Podcasts about consumer services

In this episode: Pushed by a potential future candidate for governor, Florida lawmakers are working on a bill that would make it easier for the agriculture industry to sue people who criticize its production practices. It could help Florida's politically influential Big Sugar companies attack environmental groups who say the sugar industry has polluted the Everglades. Plus: More bills on the move as Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature gears up for a new legislative session that begins in January.Show notesThe bill's discussed in today's show: Senate Bill 290 — Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (first committee vote) House Bill 167 — Former Phosphate Mining Lands (first committee vote, second committee vote)House Bill 191 — Verification of Reemployment Assistance Benefit Eligibility (first committee vote)House Bill 289 — Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child (first committee vote, second committee vote)House Bill 37 — Removal, Storage, and Cleanup of Electric Vehicles (first committee vote, second committee vote)Senate Bill 88 (2021) — Farming Operations (Senate final vote, House final vote)For further reading: Lobbyists for a mining company wrote a bill to block lawsuits over radiation on former mines (Seeking Rents)In Support of Free Speech on Food (article from Penn State Law Review)Publix sought to block electric vehicle rules, records show (Seeking Rents) Prodded by business lobbyists, lawmakers may cut more Floridians off from unemployment insurance (Seeking Rents)Questions or comments? Send ‘em to Garcia.JasonR@gmail.comListen to the show: Apple | SpotifyWatch the show: YouTube Get full access to Seeking Rents at jasongarcia.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Kelly Brownell speaks with Jerold Mande, CEO of Nourish Science, adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and former Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety at the USDA. They discuss the alarming state of children's health in America, the challenges of combating poor nutrition, and the influence of the food industry on public policy. The conversation explores the parallels between the tobacco and food industries and proposes new strategies for ensuring children reach adulthood in good health. Mande emphasizes the need for radical changes in food policy and the role of public health in making these changes. Transcript So, you co-founded this organization along with Jerome Adams, Bill Frist and Thomas Grumbly, as we said, to ensure every child breaches age 18 at a healthy weight and in good metabolic health. That's a pretty tall order given the state of the health of youth today in America. But let's start by you telling us what inspired this mission and what does it look like to achieve this in today's food environment? I was trained in public health and also in nutrition and in my career, which has been largely in service of the public and government, I've been trying to advance those issues. And unfortunately over the arc of my career from when I started to now, particularly in nutrition and public health, it's just gotten so much worse. Indeed today Americans have the shortest lifespans by far. We're not just last among the wealthy countries, but we're a standard deviation last. But probably most alarming of all is how sick our children are. Children should not have a chronic disease. Yet in America maybe a third do. I did some work on tobacco at one point, at FDA. That was an enormous success. It was the leading cause of death. Children smoked at a higher rate, much like child chronic disease today. About a third of kids smoked. And we took that issue on, and today it's less than 2%. And so that shows that government can solve these problems. And since we did our tobacco work in the early '90s, I've changed my focus to nutrition and public health and trying to fix that. But we've still made so little progress. Give us a sense of how far from that goal we are. So, if the goal is to make every child reaching 18 at a healthy weight and in good metabolic health, what percentage of children reaching age 18 today might look like that? It's probably around a half or more, but we're not quite sure. We don't have good statistics. One of the challenges we face in nutrition is, unfortunately, the food industry or other industries lobby against funding research and data collection. And so, we're handicapped in that way. But we do know from the studies that CDC and others have done that about 20% of our children have obesity about a similar number have Type 2 diabetes or the precursors, pre-diabetes. You and I started off calling it adult-onset diabetes and they had to change that name to a Type 2 because it's becoming so common in kids. And then another disease, fatty liver disease, really unthinkable in kids. Something that the typical pediatrician would just never see. And yet in the last decade, children are the fastest growing group. I think we don't know an exact number, but today, at least a third, maybe as many as half of our children have a chronic disease. Particularly a food cause chronic disease, or the precursors that show they're on the way. I remember probably going back about 20 years, people started saying that we were seeing the first generation of American children that would lead shorter lives than our parents did. And what a terrible legacy to leave our children. Absolutely. And that's why we set that overarching goal of ensuring every child reaches age 18 in good metabolic health. And the reason we set that is in my experience in government, there's a phrase we all use - what gets measured gets done. And when I worked at FDA, when I worked at USDA, what caught my attention is that there is a mission statement. There's a goal of what we're trying to achieve. And it's ensuring access to healthy options and information, like a food label. Now the problem with that, first of all, it's failed. But the problem with that is the bureaucrats that I oversaw would go into a supermarket, see a produce section, a protein section, the food labels, which I worked on, and say we've done our job. They would check those boxes and say, we've done it. And yet we haven't. And if we ensured that every child reaches age 18 at a healthy weight and good metabolic health, if the bureaucrats say how are we doing on that? They would have to conclude we're failing, and they'd have to try something else. And that's what we need to do. We need to try radically different, new strategies because what we've been doing for decades has failed. You mentioned the food industry a moment ago. Let's talk about that in a little more detail. You made the argument that food companies have substituted profits for health in how they design their products. Explain that a little bit more, if you will. And tell us how the shift has occurred and what do you think the public health cost has been? Yes, so the way I like to think of it, and your listeners should think of it, is there's a North star for food design. And from a consumer standpoint, I think there are four points on the star: taste, cost, convenience, and health. That's what they expect and want from their food. Now the challenge is the marketplace. Because that consumer, you and I, when we go to the grocery store and get home on taste, cost, and