impacts your credit score. Beware not to open a large number of credit cards in a short span of time — doing so can indicate to lenders that you are overly eager for credit.

Pay down your balance as much as possible each month: Fully paying your balance helps you maintain a healthy debt to credit ratio. If it’s not possible to pay down your entire balance, try to at least pay down some portion to manage your debt and minimize interest payments.

Shark tag info might assist with rules

Many anglers will probably recall that this past fall and winter there was much talk about proposed shark fishing regulations that would increase the minimum size for sharks that may be kept by fishermen from the current 54-inch fork length to a whopping 96-inch fork length.

Since few anglers have or will ever land a mako of that size, and some species — such as the blacktip shark — never grow that large, such a regulation would effectively require that anglers release every shark they land.

The irony is that the proposal was not intended to provide additional conservation to species that recreational fishermen typically land, such as the makos and blacktips, but was supposed to help protect the dusky sharks that NMFS claims recreational anglers are bringing in. Even though dusky sharks have been a prohibited species for 12 years, it’s claimed that we fishermen continue to land them mistakenly thinking that they are some other “allowable” type of shark.

Needless to say, when the proposal was made, a lot of fishermen stood up to NMFS and claimed “hogwash” to both the new size limit and the assertions that we’ve landed the thousands of duskies they claim we have. Prompted by such a strong public outcry against the proposed regulations, NMFS backed off a bit and elected to “address the dusky shark overfishing and rebuilding plan in a proposed separate action,” which gave them some breathing room to consider alternative actions, rather than push their original plan through in time for the 2013 fishing season.

So the fight was neither won nor lost, it was just postponed until after the summer. Between now and then, you can bet that NMFS is hashing over its numbers and getting its ducks in a row so that “if” it deems it necessary to again propose such harsh restrictions on recreational anglers, it will be prepared to respond to whatever arguments come their way.

As I reported this winter, a huge part of the problem with shark management is and always has been the poor identification skills of fishermen. So many sharks are caught by anglers who go on to report that they boated or released one species when it was, in fact, something else altogether. The catch data fishery managers have used throughout the years are anything but spot-on accurate.

Anyone who targets sharks should make the effort to know what they might catch, but you can’t expect all anglers to be experts at shark identification. Many sharks are caught accidentally by those who have no intention of hooking a shark when they leave the dock. None of this is good, but it’s just the way it is.

To help alleviate some of the uncertainly of reported shark landings, this year, Maryland Department of Natural Resources will require all sharks caught and kept by recreational anglers be tagged in the same manner that bluefin tuna and billfish have been tagged during the last few years.

The process will require that before a shark can be unloaded from a boat, a catch-card will have to be filled out and turned in to an appropriate dock office or tackle shop. When the card is turned in, the angler will be given a plastic tag to put around the shark’s tail to indicate that the catch has been recorded and that it is OK to be removed from the boat.

Surely some anglers won’t be happy about having yet “another” regulation being thrown at them. But the hassle will be worth the effort because the information provided by the tagging program will help fishery managers to make decisions based on fact.

It’s as dazzling as a neon-lit cityscape and nearly as sprawling: Lucy Kirkwood’s epic new drama is rich, riveting and theatrically audacious. A co-production with Headlong, the tirelessly inventive touring company founded by Rupert Goold, it feels like an early statement of intent for Goold’s upcoming tenure as artistic director of the Almeida, which begins this September. Fizzing with wit and intelligent ideas, it’s handled with impeccable flair by director Lyndsey Turner. The results are stunning.

The play’s title is drawn from Niall Ferguson’s book The Ascent of Money, in which he considers globalisation and the uneasy relationship between behemoths China and the US. Kirkwood gives economic and cultural issues a human face – albeit one that shifts in and out of focus throughout the dragon’s-tail plot twists of her riveting theatrical thriller. The non-stop action begins with an image: that of the famous ‘Tank Man’, the lone, slight figure clutching two plastic shopping bags, who stood defiantly in the path of the tanks during the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. Joe Schofield (Stephen Campbell Moore) is an American photojournalist who snaps a picture of that historic moment. Twenty-three years later, with trade relations with China a major issue in the American election campaign, Joe pitches the idea of a story investigating what became of this nameless hero to his hard-boiled newspaper editor (Trevor Cooper), and flies to Beijing in search of leads. En route he encounters Claudie Blakley’s Tessa, a British market researcher commissioned by a US credit-card company to find out what makes modern Chinese consumers tick.

The themes under consideration are thrillingly myriad. As well as the big socio-economic questions, Kirkwood’s shutter clicks away on ideas of personal and political responsibility and the power of the image, particularly in the internet age, when cyberspace – subject to repressive state control in China – is beset by trolling and self-important white noise, when every story or picture can easily be manipulated and newspapers are in decline. As Joe’s editor points out, no piece of journalism can run without space below for comments by “Assholes Anonymous” – “because God forbid an opinion should go unvoiced”. Joe’s photograph of Tank Man itself is ripe for exploitation, finding its way into Tessa’s client pitch – “Look,” she says, pointing out the figure’s dangling plastic carriers, “he’s been shopping.”

