Daily Archives: April 20, 2020

Lena Gebotszrajber Gilbert

I am wondering about the sanctity of social media boundaries which, at times, there seem to be none.

With the social distancing measures imposed upon us, many are becoming more and more engaged in using social media to strengthen ties as we practice social distancing. But me thinks that now more than ever we need to refortify social etiquette applying the Golden Rule to social media gatherings.

I wonder what Dear Abby would have to say, but Dear Lena has this to say:

When friends, colleagues, family or acquaintances organize a social media gathering, would not the same rules apply as if that same person invited you to their home?

Even though the virtual gatherers may all be sitting around in their PJs tuned in to talk about [whatever], your host still is your host and has put thought and care into establishing the gathering. So gatherers might want to think about the temptation to interrupt, redirect, and the like.

When weve been invited to someones house for a party it would be unlikely that attendees would dictate the actions and plans of the host. A social media gathering should be no different.

So yes, lets heal the world Tikun Olam with kindness and compassion, but there are many forms of kindness and compassion. Showing compassion and kindness is not always an outward action; it can be an inward, reflective, contemplative non-verbal deed. One need not say everything that comes to mind.

Please be respectful of your Social Media host.

Lena Gebotszrajber Gilbert

Springville

The rest is here:

Brave new world on social media - The Gazette

This is an Op-Ed contribution from Tamara Bullock, founder and CEO of aerospace communications firm Altitude Strategies, and Jim Faulkner, managing director USA, Altitude Strategies.

What will it take to convince customers and aviation staff that it is safe to take flight as we emerge from a global pandemic?

While speaking with our clients around the world especially in the United States we are often asked about how airports and airlines will convince people to travel again once the world starts flattening the curve of COVID-19. Fortunately, there has been some encouraging news recently from across the airline industry. Forbes reported that United Airlines has loaded flights to Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong and Shanghai starting on May 4. Flights from Newark and Los Angeles to greater China are not bookable, while flights from Chicago and San Francisco are mostly open to full fare bookings. Depending on regulatory approval and demand, flights could resume even earlier. The Economist reported that some European countries are beginning to switch their economies back on while leaders face a grim trade-off between economic health and public health.

In these days of abandoned gates, parked aircraft and empty ticket counters, that is indeed positive news. As airports think about returning customers and the wide range of employees from aircraft mechanics to Starbucks baristas many questions will be on the mind of industry leaders. How will social distancing impact the boarding process moving forward? How will aircraft cleaning and disinfecting affect ground operations at airports around the world? How will concessions and food service be impacted in a COVID-19 world? The International Air Transport Association, IATA, says that long-haul travel will take the longest time to recover as customers will choose to vacation as close to home as possible. It may well be a long time before airports see passengers roaming the concourses.

In spite of all the unanswered questions, the story of United reinstating some service to China is a good reminder that airports, as well as all businesses, should start planning for the return of customers, staff and concession partners. There is no time like the present to leverage some of the so called golden rules that we communicators practice during crisis response planning. Two important ones include focusing on empathy, especially if unavoidable furloughs are needed, as well as visibility of the C-Suite when presenting the unprecedented changes in business. This is no time for ambiguity or false hope. Maybe the word that best fits current circumstances is solidarity.

While we can all agree that IATAs predictions of losses and massive drops in commercial traffic volumes are grim, we need to plan ahead for some more hopeful news. As airports think about welcoming passengers back, it will be important to lead all communications efforts with a high degree of understanding for the health and safety concerns of travelers. Leaders throughout the aviation industry have done an excellent job of leading with compassion the past few weeks. No doubt, there will be significant changes at airports. Some possible scenarios include changes in boarding procedures because of social distancing requirements, processing health checks of arriving international customers, just like the one recently launched in Dubai, and serving food from concessions, just to name a few. Explaining the nature and rationale for all these changes will take a joint effort of airports, airlines and organizations like the Association of Airport Executives, IATA and International Civil Aviation Organization. The often used phrase the only certain thing is change has never been more true in our industry.

Leadership will need to pay special attention to one of the most understated but heroic groups front-line airport and airline staff, including the government agencies employees working alongside them. Infusing C-suite visibility and communications with themes of compassion will engage the wide range of employee groups that are connected to airports. Senior leadership will need to convince their staff and contractors that management is doing everything possible to ensure their safety by constantly reminding them of that message in a variety of creative ways. Everyone from the check-in agent through the jet-bridge maintenance staff to the business traveler flying to London will need to know that the airport has his or her safety and security top of mind.

Finally, as airports and the entire airline industry prepare to open its doors again, it is imperative that communicators present information with no room for misinterpretation. This is and will continue to be a challenge during these unique times, but it should always be the primary goal. Procedures will change daily. Rumors will flourish during a time of re-opening. The information that leaders thought was true one day may need to be retracted the next day. A key rule of thumb in crisis communications is to be both transparent and informative. Always.

Many tools exist these days from social media platforms to mobile apps to print and broadcast media that will be vitally important to airports when they welcome people back. For example, an airport with a mobile app that has engaging content, easy layout and good functionality would allow the organization to let employees and flyers know about everything from flight status updates to terminal openings. Frequently updated apps can prove to be cost beneficial and just one of many important tools for staff and customers.

Between the two opposing opinions, one being that the travel industry will soon return to normal and the other that commercial aviation will never be the same, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. The good news is that we will travel again. How travel will be re-shaped by the effects of social distancing as well as the need for significant investments in health and safety on the ground and in the air remains to be seen. Leaders will need to practice a lot of patience and provide consistent and empathetic messaging as a new and uncertain future emerges for the industry. With emerging awareness about the importance of social distancing and other mitigating behaviors, the aviation industry will soon be connecting our world again, and airports will be transporting cargo and welcoming passengers new and old onboard.