convenience, if we want within an hour, we can know whether the food we purchased met our standard there. Or what our expectations were. Not always for health. There's just no way to know in a day, a week, a month, even in a year or more. We don't know if the food we're eating is improving and maintaining our health, right? There should be a definition of food. Food should be what we eat to thrive. That really should be the goal. I borrowed that from NASA, the space agency. When I would meet with them, they said, ' Jerry, it's important. Right? It's not enough that people just survive on the food they eat in space. They really need to thrive.' And that's what WE need to do. And that's really what food does, right? And yet we have food, not only don't we thrive, but we get sick. And the reason for that is, as I was saying, the marketplace works on taste, cost and convenience. So, companies make sure their products meet consumer expectation for those three. But the problem is on the fourth point on the star: on health. Because we can't tell in even years whether it's meeting our expectation. That sort of cries out. You're at a policy school. Those are the places where government needs to step in and act and make sure that the marketplace is providing. That feedback through government. But the industry is politically strong and has prevented that. And so that has left the fourth point of the star open for their interpretation. And my belief is that they've put in place a prop. So, they're making decisions in the design of the product. They're taste, they gotta get taste right. They gotta get cost and convenience right. But rather than worrying what does it do to your health? They just, say let's do a profit. And that's resulted in this whole category of food called ultra-processed food (UPF). I actually believe in the future, whether it's a hundred years or a thousand years. If humanity's gonna thrive we need manmade food we can thrive on. But we don't have that. And we don't invest in the science. We need to. But today, ultra-processed food is manmade food designed on taste, cost, convenience, and then how do we make the most money possible. Now, let me give you one other analogy, if I could. If we were CEOs of an automobile company, the mission is to provide vehicles where people can get safely from A to point B. It's the same as food we can thrive on. That is the mission. The problem is that when the food companies design food today, they've presented to the CEO, and everyone gets excited. They're seeing the numbers, the charts, the data that shows that this food is going to meet, taste, cost, convenience. It's going to make us all this money. But the CEO should be asking this following question: if people eat this as we intend, will they thrive? At the very least they won't get sick, right? Because the law requires they can't get sick. And if the Midmanagers were honest, they'd say here's the good news boss. We have such political power we've been able to influence the Congress and the regulatory agencies. That they're not going to do anything about it. Taste, cost, convenience, and profits will work just fine. Couldn't you make the argument that for a CEO to embrace that kind of attitude you talked about would be corporate malpractice almost? That, if they want to maximize profits then they want people to like the food as much as possible. That means engineering it in ways that make people overeat it, hijacking the reward pathways in the brain, and all that kind of thing. Why in the world would a CEO care about whether people thrive? Because it's the law. The law requires we have these safety features in cars and the companies have to design it that way. And there's more immediate feedback with the car too, in terms of if you crashed right away. Because it didn't work, you'd see that. But here's the thing. Harvey Wiley.He's the founder of the food safety programs that I led at FDA and USDA. He was a chemist from academia. Came to USDA in the late 1800s. It was a time of great change in food in America. At that point, almost all of families grew their own food on a farm. And someone had to decide who's going to grow our food. It's a family conversation that needed to take place. Increasingly, Americans were moving into the cities at that time, and a brand-new industry had sprung up to feed people in cities. It was a processed food industry. And in order to provide shelf stable foods that can offer taste, cost, convenience, this new processed food industry turned to another new industry, a chemical industry. Now, it's hard to believe this, but there was a point in time that just wasn't an industry. So these two big new industries had sprung up- processed food and chemicals. And Harvey Wiley had a hypothesis that the chemicals they were using to make these processed foods were making us sick. Indeed, food poisoning back then was one of the 10 leading causes of death. And so, Harvey Wiley went to Teddy Roosevelt. He'd been trying for years within the bureaucracy and not making progress. But when Teddy Roosevelt came in, he finally had the person who listened to him. Back then, USDA was right across from the Washington Monument to the White House. He'd walk right over there into the White House and met with Teddy Roosevelt and said, ' this food industry is making us sick. We should do something about it.' And Teddy Roosevelt agreed. And they wrote the laws. And so I think what your listeners need to understand is that when you look at the job that FDA and USDA is doing, their food safety programs were created to make sure our food doesn't make us sick. Acutely sick. Not heart disease or cancer, 30, 40 years down the road, but acutely sick. No. I think that's absolutely the point. That's what Wiley was most concerned about at the time. But that's not the law they wrote. The law doesn't say acutely ill. And I'll give you this example. Your listeners may be familiar with something called GRAS - Generally Recognized as Safe. It's a big problem today. Industry co-opted the system and no longer gets approval for their food additives. And so, you have this Generally Recognized as Safe system, and you have these chemicals and people are worried about them. In the history of GRAS. Only one chemical has FDA decided we need to get that off the market because it's unsafe. That's partially hydrogenated oils or trans-fat. Does trans-fat cause acute illness? It doesn't. It causes a chronic disease. And the evidence is clear. The agency has known that it has the responsibility for both acute and chronic illness. But you're right, the industry has taken advantage of this sort of chronic illness space to say that that really isn't what you should be doing. But having worked at those agencies, I don't think they see it that way. They just feel like here's the bottom line on it. The industry uses its political power in Congress. And it shapes the agency's budget. So, let's take FDA. FDA has a billion dollars with a 'b' for food safety. For the acute food safety, you're talking about. It has less than 25 million for the chronic disease. There are about 1400 deaths a year in America due to the acute illnesses caused by our food that FDA and USDA are trying to prevent. The chronic illnesses that we know are caused by our food cause 1600 maybe a day. More than that of the acute every day. Now