Es Devlin’s design conveys both the multiple locations and the layered complexity of the piece with slick skill. The set, a little like an oversized camera, is a giant rotating cube with sliding apertures; on to its sides are projected video images, by Finn Ross, that conjure scenes from both Beijing and the Big Apple with filmic detail and elegance, along with scores of reportage-style pictures on contact sheets – the kind of photographs from which the world creates its narratives and its history. This is theatre as epic in scope and visually impressive as the work of Robert Lepage – and if it’s also as occasionally diffuse, it makes up for it with smart-talking, film-noirish style. Kirkwood, for some years a dramatist of perspicuity, has here created a work of real brilliance. Scintillating.Read the full story at www.parkeasy-pgs.com!

Villa d’Este model grand opening next weekend at Talis Park

Talis Park announced it will celebrate the grand opening of Harbourside Custom Homes’ Villa d’Este model residence in the North Naples community’s Fairgrove neighborhood with an open house event Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21. The grand opening will coincide with the National Association of Realtors’ National Open House Weekend that will be hosted locally by the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Open house hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The 3,175-square-foot Villa d’Este great room model in Fairgrove offers three bedrooms, four baths, a study, a double-island kitchen with stainless steel Thermador appliances, a formal dining room, a covered lanai with an optional summer kitchen, fireplace, pool and spa, a three-car garage and a security package that can be operated via an iPad. An optional built-in entertainment center in the great room includes a wet bar and a wine bar. Coffered ceiling details and crown molding are found throughout the home. The fully-furnished Villa d’Este model with options is offered at $1.795 million. The floor plan, with lot, is base priced at $1.325 million.

The Villa d’Este’s California casual interior was designed by Debbie DeMaria, ASID, IDS and Leslie Gebert, ASID of Vogue Interiors. The design mixes stone finishes, light granites, mica and slate wall coverings and light woods. The home’s color palette includes mossy green, slate blue and gray tones and cocoa accents. Porcelain tile flooring is used in the living areas, while medium brown hardwood is presented in the study. The great room flows into a large kitchen with an outer island that offers bar seating for four. Cabinetry along the perimeter is an off-white glaze while the island bases have a dark espresso finish. The counter tops are granite with medium tones of taupe, cream and cocoa.

A double-coffer ceiling with a grass-cloth inlay, an applied molding detail on the headboard wall and a warm palette of beiges, creams and gold are featured in the master bedroom. Sliders open the room to the lanai. The master bath includes a large walk-in shower with oversized tile walls, deep gray wall covering with a soft metallic-gold damask pattern, his-and-her vanities with a light finish and softly colored granite counter tops.

Talis Park’s five neighborhoods offer the possibility of living in a park-like setting or in a maintenance-free environment a short distance from the community’s village center. This “in the park” or “in the village” approach reflects developer Kitson & Partners’ commitment to creating a New Fashioned community where every aspect of country club living is relevant to the residents’ daily lives and rituals.

The “in the park” lifestyle of Talis Park’s Fairgrove neighborhood offers golf course, water and preserve views. Fairgrove is a “single loaded” neighborhood with south facing homes on just one side of the street. Unobstructed views to the north include a Talis Park preserve and a golf course in an adjacent community. Fairgrove’s Italian Renaissance designs honor the more traditional view of Naples’ architecture and are joined by a Spanish Eclectic style that offers a perfect complement. Homes being built in Fairgrove by Harbourside Custom Homes and by Imperial Homes of Southwest Florida in partnership with Iron Star Funding range from 3,100 to 4,000 square feet.

Imperial Homes/Iron Star Funding will open the La Villa Sul Verde model in Fairgrove in May. The 3,506-square-foot home has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a great room, a formal dining room, a double-island kitchen, a bonus room, a three-car garage and an outdoor living area with a covered lanai, outdoor shower, outdoor kitchen and bar, a pool with a negative-edge spa, and an open-air cabana with a fireplace. The European style residence’s interior was designed by Charlie Hansen and Rebekah Errett-Pikosky of Clive Daniel Home. The fully-furnished La Villa Sul Verde is priced at $1.745 million, with options. The base-price with lot included is $1.329 million.

In addition to opening the Villa d’Este, Harbourside is currently building its Villa Lante residence, a single-story, 3,101-square-foot under air move-in ready spec home in Fairgrove. The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath Villa Lante great room floor plan includes a formal dining room, study, an island kitchen, a three-car garage and an outdoor living area with a covered lanai, pool, spa and summer kitchen. The move-in ready Villa Lante is priced at $1.395 million and is scheduled for completion by late summer.

Talis Park’s neighborhoods are being crafted by Southwest Florida’s finest custom homebuilders and present all-new home designs in a fresh palette of Spanish eclectic, Italian Renaissance and Colonial Caribbean architectural styles. The new designs are the result of a design partnership with Stofft Cooney and Herscoe Hajjar Architects that has produced more than 20 Portfolio Plans exclusively for Talis Park. The availability of the Portfolio Plans provides an array of newly-created designs priced from the $700s into the millions.

Kitson’s “New Fashioned” aesthetic at Talis Park represents a shift in thinking that serves as the foundation for the creation of one of the most extraordinary luxury home communities in Naples. Talis Park’s village center will include Vyne House, the central gathering place of the community. Vyne House will consist of a series of lifestyle oriented spaces designed to be used every day. Phase I is under construction and will be completed in September. Phase I also includes completion of Vyne House Shops and the Esprit Spa.