About the authors:

Jim Faulkner serves as managing director USA at Altitude Strategies. Faulkner brings more than 20 years of in-house marketing communications and PR experience, mainly in aviation. He managed communications strategy and content for major American and European airlines including Air France, American Airlines, Northwest Airlines. TWA and others. Through the years he has worked with amazing colleagues, partners and stakeholders across the United States. He also serves as an advocate and mentor for youth with DC-based Horton s Kids and performs improv at Washington Improv Theater

Tamara Bullock serves as founder and CEO at Altitude Strategies. Bullock is an experienced C-Suite communications and public affairs leader with a rich emergency and crisis management background in aviation and defense industries.

She crafted strategic communications and advocacy programs for major airlines, airports and OEMs in the US and around the world. Member of Women in Aviation International and AAAE.

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Op-Ed: Flattening the curve, opening the skies and the road ahead - Runway Girl - Runway Girl Network

On April 19th, National Geographic hosted a live Q&A with Dr. Jane Goodall to promote the new documentary film, Jane Goodall: The Hope, premiering this Earth Day on National Geographic, Disney+, and Hulu. Actor Pierce Brosnan and his wife Keely Shaye Smith moderated the presentation, with a few special guests along the way. It was an engaging conversation about the current state of the world amid a global pandemic and what everyone can do to make sure we dont steer too far off track going forward.

Before the presentation began, the Chairman of National Geographic Partners shared that Dr. Jane Goodall was supposed to appear at their campus in Washington, D.C., in early April and had a speaking engagement at Disneys Animal Kingdom theme park on April 22nd to celebrate Earth Day. She recently turned 86-years-old and has only gotten busier over the years. Jane Goodall shared that she was walking out the door to get in a car to the airport for a United Nations event in Belgium when she got the news that England had entered a state of lockdown. Around that time, she had started receiving cancellations from planned lectures in the United States.

If youre Jane Goodall and your ability to travel the world to talk to audiences about conservation were halted by a global pandemic, what would you do? The answer is continue to do your work in a virtual landscape. I have never been more busy in my entire life than I am right now. Shes sheltering-in-place with her sister in a family home in England participating in online lectures, podcasts, and reading books for children. She feels like shes able to do more now on a global scale than she was when she was constantly traveling.

Jane is passionate about educating children to become advocates for the planet. What she hopes audiences take away from the new film is that every person matters and little kids can make a big difference by influencing their parents. Seeds can grow after 2,000 years, she said in reference to her Roots & Shoots education programs, which have run on and off over several decades in over 65 countries. This includes China, where the program started in the mid-90s.

This pandemic has been predicted for years and years, Jane shared about the novel Coronavirus. In her opinion, the global pandemic came about because of mankinds disrespect of the natural world. She hopes this is a tipping point for the world to move in another direction. We have to look at our own lifestyles and make changes. Reports of improved air quality and cleaner water in densely populated areas show what can happen when we reduce our carbon footprint, but Jane Goodall fears that world leaders are pulling back too many environmental protections in an effort to speed up economies again, which would undo all the good weve seen so far and possibly make things worse.

How is it possible that the most intellectual species to ever walk the planet is destroying their only home?, Jane Goodall asked the audience. She says theres a disconnect between the head and the heart for a lot of people, which she says is what caused the COVID-19 pandemic to begin with. People have destroyed habitats, forcing animals into closer contact with humans allowing viruses to spill over. Trafficking, hunting, and exploiting animals in factory farms have all come back around with the pandemic. For the environment, deforestation, ocean pollution, and spitting fossil fuels into the air are destroying the earth. Every major religion has the same golden rule of treating others the way we want to be treated. Jane said that bringing animals into that equation would solve a lot of the worlds problems.

A wet market is really like a farmers market in America and Europe, Jane shared about the worlds misunderstanding of wet markets in China. Its just some wet markets that sell wild animals Most just sell fresh vegetables and normal meats at a reasonable price. Jane is against the sale of exotic animals and is herself a vegetarian, citing a number of instances over the years where poorly treated livestock have caused viruses when sold as meat, including in the United States.

The main point Jane Goodall wants citizens of the world to remember is that were all interconnected with the other creatures that share Mother Earth. Theres a lot that individuals can do right now from the comfort of their home, including donating. Donations are more important now than ever. She shared that chimps are very susceptible to these kinds of diseases because they share 98.6% of human genes. In these times when the world can be a scary and depressing place, doing good is not just good for the recipient, but also the giver. If you feel good, then youll do more and it will grow because of you.

My job is to give people hope because if we lose hope then forget it. If you dont have hope, why bother? Jane Goodall hopes here lifes work has taught people respect for others, respect for the environment, and respect for animals. Technology makes it easier to live in harmony with the planet, but governments need to get behind clean energy Nature will come back. It will become beautiful again.

You can learn more about Jane and her 60 years of continuous primate research in Jane Goodall: The Hopepremiering Earth Day, April 22nd, on National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD, Disney+, and Hulu.

Alex has been blogging about Disney films since 2009 after a lifetime of fandom. He joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and covers films across all of Disneys brands, including Star Wars, Marvel, and Fox, in addition to books, music, toys, consumer products, and food. You can hear his voice as a member of the Laughing Place Podcast and his face can be seen on Laughing Places YouTube channel where he unboxes stuff.