the agency should be spending at least half its time, if not more, worrying about those chronic illness. Why doesn't it? Because the industry used their political power in Congress to put the billion dollars for the acute illness. That's because if you get acutely ill, that's a liability concern for them. Jerry let's talk about the political influence in just a little more detail, because you're in a unique position to tell us about this because you've seen it from the inside. One mechanism through which industry might influence the political process is lobbyists. They hire lobbyists. Lobbyists get to the Congress. People make decisions based on contributions and things like that. Are there other ways the food industry affects the political process in addition to that. For example, what about the revolving door issue people talk about where industry people come into the administrative branch of government, not legislative branch, and then return to industry. And are there other ways that the political influence of the industry has made itself felt? I think first and foremost it is the lobbyists, those who work with Congress, in effect. Particularly the funding levels, and the authority that the agencies have to do that job. I think it's overwhelmingly that. I think second, is the influence the industry has. So let me back up to that a sec. As a result of that, we spend very little on nutrition research, for example. It's 4% of the NIH budget even though we have these large institutes, cancer, heart, diabetes, everyone knows about. They're trying to come up with the cures who spend the other almost 50 billion at NIH. And so, what happens? You and I have both been at universities where there are nutrition programs and what we see is it's very hard to not accept any industry money to do the research because there isn't the federal money. Now, the key thing, it's not an accident. It's part of the plan. And so, I think that the research that we rely on to do regulation is heavily influenced by industry. And it's broad. I've served, you have, others, on the national academies and the programs. When I've been on the inside of those committees, there are always industry retired scientists on those committees. And they have undue influence. I've seen it. Their political power is so vast. The revolving door, that is a little of both ways. I think the government learns from the revolving door as well. But you're right, some people leave government and try to undo that. Now, I've chosen to work in academia when I'm not in government. But I think that does play a role, but I don't think it plays the largest role. I think the thing that people should be worried about is how much influence it has in Congress and how that affects the agency's budgets. And that way I feel that agencies are corrupted it, but it's not because they're corrupted directly by the industry. I think it's indirectly through congress. I'd like to get your opinion on something that's always relevant but is time sensitive now. And it's dietary guidelines for America. And the reason I'm saying it's time sensitive is because the current administration will be releasing dietary guidelines for America pretty soon. And there's lots of discussion about what those might look like. How can they help guide food policy and industry practices to support healthier children and families? It's one of the bigger levers the government has. The biggest is a program SNAP or food stamps. But beyond that, the dietary guidelines set the rules for government spending and food. So, I think often the way the dietary guidelines are portrayed isn't quite accurate. People think of it in terms of the once (food) Pyramid now the My Plate that's there. That's the public facing icon for the dietary guidelines. But really a very small part. The dietary guidelines are meant to help shape federal policy, not so much public perception. It's there. It's used in education in our schools - the (My) Plate, previously the (Food) Pyramid. But the main thing is it should shape what's served in government feeding programs. So principally that should be SNAP. It's not. But it does affect the WIC program- Women, Infants and Children, the school meals program, all of the military spending on food. Indeed, all spending by the government on food are set, governed by, or directed by the dietary guidelines. Now some of them are self-executing. Once the dietary guidelines change the government changes its behavior. But the biggest ones are not. They require rulemaking and in particular, today, one of the most impactful is our kids' meals in schools. So, whatever it says in these dietary guidelines, and there's reason to be alarmed in some of the press reports, it doesn't automatically change what's in school meals. The Department of Agriculture would have to write a rule and say that the dietary guidelines have changed and now we want to update. That usually takes an administration later. It's very rare one administration could both change the dietary guidelines and get through the rulemaking process. So, people can feel a little reassured by that. So, how do you feel about the way things seem to be taking shape right now? This whole MAHA movement Make America Healthy Again. What is it? To me what it is we've reached this tipping point we talked about earlier. The how sick we are, and people are saying, 'enough. Our food shouldn't make us sick at middle age. I shouldn't have to be spending so much time with my doctor. But particularly, it shouldn't be hard to raise my kids to 18 without getting sick. We really need to fix that and try to deal with that.' But I think that the MAHA movement is mostly that. But RFK and some of the people around them have increasingly claimed that it means some very specific things that are anti-science. That's been led by the policies around vaccine that are clearly anti-science. Nutrition is more and more interesting. Initially they started out in the exact right place. I think you and I could agree the things they were saying they need to focus on: kids, the need to get ultra-processed food out of our diets, were all the right things. In fact, you look at the first report that RFK and his team put out back in May this year after the President put out an Executive Order. Mostly the right things on this. They again, focus on kids, ultra-processed food was mentioned 40 times in the report as the root cause for the very first time. And this can't be undone. You had the White House saying that the root cause of our food-caused chronic disease crisis is the food industry. That's in a report that won't change. But a lot has changed since then. They came out with a second report where the word ultra-processed food showed up only once. What do you think happened? I know what happened because I've worked in that setting. The industry quietly went to the White House, the top political staff in the White House, and they said, you need to change the report when you come out with the recommendations. And so, the first report, I think, was written by MAHA, RFK Jr. and his lieutenants. The second report was written by the White House staff with the lobbyists of the food industry. That's what happened. What you end up with is their version of it. So, what does the industry want? We have a good picture from the first Trump administration. They did the last dietary guidelines and the Secretary of Agriculture, then Sonny Perdue, his mantra to his staff, people reported to me, was the industries- you know, keep the status quo. That is what the industry wants is they really don't want the dietary guidelines to change because then they have to reformulate their products. And they're used to living with what we have and they're just comfortable with that. For a big company to reformulate a product is a multi-year effort and cost billions of dollars and it's just not what they want to have to do. Particularly if it's going to change from administration to administration. And that is not a world they want to live in. From the first and second MAHA report where they wanted to go back to the status quo away from all the radical ideas. It'll be interesting to see what happens with dietary guidelines because we've seen reports that RFK Jr. and his people want to make shifts in policies. Saying that they want to go back to the Pyramid somehow. There's a cartoon on TV, South Park, I thought it was produced to be funny. But they talked about what we need to do is we need to flip the Pyramid upside down and we need to go back to the old Pyramid and make saturated fat the sort of the core of the diet. I thought it meant to be a joke but apparently that's become a belief of some people in the MAHA movement. RFK. And so, they want to add saturated fat back to our diets. They want to get rid of plant oils from our diets. There is a lot of areas of nutrition where the science isn't settled. But that's one where it is, indeed. Again, you go back only 1950s, 1960s, you look today, heart disease, heart attacks, they're down 90%. Most of that had to do with the drugs and getting rid of smoking. But a substantial contribution was made by nutrition. Lowering saturated fat in our diets and replacing it with plant oils that they're now called seed oils. If they take that step and the dietary guidelines come out next month and say that saturated fat is now good for us it is going to be just enormously disruptive. I don't think companies are going to change that much. They'll wait it out because they'll ask themselves the question, what's it going to be in two years? Because that's how long it takes them to get a product to market. Jerry, let me ask you this. You painted this picture where every once in a while, there'll be a glimmer of hope. Along comes MAHA. They're critical of the food industry and say that the diet's making us sick and therefore we should focus on different things like ultra-processed foods. In report number one, it's mentioned 40 times. Report number two comes out and it's mentioned only once for the political reasons you said. Are there any signs that lead you to be hopeful that this sort of history doesn't just keep repeating itself? Where people have good ideas, there's science that suggests you go down one road, but the food industry says, no, we're going to go down another and government obeys. Are there any signs out there that lead you to be more hopeful for the future? There are signs to be hopeful for the future. And number one, we talked earlier, is the success we had regulating tobacco. And I know you've done an outstanding job over the years drawing the parallels between what happened in tobacco and food. And there are good reasons to do that. Not the least of which is that in the 1980s, the tobacco companies bought all the big food companies and imparted on them a lot of their lessons, expertise, and playbook about how to do these things. And so that there is a tight link there. And we did succeed. We took youth smoking, which was around a 30 percent, a third, when we began work on this in the early 1990s when I was at FDA. And today it's less than 2%. It's one area with the United States leads the world in terms of what we've achieved in public health. And there's a great benefit that's going to come to that over the next generation as all of those deaths are prevented that we're not quite seeing yet. But we will. And that's regardless of what happens with vaping, which is a whole different story about nicotine. But this idea success and tobacco. The food industry has a tobacco playbook about how to addict so many people and make so much money and use their political power. We have a playbook of how to win the public health fight. So, tell us about that. What you're saying is music to my ears and I'm a big believer in exactly what you're saying. So, what is it? What does that playbook look like and what did we learn from the tobacco experience that you think could apply into the food area? There are a couple of areas. One is going to be leadership and we'll have to come back to that. Because the reason we succeeded in tobacco was the good fortune of having a David Kessler at FDA and Al Gore as Vice President. Nothing was, became more important to them than winning this fight against a big tobacco. Al Gore because his sister died at a young age of smoking. And David Kessler became convinced that this was the most important thing for public health that he could do. And keep in mind, when he came to FDA, it was the furthest thing from his mind. So, one of it is getting these kinds of leaders. Did does RFK Jr. and Marty McCarey match up to Al Gore? And we'll see. But the early signs aren't that great. But we'll see. There's still plenty of time for them to do this and get it right. The other thing is having a good strategy and policy about how to do it. And here, with tobacco, it was a complete stretch, right? There was no where did the FDA get authority over tobacco? And indeed, we eventually needed the Congress to reaffirm that authority to have the success we did. As we talked earlier, there's no question FDA was created to make sure processed food and the additives and processed food don't make us sick. So, it is the core reason the agency exists is to make sure that if there's a thing called ultra-processed food, man-made food, that is fine, but we have to thrive when we eat it. We certainly can't be made sick when we eat it. Now, David Kessler, I mentioned, he's put forward a petition, a citizens' petition to FDA. Careful work by him, he put months of effort into this, and he wrote basically a detailed roadmap for RFK and his team to use if they want to regulate ultra-processed stuff food. And I think we've gotten some, initially good feedback from the MAHA RFK people that they're interested in this petition and may take action on it. So, the basic thrust of the Kessler petition from my understanding is that we need to reconsider what's considered Generally Recognized as Safe. And that these ultra-processed foods may not be considered safe any longer because they produce all this disease down the road. And if MAHA responds positively initially to the concept, that's great. And maybe that'll have legs, and something will actually happen. But is there any reason to believe the industry won't just come in and quash this like they have other things? This idea of starting with a petition in the agency, beginning an investigation and using its authority is the blueprint we used with tobacco. There was a petition we responded, we said, gee, you raised some good points. There are other things we put forward. And so, what we hope to see here with the Kessler petition is that the FDA would put out what's