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Dr. Jane Goodalls Hope for the World Amidst a Global Pandemic - LaughingPlace.com

Carrie Bradshaws relationships are the focus of Sex and the City. Although we fall in love with Miranda and Steve, root for Charlotte and Harry, and love watching Smith change Samantha for the better, most of the shows attention is centered on the relationships that Carrie has. But when it comes to her major relationships with Big and Aidan, and to a lesser extent Berger and Petrovsky, there are a few details that still have us scratching our heads after all this time.

Its no secret that Carrie Bradshaw is far from the perfect girlfriend. But the way she sometimes behaves when shes in a relationship is seriously confusing. And the men she dates arent any better! Check out these 15 things that never made sense about Carrie Bradshaws relationships.

This truly blows our minds about Sex and the City. Carrie is supposed to be a relationship expert, to the point where shes paid enough money to sustain a New York City lifestyle just to bless her readers with one columns worth of knowledge a week. Doesnt she know the golden rule of love? Never pursue someone whos emotionally unavailable.

Big is at fault a lot throughout his relationship with Carrie, but shes not perfect either. For example, early on she appears to have some serious boundary issues by stalking Big and his mother at church and showing up at his ex-wifes office. Despite the red flags, Big doesnt seem to mind.

When Carrie starts dating Aidan, she makes a big fuss about how she doesnt want to meethis parents because its too soon and the relationship is going too smoothly to feel real to her. But when she dates Vaughn, she meets his family instantly. Where is the logic there?

The affair between Carrie and Big doesnt make a lot of sense to us. Carrie claims to love Aidan and value his feelings and yet shes willing to betray him in the worst way. And of all the men she could cheat with, she chooses the one who scorned her by saying he wasnt interested in marriage and then marrying a 26-year-old he met in Paris.

RELATED: 10 Signs You're The Carrie Bradshaw Of Your Friendship Group

Carrie spends a lot of time feeling terrible during and after her affair with Big. But we couldnt help but wonder: is the only person she feels sorry for herself? Carrie cant stand the fact that Natasha hates her after the affair, nor can she take it when Aidan seems to still be angry with her. Those arent the actions of someone who truly feels guilty.

We commend Carrie for having the courage to admit that shes having an affair with Big. But, of all the possible times to fess up, she does it on her best friends wedding day. Was there really no other moment to do it? Everyone knows that a wedding day should be all about the bride.

In the fourth season, Carrie gets back together with Aidan but she notices a few changes in him. He no longer kisses the ground she walks on. When she gets a hint that he might be punishing her for cheating, she lashes out at him, demanding he forgive her. We're pretty sure that's not what you're supposed to do after cheating on someone!

One of the weirdest things about the relationship between Carrie and Aidan is that he doesnt even seem to notice that she takes him for granted. Both in the first and second chapters of their relationship, she continuously snaps at him and gets frustrated with him, often when hes just trying to be helpful. And he never seems to have a problem with it.

After Carrie cheats on Aidan with Big and then they get back together, she actually invites Big up to Aidans country housewhich she cant stand despite the fact that it means a lot to Aidanwithout even asking first! And once again, Aidan seems to just accept it, even if he is slightly disgruntled.

RELATED: 15 Sex And The City Stars: Where Are They Now

For a relationships guru, Carrie certainly makes a lot of odd decisions. When she first discovers that Aidans going to propose, she actually throws up. When she tries on wedding dresses, her body breaks out in a rash. But for whatever reason, she still decides to go through with the wedding, until Aidan realizes hes never actually going to get her down the aisle.

Jack Berger is possibly one of Carries most irritating boyfriends. Another author, Berger cant stand the fact that Carrie is more successful than him. He is sulky and self-deprecating just because his book wasnt as successful as hers. The most baffling thing about him, though, is that he breaks up with her on a post-it despite being a grown man and not a teenage boy.

We know that Carries friends are important to her. But she puts pressure on her boyfriends to meet them before they are ready, which isnt that cool. She does it with Big and she does it with Aleksandr Petrovsky, who makes it clear to her that hes in the middle of important work and cant stop.

RELATED: 15 Life Lessons We Got From Sex And The City

Its tough when your friends dont approve of your boyfriend. That said, Carries out of line getting upset with her friends for not approving of Petrovsky. For someone who spends most of her life in cafes engaging in girl talk, its odd that she doesnt take their opinions, which turn out to be correct, more seriously.

Its not okay that Petrovsky slaps Carrie in Paris. But as far as the working all the time and leaving her alone in the hotel room goes, she should have expected it. She knows hes a workaholic and she knows how important his opening is to him. It seems like she really should have thought the decision to follow him to Paris through more carefully.

For the majority of the show, Big is emotionally unavailable, refuses to connect with Carrie on a level that she needs. But when she finally moves on with Petrovsky, he suddenly decides that shes the one. In real life, relationships dont tend to go that way. People dont have revelations that contradict everything theyve ever done at the last minute.

NEXT: 20 Brunch Ideas Inspired By Sex And The City

NextRanking Shameless' Biggest Character Exits, From Bummer To Necessary

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15 Things That Never Made Sense About Carrie Bradshaws Relationships - TheThings

The debate on the FX industrys incredible opportunity continues. This is a very candid and direct conversation. Are we just ranting, or can we REALLY challenge the status quo and empower millions of people around the world to trade and make an independent future for themselves?