called an advanced notice of a proposed rulemaking with the petition. This moves it from just being a petition to something the agency is saying, we're taking this seriously. We're putting it on the record ourselves and we want industry and others now to start weighing in. Now here's the thing, you have this category of ultra-processed food that because of the North Star I talked about before, because the industry, the marketplace has failed and gives them no incentive to make sure that we thrive, that keeps us from getting sick. They've just forgotten about that and put in place profits instead. The question is how do you get at ultra-processed food? What's the way to do it? How do you start holding the industry accountable? Now what RFK and the MAHA people started with was synthetic color additives. That wasn't what I would pick but, it wasn't a terrible choice. Because if you talk to Carlos Monteiro who coined the phrase ultra-processed food, and you ask him, what is an ultra-processed food, many people say it's this industrial creation. You can't find the ingredients in your kitchen. He agrees with all that, but he thinks the thing that really sets ultra-processed food, the harmful food, is the cosmetics that make them edible when they otherwise won't I've seen inside the plants where they make the old fashioned minimally processed food versus today's ultra-processed. In the minimally processed plants, I recognize the ingredients as food. In today's plants, you don't recognize anything. There are powders, there's sludges, there's nothing that you would really recognize as food going into it. And to make that edible, they use the cosmetics and colors as a key piece of that. But here's the problem. It doesn't matter if the color is synthetic or natural. And a fruit loop made with natural colors is just as bad for you as one made with synthetics. And indeed, it's been alarming that the agency has fast tracked these natural colors and as replacements because, cyanide is natural. We don't want to use that. And the whole approach has been off and it like how is this going to get us there? How is this focus on color additives going to get us there. And it won't. Yeah, I agree. I agree with your interpretation of that. But the thing with Kessler you got part of it right but the main thing he did is say you don't have to really define ultra-processed food, which is another industry ploy to delay action. Let's focus on the thing that's making us sick today. And that's the refined carbohydrates. The refined grains in food. That's what's most closely linked to the obesity, the diabetes we're seeing today. Now in the 1980s, the FDA granted, let's set aside sugar and white flour, for example, but they approved a whole slew of additives that the companies came forward with to see what we can add to the white flour and sugar to make it shelf stable, to meet all the taste, cost, and convenience considerations we have. And profit-making considerations we have. Back then, heart disease was the driving health problem. And so, it was easy to overlook why you didn't think that the these additives were really harmful. That then you could conclude whether Generally Recognized as Safe, which is what the agency did back then. What Kessler is saying is that what he's laid out in his petition is self-executing. It's not something that the agency grants that this is GRAS or not GRAS. They were just saying things that have historical safe use that scientists generally recognize it as safe. It's not something the agency decides. It's the universe of all of us scientists generally accept. And it's true in the '80s when we didn't face the obesity and diabetes epidemic, people didn't really focus on the refined carbohydrates. But if you look at today's food environment. And I hope you agree with this, that what is the leading driver in the food environment about what is it about ultra-processed food that's making us so sick? It's these refined grains and the way they're used in our food. And so, if the agency takes up the Kessler petition and starts acting on it, they don't have to change the designation. Maybe at some point they have to say some of these additives are no longer GRAS. But what Kessler's saying is by default, they're no longer GRAS because if you ask the scientists today, can we have this level of refined grains? And they'd say, no, that's just not Generally Recognized as Safe. So, he's pointing out that status, they no longer hold that status. And if the agency would recognize that publicly and the burden shifts where Wiley really always meant it to be, on the industry to prove that there are foods or things that we would thrive on, but that wouldn't make us sick. And so that's the key point that you go back to when you said, and you're exactly right that if you let the industry use their political power to just ignore health altogether and substitute profits, then you're right. Their sort of fiduciary responsibility is just to maximize profits and they can ignore health. If you say you can maximize profits, of course you're a capitalist business, but one of the tests you have to clear is you have to prove to us that people can thrive when they eat that. Thrive as the standard, might require some congressional amplification because it's not in the statute. But what is in the statute is the food can't make you sick. If scientists would generally recognize, would say, if you eat this diet as they intend, if you eat this snack food, there's these ready to heat meals as they intend, you're going to get diabetes and obesity. If scientists generally believe that, then you can't sell that. That's just against the law and the agency needs them to enforce the law. Bio:   Jerold Mande is CEO of Nourish Science; Adjunct Professor of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University. Professor Mande has a wealth of expertise and experience in national public health and food policy. He served in senior policymaking positions for three presidents at USDA, FDA, and OSHA helping lead landmark public health initiatives. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. In 2011, he moved to USDA's Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, where he spent six years working to improve the health outcomes of the nation's $100 billion investment in 15 nutrition programs. During President Clinton's administration, Mr. Mande was Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner where he helped shape national policy on nutrition, food safety, and tobacco. He also served on the White House staff as a health policy advisor and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Health at the Department of Labor. During the George H.W. Bush administration he led the graphic design of the iconic Nutrition Facts label at FDA, for which he received the Presidential Design Award. Mr. Mande began his career as a legislative assistant for Al Gore in the U.S. House and Senate, managing Gore's health and environment agenda, and helping Gore write the nation's organ donation and transplantation laws.  Mande earned a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in nutritional science from the University of Connecticut. Prior to his current academic appointments, he served on the faculty at the Tufts, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Yale School of Medicine.