In this weekly series, I look back on what stood out, what was bemusing, amusing and interesting during my weekly travels, interesting findings within the FX industry and interaction with an ever-shrinking big wide world. This is purely observational and for your enjoyment

Multi-asset, challenger banks and the Drew Niv debate Is this a rant or are we going to break the status quo?

Last weeks dialog between FXCM founder Drew Niv, a few wizened executives with a long career in this industry and one particular wizened old crone me has actually sparked quite a debate.

Since I highlighted the intricacies of what was said, a few of the more thoughtful among us have sent me their perspectives, which have been in many cases very detailed.

I actually agreed with Drew, for the most part, however I did have my say quite vocally which spurred mixed views to appear on my desk.

One particular dialog or perhaps diatribe that took this matter further was that of Richard Goers, CEO of professional trading platform development company ManagedLeverage.

Richards combination of several years at senior level in risk consultancy for many brokers and institutions in the Asia Pacific region and technological development skills are quite a comprehensive background from which to look at this problem. Well, I say problem, but could that mean problem, challenge or opportunity to innovate and dominate the new wide-ranging online financial services industry as per Drews initial rant er i mean perspective.

This issue needs more depth and debate, I love it! enthused Richard.

I have a degree of respect for Drew Niv said Richard. FXCM started FXCM Ventures in about late 2013 and ManagedLeverage was going to pilot its product with them for an equity stake, the mandate of FXCM Ventures was to buy into platforms that were aligned to FXCM busienss model in the APAC region, until 2015 which brought the Swiss Franc escapade to the world markets, soon followed by FXCMs US misadventure and then it slipped into the darkness he said.

I go back a long way, having also worked with the Australian branch of the company. My opinion is never waste a crisis said Richard.

So my thinking on this has drawn me to an opinion. You put forward an idea, along the lines of a previous Mind The Gap editorial that you did regarding brokers funding newbie accounts to get them trading. There is always one problem, that being who pays the winners or someone has to lose, or the Pareto principle-law which is a bastardisation of the rule but the principle applies to 20:80 and with leverage 1:99 he said.

Andrew I think you have hopes indeed if you think the market maker model that exists today can become straight-through-processing (STP) so the retail traders can make money, as this is very unlikely, the win lose dial doesnt shift, and no matter if more retail traders start, it remains the same structure he said.

That was a reaction to my perhaps utopian but in my opinion quite realistic and practical thought that we can become an industry that now empowers the millions of people around the world with no livelihood due to the recent global government brutality which has been sold as necessary lockdowns. I believe we are in the right sector to give people the empowerment to become financially independent by trading the markets if it is done correctly, as I said two weeks ago with full detail of how I see it working.

Richard said That is why retail FX Market Makers exist. They cannot make the same money dealing against institutions taking the other side of the trade, and also hedge funds wont take the counterparty risk against FX margin brokers.

Richard is right, but the world is a different place now to what it was just two or three months ago, and adaptation is the key. If a commission model became universal for spot transactions, and access to stocks and exchange traded derivatives was widespread on retail platforms, all brokers would gain huge new client bases of very skilled people who would learn to master the markets, and then THEY would create the market, we would just be the software and systems providers, connectivity agents and facilitators, for which traders pay a commission.

It would be equitable, and would benefit all of us as well as millions of people who had never traded before or had any intention to trade, who are likely to be very good long term clients if theyre given the right environment, many of whom are used to running their own small businesses (small businesses have been the biggest casualty of the brutal lockdowns) or been laid off from very high level professions, meaning they are educated and experienced people.

So, all these brokers are making money at the moment on the b-book, but I dont see how you think a market maker can evolve from anything other than a retail broker whose earnings come from retail losses, their management has what background? Marketing, not risk management, not Funds management, NOT running a bank whether neo or old school, and affiliate marketing is not the basis of a good brokerage he said.

Most of those are a world away from the UK brokers, including Nordic-Asian Saxo Bank and the Japanese, and these UK and Nording/Asian firms are slowly moving to High Net Worth retail clients, not so much institutional, but higher equity retail market he said.

Who can support their trading with any capital in the longer term? So, same space, smarter thinking which is to attract the HNW retail or semi experienced traders with larger instrument universe + leverage, meaning that we turn the industry into a form of wealth management, but the cycle of disruption remains said Richard.

As far as neo or digital banks relating to to old school banks and where the FX industry can take this up as per Drews original message and your editorial prior to that, platforms in the new alternative asset space funded by tokens building out experimental distributed ledgers, the drive is cost cutting through P2P trading which cna be at least 50% cost reduction. Even the big boys, who make say $400 million in earnings per month scrap in $5 million in after tax profit, or about 5-6 pounds per Lot traded [this $ per Lot amount is the industry standard for market maker brokers FXCM, GAIN, IG, CMC and then the smaller MT4 firms around the world, $10 per lot or there abouts. FXCM and GAIN Capital public documents back to 2012 show the same numbers year in year out said Richard.

Richard then asked me why these numbers are so consistent, and hence why we all need volume and turnover, which is another one of those equations inherent in the business model.

Some business models will survive, as with evolution, and if past is any guide, so too is the future. Therefore given the right time, if this crisis may create the catalyst for P2P platforms, and that seems in the near future this may be the case, then then Tradeconnect, Sythetix, Spectre, Genesismarkets and so forth can survive in the same way that the Japanese car makers moved into the Americas in the 1970s and built their factories there and took over to domination with a totally American product, built in America, by Americans, appealing totally to an American audience, by a totally Japanese company Richard Goers, CEO, ManagedLeverage

If this happens, Richard sees that they have multiple service providers which are already well organized in our sector to help them integrate their systems into the market.