Why is everyone talking about 50YR terms? What are the benefits and downsides? What are portable mortgages and how might that help you if it is something that they implement as an option in the future? Watch LIVE and ask your questions. Get a text message when I go live with a link to join. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634. Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/mortgagemomradio1 Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, NMLS ID 237926. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926.

In this episode, we speak with David Katz, Managing Director at Charlesbank Capital Partners, a $24 billion AUM middle-market private equity firm that spun out of the Harvard Management Company in 1998. Drawing on its endowment heritage, Charlesbank takes a research-based approach to investing across its four target sectors: business & consumer services, healthcare, industrial, and technology. The firm partners with management teams to help businesses unlock value and accelerate growth. At Charlesbank, David oversees the firm's Business & Consumer Services sector team. Since formalizing the sector in 2019, Charlesbank has been among the most active and successful private equity investors in business services, including several notable realizations. Charlesbank views the services ecosystem as offering compelling and durable opportunities for continued private equity investment. David has been with Charlesbank for nearly 13 years, during which time he has also helped to advance the firm's investing system including its “fan of outcomes” underwriting approach. He is a member of the firm's Investment Committee, and previously worked at Bain Capital and McKinsey. I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to follow.

Franchisees first is more than a leadership philosophy—it's a measurable strategy that has driven real results across one of North America's leading franchise systems. For Steve White, President and COO of PuroClean, this approach has become the foundation for building a high-performance brand with strong franchisee alignment and sustainable growth. With over 35 years of experience in the franchise sector, White has held senior leadership roles at brands like Domino's Pizza and Allegra Network. Since taking the helm at PuroClean in 2013, he has led the company through a period of extraordinary growth. PuroClean has more than doubled its number of franchise locations and achieved significant increases in system-wide sales and profitability. The common thread across all of this progress is a consistent focus on putting franchisees first. This mindset is embedded into the way the organization operates. Franchisees are treated as strategic partners, not just operators. Their input is actively sought out and turned into actionable change. From onboarding and training to marketing support and technology implementation, the goal is to equip every owner with the tools and support they need to succeed in their local markets. Listening is a key component of this approach. Through structured feedback channels like system-wide surveys and franchise advisory councils, leadership is able to understand what's working, identify pain points, and make data-driven decisions that benefit the network as a whole. This level of responsiveness helps strengthen trust and contributes to higher franchisee satisfaction and retention. While many brands talk about culture, PuroClean has built its growth strategy around it. The franchisees first model reinforces accountability, improves communication, and increases performance across the system. That alignment between leadership and operators helps drive efficiency, consistency, and customer satisfaction. Technology also plays a role. With documentation and compliance being critical in the property restoration space, PuroClean is investing in AI and operational tools to reduce manual workloads and improve accuracy. These innovations are implemented with franchisees in mind, allowing them to focus more on service delivery and customer relationships. What makes this approach particularly impactful is that it scales. Whether supporting a brand-new franchisee or a multi-unit operator, the same principles apply. The company provides individualized guidance to help each location grow based on its unique goals and local conditions. That flexibility has helped PuroClean build a network that performs consistently across regions and continues to expand in both new and established markets. Steve White's background as a U.S. Army Captain and his leadership within the International Franchise Association further reinforce the values behind the franchisees first model. His involvement in veteran initiatives, industry advocacy, and franchise education speaks to a broader commitment to service, ethics, and impact. That credibility has helped position PuroClean not just as a successful brand, but as a respected voice in the franchise community. PuroClean's national presence, rooted in South Florida and operating in over 500 locations across North America, demonstrates the geographic scalability of this model. Franchisees are thriving in large metro areas and regional markets alike, supported by systems that are both adaptable and proven. Franchisees first is not a slogan—it's a strategic operating model that produces results. By aligning leadership, field support, and individual owner goals, PuroClean has built a franchise system that delivers consistent growth while staying grounded in purpose. For other franchise brands looking to improve performance and network engagement, this case illustrates the power of putting people at the center of the business. As the industry continues to evolve, models that prioritize franchisee success will be best positioned to grow, innovate, and lead. Watch the full episode on YouTube. About Steve White Steve White is the President and Chief Operating Officer of PuroClean, a leading property restoration franchise with over 500 locations across North America. With more than 35 years of experience in the franchise industry, Steve has held executive leadership roles at Domino's Pizza, Allegra Network, and Signs Now. Since joining PuroClean in 2013, he has led the brand through significant growth in both scale and profitability by focusing on franchisee success and operational excellence. A former U.S. Army Captain, Steve brings a disciplined, service-driven approach to leadership. He serves on the Executive Committee of the International Franchise Association's Board of Directors, is the current Chair of the IFA Foundation's Board of Trustees, and is a past Chair of the VetFran Committee. His work has earned numerous accolades, including the Gold International Business Award for Lifetime Achievement in Consumer Services and South Florida Business & Wealth Magazine's Apogee Award for distinguished C-suite leadership. Steve is a recognized advocate for franchise education, veteran entrepreneurship, and franchise system development. His leadership continues to shape the future of franchising through a consistent focus on accountability, innovation, and putting franchisees first. Learn more at PuroClean.com About Ford Saeks Ford Saeks is a Business Growth Accelerator with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations drive revenue, expand market share, and create innovative customer experiences. As the President and CEO of Prime Concepts Group, Inc., he has generated over one billion dollars in sales for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s. An award-winning entrepreneur and strategic marketing expert, Ford has founded over ten companies, authored five books, and holds three U.S. patents. His deep expertise spans branding, digital marketing, sales optimization, and AI prompt engineering. He is widely recognized for helping businesses attract loyal customers, boost brand visibility, and leverage emerging technologies for real-world results. Ford recently shared the stage at the “Unleash AI for Business Summit,” where he demonstrated how tools like ChatGPT are transforming operations, marketing, and customer engagement. Learn more at ProfitRichResults.com and watch his TV show at Fordify.tv

In 2011, Coca-Cola introduced a white version of their Coca-Cola can. The drink inside was identical to original Coca-Cola, but customers drinking from this white can hated the taste.  The white can made buyers think the Cola tasted worse.  To explain why, I need to delve into the science of sensehacking. With Professor Adrian North, I'll explain why tennis players grunt loudly, why cars smell different when new, how a tablecloth alters our taste, and that music changes what you buy.  ---  Join the Nudge Vaults waiting list: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Join the Nudge Unit waiting list: https://maven.com/nudge-unit/course-cohort Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list   Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/   Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/  ---  Today's sources  Bschaden, A., Dörsam, A., Cvetko, K., & Stroebele-Benschop, N. (2020). The impact of lighting and table linen as ambient factors on meal intake and taste perception. Food Quality and Preference, 79, 103797. Cañal-Bruland, R., Müller, F., Lach, B., & Spence, C. (2018). Auditory contributions to visual anticipation in tennis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 36, 100–103. Garber, M. (2012, July 26). The future of advertising will be squirted into your nostrils as you sit on a bus. The Atlantic. Golan, M., & Fenko, A. (2015). Toward a sensory congruence model: Matching sounds with material properties. Food Quality and Preference, 46, 33–43. Guéguen, N., Jacob, C., Lourel, M., & Pascual, A. (2012). When drivers see red: Car color and driving behavior. Color Research & Application, 37(5), 452–455. Hanss, D., Steger, D., & Giesel, F. (2012). The influence of car color on driver behavior and perceptions of speed. Color Research & Application, 37(4), 304–309. Hirsch, A. (1991, February 4). Preliminary results of olfaction Nike study. Marketing News, 25, 1–2. Horswill, M. S., & Plooy, A. M. (2008). Auditory feedback influences perceived driving speed. Perception, 37(7), 1037–1043. Leenders, M. A. A. M., Smidts, A., & El Haji, A. (2019). Ambient scent as a mood inducer in supermarkets: The role of scent intensity and time-pressure of shoppers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 48, 270–280. Milliman, R. E. (1982). Using background music to affect the behavior of supermarket shoppers. Journal of Marketing, 46(3), 86–91. North, A. C., Hargreaves, D. J., & McKendrick, J. (1999). The influence of in-store music on wine selections. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(2), 271–276. Spence, C. (2021). Sensehacking: How to use the power of your senses for happier, healthier living. Viking. Wall Street Journal. (2012, October 23). Why consumers doubt silent vacuum cleaners. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203406404578074671598804116 Zellner, D., Geller, T., Lyons, S., Pyper, A., & Riaz, K. (2017). Ethnic congruence of music and food affects food selection but not liking. Food Quality and Preference, 56, 126-129.

Tamagotchi, Stanley Cup, Labubu: Trends kommen und gehen. Warum kriegen sie uns immer wieder aufs Neue? Was macht sie so mächtig? Und warum verführen sie zu ständig neuem Konsum? Bo und Gregor werfen einen wirtschaftspsychologischen Blick auf Trends.**********Empfehlung:Preiserhöhung bei Spotify? DAS ist der wahre Grund! | ARD Marktcheck / BUY BETTER (SWR)**********In dieser Folge:1:55 - Was macht einen Trend zum Trend?12:10 - Die Digitalisierung von Trends18:49 - Nach der Trendkritik ist vor dem nächsten Trend23:11 - Wahres für Bares / Fazit**********An dieser Folge waren beteiligt: Gesprächspartnerin: Anja Achtziger, Professorin für Sozial- und Wirtschaftspsychologie an der Zeppelin Universität Friedrichshafen Hosts der Folge: Gregor Lischka und Bo Hyun Kim Faktencheck: Kathrin Krautwasser, Laura Mattausch Produktion: Uwe Breunig Redaktion: Anne Göbel**********Die Quellen zur Folge:Morsi, N., Ahmed, M. and Salama, H., 2025. The effects of FOMO appeals on consumer decision making: Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences. Business Horizons.Liu, Y., Cai, L., Ma, F. & Wang, X.,2023. Revenge buying after the lockdown: Based on the SOR framework and TPB model, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.Stanley cups have become this decade's must-have hydration accessory. TIME Magazine, 30. Mai 2024.**********Weitere Beiträge zum Thema:Der Kodak-Effekt: Unternehmen sterben schneller als man denktBooking.com: Wie die Plattform so groß wurde und warum Hotels sie verklagenWirtschaft: Unternehmen sind ein Spiegel der Gesellschaft**********Habt ihr auch manchmal einen WTF-Moment, wenn es um Wirtschaft und Finanzen geht? Wir freuen uns über eure Themenvorschläge und Feedback an whatthewirtschaft@deutschlandfunknova.de.**********Den Artikel zum Stück findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

No Ratio - Can't prove income? Bank Statements - Self Employed but can't show tax returns? Debt Service Ratio - Looking to buy that rental property, Airbnb, or VRBO/ Construction Loan - Run out of funds, looking for a fix and flip or to build a spec home? Watch LIVE and ask your questions. Get a text message when I go live with a link to join. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634. Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/mortgagemomradio1 Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, NMLS ID 237926. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926.