So it isnt the technology as such DLT for the sake, but that traders will evolve to trade from wallets into any instrument at leverage into digitalised assets, so CFD was the future, now the benchmark for new products said Richard.

We can also see this in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) experiment. Iif taken to its logical conclusion it will be P2P, removing any execution only platform, custodians, registries then ASX make $300 million per year on these services however they wont move too fast but just think if they partially succeed, then they will be copied and for some regional exchanges they can move the DLT, and offer digital shares such as the Gold platform selling Perth Mint gold [PMG token change gold to shares, FX => stable coins as an adapting product he said.

Then if Central banks move to digital assets, then what happens to banks as retail clients can open deposits at the central banks, then it would just be the lending bit I dont know about. So driving cost out of the platform, offering more instruments, P2P or trading from the wallet given COVID19 seems to be a way forward said Richard.

As far as the neo banks are concerned, well, we need simply to watch JFD as a small player and Saxo as the gorilla and how this plays out will be fascinating but seems rather like a stockbroker moving to fund management. A natural progression. Are they going to be a bank [payments, lending] or manager of funds on deposit? said Richard.

Richard also thinks that many stockbrokers are going to zero commissions using HFT to execute the trade. Robinhood and there were 3 of these before the GFC so its not revolutionary, but using HFT would be he said.

I think stockbrokers moving to fund management seems natural and I think the 10 year cycle that seems to be the life cycle of many businesses and the model for FX margin brokers on MT4 rented technology as marketing forms is ending. Its like a weed dying in the drought, when it rains they come back as sun flowers like Saxo, like IG, like Tickmill, like Rakuten or a weed to be pulled out by regulators and natural evolution he said.

Andrew do you think ICmarkets owners want to run a bank and to do good? I think not. Just show them the money asked Richard. This was in response to my analogy that here is a company which makes revenues of $500 million per month, could easily outpace all the challenger banks and does not even need any VC funding so when the challengers all run out of VC and go to the wall, companies like IC Markets would be like a global version of Hargreaves Lansdown combined with Revolut, with NO DEBT!

Its a mentality thing I would say. Instead, they continue to churn the leads, and make off to the Seychelles.

Richard then said I had a relook at FXCM public documents from 2014 when they were number two in global FX turnover. The results showed the top 10 brokers and ICmarkets was nowhere. IC always copies Pepperstone, even in website design, then in about 2016 they hit on their current model which took a while into 2017 and 2018 which are approx timelines and now dominate. They got the reach into China and South Africa, and good on them, but nothing special, just rented infrastructure with MT4 MT5 cTrader and zero commission but not the cheapest in total cost in spreads. Maybe they rode the wave of automated trading but still internalise 80% of exposures, therefore the same dog with fleas, just different stripes.

Which ever way you look at it, this is again the 80% rule natures equation like the golden rule. Thus I have no idea how things will evolve in this space like the markets it is good to speculate but I have skin in this business. In Q3 ManagedLeverage will promote its CCPP platform which provides continuous capital protection to active fund managers, self directed investors, family offices via a global distributor explained Richard.

Overall I see the world as fragmented into products or platforms and I agree more retail traders will trade margined products as a side hussle, but for most the journey it is a loss. The retail trader has to make money, and they can but not in the aggregate, usually in the minority so we are always playing to the few he said.

I still believe we have a huge opportunity here if we work together and get it right. What do you think, Drew?

Wishing you all a super week ahead!

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Mind The Gap! The life and times of a man on the move Episode 90 - FinanceFeeds

Sian Thomas, from the bakery, said this week: While were all stuck at home with little to do, taking up a new hobby like baking has taken off.

Not only does this give you something calming to focus your mind on, but you will also have the satisfaction of something tasty to enjoy at the end of the day and an impressive new skill to try out on your friends when lockdown is over.

Theres certainly no shortage of flour at Thomas the Baker and were willing to share!

Thomas the Baker stores across Yorkshire are currently selling their flour, including the Country Crunch blend used in this recipe, in 1kg bags.

The recipe released by this Yorkshire based family bakery uses this popular flour blend and the video shows how to bake it to perfection using simple techniques to create your own bread loaf at home.

Visit HERE to watch the video and get baking!

35 g fresh yeast OR 7g dried yeast

1 kg Country Crunch flour

50 g fat (butter, oil, lard etc.)

Pour the tepid water and milk into a bowl, then add the yeast.

Leave the yeast to activate for around 5-10 minutes. You may see bubbles start to appear on the surface of the liquid as it activates.

Add the flour, salt and fat to the bowl then mix to combine.

Either knead the dough by hand or using a dough hook on a mixer for 12 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Pop the dough back into an oiled bowl then leave to prove for up to 2 hours in a warm place or until it has doubled in size.

Knock the dough back by hand then shape into sausages that fit into your loaf tins. This recipe should make two small loaves.

Leave the dough to prove in the tins for up to 2 hours.

Bake the bread in a preheated 180c oven for 25-30 minutes, until the loaves have a golden brown colour.

Remove from loaf tins and leave to cool, then enjoy!

Simon Thomas, general manager at Thomas the Baker, offers his tips from his years of experience baking bread:

The golden rule for good homemade bread is to take your time a good loaf cant be rushed, it needs time and attention to allow it to prove well so that it can develop flavour and texture.

Kneading the dough is something that cant be rushed, whether thats on a mixer or by hand, so spending time here is absolutely essential to the success of your bread.

And a little secret bakers tip for an excellent homemade loaf a spritz of water into the oven as you pop the dough in will help to develop a good crust, so good that the only giveaway that you havent bought it in store is the aroma of freshly baked bread in your kitchen!

More here:

Family bakery in Yorkshire releases instruction video on how to make your own bread at home - The Star

Dear Toby, Tara and Tommy,

I am writing this letter to you during a great health and economic crisis.

There are different theories about how it began, but the one I believe is that the trouble began when someone in China ate the meat of a bat and caught a bat virus. The lesson is: Do not eat the meat of wild animals.

The virus has spread all over the world, and has infected more than two million and killed more than 140,000 people. The economic cost is very great: millions of people out of work and many businesses destroyed.

When we look back on this painful period, I want you to remember the importance of the three values which your Chinese names stand for: compassion, trust and praise.

Toby, your Chinese name, Shan, means kindness and compassion. It is the most important virtue extolled by the world's major religious and ethical traditions. There is even a Charter for Compassion, formulated in 2009 by leading thinkers of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism, led by Karen Armstrong, the famous writer of religion.

The message of the charter is to treat others as you would like others to treat you. This is often referred to as the golden rule.

In Singapore, I saw many displays of kindness and compassion during the crisis. In one case, four restaurants owned by people I know decided to collaborate to send free food, every day, to the healthcare workers of one of our public hospitals. In another case, a group of kind-hearted Singaporeans, including children, would set out each night to look for Malaysian workers who were stranded in Singapore without accommodation. The good Samaritans would take them to hostels set up to provide free accommodation for such workers.

At the hawker centre which Nai Nai (granny) and I often go to, I was pleased to learn that the humble uncle who prepares my coffee was offering free coffee and tea to the cleaners of the hawker centre.

The poor are often more generous than the rich. The billionaires of Singapore have been conspicuously silent during this crisis. We have, unfortunately, no one like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos among our super-rich people.

Professor Tommy Koh with his wife Poh Siew Aing and their grandchildren (from left) Tommy, now two, Toby, nine, and Tara, five, celebrating Prof Koh's 82nd birthday last November. In an open letter to his grandchildren, Prof Koh shares what he feels are the most important values in the current coronavirus crisis, and how his grandchildren's Chinese names reflect those values. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TOMMY KOH

I am happy that several of my friends have used social media to highlight the plight of our hawkers and to appeal to our netizens to support them.

Many of our hawkers make only a modest living. They do not have much in savings to fall back on. If their patrons desert them, they have no income. With no income, they and their families will be reduced to a state of poverty. They desperately need our help.

Tara, your Chinese name, Shin, means trust.

Trust has played a very important role in the way in which Singapore has coped with the crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic raging across the world is taking a huge toll on lives and economies.

Already touted as the biggest global crisis since World War II, it has forced countries to take unprecedented measures - slamming borders shut, quarantining millions, shutting down workplaces and schools, and giving out massive stimulus and job rescue packages.

As the crisis unfolds, expect orthodoxies and established relationships to be challenged, with some upended and others reshaped.

How will global institutions, nations, economies and societies respond? To make sense of the impact and fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading opinion leaders share their views of this global upheaval with The Straits Times in Coronavirus: The Great Disruption, a special series that runs this month in the Opinion section.

Trust has to be earned. It cannot be commanded by law. It cannot be demanded by a person or institution. A teacher, for example, cannot say to his students, "please trust me", if he is an untrustworthy person. A hospital cannot expect to be trusted if it does not have a good reputation for competence and honesty. The same is true for a political leader. He must be honest and transparent. He must be willing to tell the people the truth, even when the truth is unpleasant.

We are fortunate in Singapore to live in a high-trust society. We trust our doctors, hospitals and government officials. We trust our political leaders. Because there is a bond of mutual trust between the people and the Government, the people are willing to abide by the advice and edicts of our Government.

If the people did not believe in the Government's assurance that we have an adequate food supply, there would have been worse panic buying at our wet markets and supermarkets. People have mostly complied with the advice to keep a safe distance from one another and to work from home, because they know that the advice is based upon the best scientific evidence and international best practice.

The people in some other countries are not so lucky. In those countries, they do not trust their leaders, because the leaders have shown themselves to be untrustworthy. Some of the leaders do not have a good reputation for truth. Some leaders are irrational and do not believe in science and do not listen to expert advice. In such a situation, where trust is absent, chaos is often the result.

Tommy, your Chinese name, Song, means praise.

When this nightmare is over, we must not forget to praise the many people who have acted with courage, kindness and selflessness.

The first group we should praise are our doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. As was the case in 2003, during the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic, our healthcare workers have behaved like heroes. The reason why so few Covid-19 patients have died in Singapore is probably due to our excellent doctors, nurses and hospitals.

I wish to point out, in this respect, that our heroic nurses are paid about half the salaries of nurses in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. We should put our money where our mouth is and increase the salaries of our nurses.

The second group we should praise are the officials, consisting of civilians as well as police and army officers, who have been interviewing the Covid-19 patients and tracing their contacts. It is because of their detective work that we are able to implement the policy of detect, isolate and contain.

The third group are our front-line workers, at our airport and seaport, police officers and other individuals who work around the clock to ensure our security.

The fourth group are the workers who look after our amenities, such as electricity, water, sanitation and waste disposal, as well as our bus captains, train drivers, taxi drivers and private-hire car drivers.

The fifth group are the workers in our wet markets, supermarkets, hawker centres, coffee shops and restaurants, and the people who deliver food to our homes. They have ensured that we have adequate supplies of both cooked and uncooked food.

The sixth group of people we should praise are our indispensable foreign workers, such as our domestic helpers, cleaners, construction and shipyard workers, and others who work in jobs that Singaporeans are not prepared to do. We owe the foreign workers an apology for the atrocious condition of their dormitories.

The seventh group of people we should praise are the members of the multi-ministerial task force, especially its two co-chairmen, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, and Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health. Their near-daily press conferences have done much to keep our people informed and reassured.

Finally, I want to say something about the people of Singapore. In normal times, they have often behaved in a manner that is below my expectations.

However, most of the people of Singapore have risen to the occasion. They have remained calm, united and resolute.

There is, unfortunately, a small minority who have indulged in panic buying and refused to abide by the safe distancing rule.

I hope the bad behaviour of this minority will not compel the Government to take even more stringent measures than the circuit breaker.

Your loving Ye Ye

Professor Tommy Koh, a veteran diplomat, is rector of Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore.

Excerpt from:

Letter to my grandchildren in a time of pandemic - straits times

Ollie Millington/Getty Images

On April 7, an Airbus A330 landed at Dublin airport from China. The private plane, owned by air freight leasing company Avolon Aero, contained pallets of medical supplies destined for the Health Care Executive (HSE), the Irish health service. The sought-after equipment was the result of a collaboration between the public and private sector government officials both in Ireland and diplomats in China had worked with prominent private individuals who were able to bring their connections and influence to bear, including the rock star Bono, who donated 10 million to the project.

One of the people Bono approached to bring the project together was Liam Casey, the founder of logistics firm PCH International. Having spent the past 24 years working in China, the 54-year-old Irish entrepreneur has developed deep expertise in an area now critical to sourcing the equipment needed in the fight against coronavirus an intricate knowledge of global supply chains.

PCH doesnt reveal the identities of its clients, but they are widely reported to include many of the worlds biggest brands and consumer goods companies, including Apple, LOreal, Salesforce, Square and Beats. The company, which is headquartered in Cork, but has offices in San Francisco and Shenzhen works with brands to develop, manufacture and handle logistics for products that are either in your pocket or on your desk. Its end-to-end supply chain orchestration, Casey says. We take products from concept all the way through to a consumer.

PCH works at every level from design concepts to packaging, sourcing of raw materials and vetting of factories, it manages manufacturing and data services for brands to match clients with suppliers and to track orders and spot trends in real-time. It oversees e-commerce, fulfilment and distribution, often shipping directly to stores all over the world. It ships products as close to demand as possible in the way that, say, cloud computing scales services. The easiest way to understand PCH is to think of it as the Amazon Web Services of hardware.

As the UK government struggles to provide NHS workers and care givers with PPE equipment, its become clear that the current global demand for some medical supplies is insatiable and the marketplace treacherous. Unscrupulous middle-men act as brokers, supplying products of questionable provenance at vastly inflated prices Casey says that he has received numerous approaches from dubious sources every day claiming to access to large volumes of PPE and governments are outbidding each other for supplies and, allegedly, conducting piracy in order to access the crucial equipment. China is manufacturing around 200 million face masks per day with demand vastly outstripping supply.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, an EU agency, estimates that for each confirmed coronavirus case a health service would need 14 to 24 separate sets of personal protective equipment every day. According to Johns Hopkins University there are currently two million people who have tested positive for the virus. If even less than five per cent of these people are hospitalised, tens of millions of sets would be required per month, without even considering the demand from other organisations that need PPE, such as care homes.

So many people are chasing PPE, countries are chasing it, different states in the US are chasing it, hospitals are chasing it, so its hard to actually get solid supply, Casey says. Our focus is making sure that were comfortable with anything we get if youre putting a mask in the hands of a frontline worker it has to work.

Casey says that the only way to do this is to send teams to walk the line: to inspect every stage of the manufacturing process from raw materials to the finished product. You identify factories that have the licenses, you identify the factories that have access to materials, you identify the guys that have the automation and the capacity in their buildings, you want to make sure they can handle the volume.

Typically, PCH aims to move products from the production line to retailers in the US within 36 hours: products are trucked from factories to Hong Kong airport, pass through Chinese customs, loaded onto air freight for a 12-hour journey to the west coast and then through customs in the US and onwards to their destination. PCH works with partners on this final leg of the journey, which Casey describes as the last mile.

While PCH hasnt previously manufactured PPE, it has produced FDA-approved products since 2004. Regulation of this is determined by the International Organization for Standards, a Geneva-based group that oversees various commercial and industrial standards via representatives from across the world. The specific standard for medical devices is known as ISO 13485. Individual countries manufacture masks with physical properties and performance characteristics that adhere to this and can be expected to function at a similar level: the Chinese version of this is known as KN95, in Europe its FFP2 and the US N95.

These medical grade masks are different from the type that PCH is also working to source as part of an initiative by, among others, Y Combinator founder Sam Altman, who is hoping to crowdsource one billion masks for US workers within the next 180 days. These single-use, textile-based masks will have a Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) of around 95 per cent. While not FDA approved, they are suitable for use in hospitals for non-frontline staff. Casey says that the biggest orders thus far have come from service companies, such as food delivery.

In order to keep freight costs down, this PPE will be shipped across the Pacific to Long Beach in California. Typically, this takes thirty days, but faster boats have been sourced which will take two weeks. Casey argues that this is the optimal way to ensure consistent supply as quickly as possible as long as PCH has visibility of the supply chain and it functions as it should do, then it can control what happens on either end of the time the equipment spends on the ocean. Transit time is real, that exists, but whats not real is all of the warehousing and all of the storage and all of the hoarding, and all of the gouging thats happening outside of the clean supply chain, he says. For us, its all about the quality of the factories and the data from the factories. We want to know the output on an hourly basis. Once we have that we can match it with wherever it needs to be We use data and AI to know where this stuff needs to go. Its the ultimate matching of demand and product, and technology can be used to do that.

Whether shipping consumer electronics or surgical masks, PCHs aim is to use data in order to shorten the supply chain if goods are in the hands of the consumer more quickly, the supply chain has a higher level of liquidity and capital requirements are lessened.

You have to pay up front because the factories are paying for the raw materials up front, paying for the equipment up front. We want factories that will build 5 million masks a day, so they have to make big investments, Casey says. Any transactions that are happening at the moment in China, theyre all cash up front.

China was able to ramp up production quickly as factories that had previously been producing other types, of products, such as consumer electronics, switched to producing masks. There are companies in China that, in January had never made a mask, and today they have a run rate of 30 million per day, Casey says. It also helps if you can mobilise the worlds largest oil, gas and petrochemical conglomerate company: the Chinese government instructed Sinopec to produce the raw materials in February.

At these kind of volumes you have to know where the raw material is. Wheres it coming from? When is that arriving? Is it on trucks? How fast is it going to get there? Casey says. If youve got a factory producing five million masks per day, it doesnt take long for those masks to fill up a lot of space, so youve got to create continuous flow as fast as possible.

The covid-19 crisis may lead to shifts in global supply chains, with some commentators arguing that western governments will not want to be reliant on east Asian manufacturing hubs again. But, for the foreseeable future, China will maintain its place as the worlds leading manufacturer. And, whether youre producing 900 smartphones or masks at 30 pence per unit, Casey maintains the golden rule: youve got to walk the line.

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Original post:

An Irish entrepreneur and Bono are fixing the PPE crisis - Wired.co.uk

Editors Note: Due to COVID-19, many breweries and beer shops have begun selling beer online or allowing for delivery or curbside pick-up. If youre able, support these small, local businesses with an order.

Does beer go bad? We chatted with ABC Beer Co. beer bar owner and Certified Cicerone Zach Mack about everything you need to know to make sure your beer haul stays fresh. Take notes.

Definitely, Mack says. You have to look at it as the freshness of this as something like bread or like a food product because thats what it is.

What does skunked beer taste like? If you dont already know, youve probably encountered it before. Mack describes it as a skunky smell like fresh-cut grass or weed or skunk spray. Basically, rotten beer.

Exposure to heat, air and light essentially, Mack says.

These are the three enemies of fresh beer. In this day-and-age of 16-ounce cans being the preferred vessel, light isnt as much of an issue as it used to be it obviously still is for bottles though.

Hops are photosensitive and theyre also sensitive to air, just like everything that breaks down in beer, Mack says. Even when beer is sealed in a can, and cans are better vessels than bottles, it still has some exposure to air thats going to break down the compounds.

While in-person shopping has decreased drastically, knowing how to spot beer thats expired is crucial. Nine times out of ten, turn the can over and look at the bottom, Mack says. Usually they print right on it the date that it was canned unless stated otherwise. If it just gives you a date and its recent, you can assume thats the canned-on date.

For bottles, especially those from larger breweries, Mack says to check the neck to see if theres a bottled-on date or best-by date. Occasionally its on the bottom of the label, tucked away in the corner near the barcode or the address and information.

Weve all seen those giant stacks of beer cases in supermarkets and grocery stores. Thats a good sign theres going to be some too-old beer there. The big tell is those huge stacks youre inevitably going to be left with a bunch of beer thats old. So if youre ever in a place where theres big stacks of beer, double-check the codes on those because thats a huge tell that theres going to be a good amount of expired beer, Mack says.

Generally speaking, fresher beer is better beer, but some beers lend themselves to aging and some dont at all. Mack says beer styles that rely on hop flavor are the most susceptible to going bad quickly. IPAs are very much the most sensitive style to aging because hops die off exponentially quickly, he says.

Thats because IPAs depend on hops for their flavor, and hops are photosensitive. Because of this, IPAs should typically be drunk within three or four weeks after canning/bottling, maximum. Not only will it taste different as time goes on, but it will also produce some pretty rank off-flavors.

The oxidized taste that people talk about is if youve ever grabbed an IPA thats been in your fridge too long and opened it without realizing, it tastes a lot like paper or cardboard. That oxidized flavor comes right through and its pretty nasty, Mack says.

Beers like bourbon barrel-aged stouts, pilsners, sours all styles not reliant on hops for flavor age gracefully and should stay good long enough to drink.

A simple way to extend the life of your beer: stand it up. If space isnt an issue you should always store your beer upright because that reduces surface area, Mack says. If its flat, it exposes more beer to the surface area and oxygen is going to turn it faster.

While observing social distancing and self-isolation norms is priority, Macks golden rule still holds true: The best thing to do if you have any doubts is to ask. Most of the stores stocking beer thats worth buying fresh will know. A good thing to say is Do you guys have anything you just got in this week that you really like? And most times the staff love that because they can say, Oh yeah. This is brand new and we really like it. Its a quick way to find out what really came through.

Ryan Brower serves as Commerce Editor and also writes about beer and surfing for Gear Patrol. He lives in Brooklyn, loves the ocean and almost always has a film camera handy.

Read the rest here:

Does Beer Go Bad? We Asked an Expert - gearpatrol.com