How many more rate cuts will we get this year? How are the markets reacting to the decision? Watch LIVE and ask your questions. Get a text message when I go live with a link to join. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634. Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/mortgagemomradio1 Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, NMLS ID 237926. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926.

Professor Jerold Mande is CEO of Nourish Science; Adjunct Professor of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University.Mr. Mande has a wealth of expertise and experience in national public health and food policy. He served in senior policymaking positions for three presidents at USDA, FDA, and OSHA helping lead landmark public health initiatives. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, In 2011, he moved to USDA's Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, where he spent six years working to improve the health outcomes of the nation's $100 billion investment in 15 nutrition programs. During President Clinton's administration, Mr. Mande was Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner where he helped shape national policy on nutrition, food safety, and tobacco. He also served on the White House staff as a health policy advisor and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Health at the Department of Labor. During the George H.W. Bush administration he led the graphic design of the iconic Nutrition Facts label at FDA, for which he received the Presidential Design Award.Mr. Mande began his career as a legislative assistant for Al Gore in the U.S. House and Senate, managing Gore's health and environment agenda, and helping Gore write the nation's organ donation and transplantation laws.Mr. Mande earned a Master's of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in nutritional science from the University of Connecticut. Prior to his current academic appointments, he served on the faculty at the Tufts, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Yale School of Medicine.Links & Resources:Nourish ScienceStudy: US Diet Quality and the 86% F-grade findingDiet, Drugs and Dopamine by David KesslerThe Poison Squad by Deborah BlumThe Jungle by Upton SinclairCommissioner Kessler's citizen petition to FDA on refined carbohydratesNYT Article: what's wrong with how we test food chemicalsDiscounts Get 10% off delicious local farm-fresh food delivered to your door with my link for FarmMatch: https://farmmatch.com/jane Get 15% off high-quality Italian olive oil with code FARMTOFUTURE: https://shop.vignolifood.com/FARMTOFUTURE Get 40% the CircleDNA's Premium DNA test with code JANEZHANG: https://circledna.com/premium Connect with Jane Z. Instagram: @farm.to.future Email: jane@farmtofuture.co Website: farmtofuture.co

Hey there fellow arthropod enthusiasts! In this episode, we talked with Sam Bolton, curator of mites at the Division of Plant Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Specifically, we asked "what exactly is a mite?" and picked apart the fact that "mites" aren't a real group. We also chatted about mite mouthparts and weird, wormy soil mites called nematalycids.   Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app! If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!   Older episodes can be accessed through Archive.org.

PPI (Producer Price Index) came in well below expectations showing negative inflation. Bond market & Stock futures jumped higher, 10 year note fell further. Mortgage Demand is up! This is your one week warning before the Fed Rate Cut decisions are made. Get an application submitted and possibly (we watch day by day right now) lock-in before the market changes next Wednesday when the Fed talks. We are at the lowest interest rates that we have had since October of 2024.  Watch LIVE and ask your questions. Get a text message when I go live with a link to join. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634. Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/mortgagemomradio1 Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, NMLS ID 237926. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926.

Experts Say there is a 90% chance of a Fed Rate cut at next week's Fed Meeting. Do you need to refinance? Let's talk about how it works!  Watch LIVE and ask your questions. Get a text message when I go live with a link to join. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634. Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/mortgagemomradio1 Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, NMLS ID 237926. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926.

Will we see even lower interest rates? Should you wait for a Fed Rate Cut to lock in an interest rate? Watch LIVE and ask your questions. Get a text message when I go live with a link to join. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634. Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/mortgagemomradio1 Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, NMLS ID 237926. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926.

We'll know more after Friday's Jackson Hole Symposium. Join me live next Wednesday at 1PM on YouTube to stay up to date with Real Estate, Mortgage, and Interest Rate Market! Don't miss a live show. Ask your questions and get your answers. Text "LIVE" to 844-935-3634! 844-935-3634, call us! Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, CA-237926, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926. Interest rates and products are subject to change without notice and may or may not be available at the time of loan commitment or lock-in. Borrowers must qualify at closing for all benefits.

Barbecue Reimagined brings Pinehurst Barbecue Festival an alternative taste of traditional ingredients and cooking methods from North Carolina's top chefs. Chad Blackwelder from N.C Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services shares an inside look at the event's roots and what barbecue enthusiasts can expect when the visit BHAWK Distillery. Find out what's on the Barbecue Reimagined menu and how it spotlights the Got to Be NC program and the N.C. producers who provide ingredients for food and beverages found in businesses and homes across the nation. Don't miss Chad's scoop on his favorite restaurants in the Pinehurst area, as well as the upcoming events in the Got to Be NC calendar. This episode sponsored by Pinehurst Barbecue Festival 2025 coming Labor Day Weekend Aug. 29-31, in the Village of Pinehurst. 3 days, 5 signature events, concluding with 7 N.C. pitmasters serving meats & sides in the Christopher Prieto Pitmaster Invitational. Buy tickets online today and enter the giveaway for a LIFETIME PASS. Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!  

It's another Best of Cork Talk episode, this time we revisit our conversation with Amy Michael, the Entomological Programs Manager with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) is spreading here in North Carolina and across the Southeast. Stick around for the end of the episode where Amy givesContinue reading →

Why are interest rates falling right now? Will they continue? What will it take for the Fed to lower interest rates? 844-935-3634, call us! Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. Also licensed in, AZ-0941504, CA-237926, Fl-LO76508, GA-69178, HI-237926, ID-MLO-2080237926, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, NC-I-210940, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926. Interest rates and products are subject to change without notice and may or may not be available at the time of loan commitment or lock-in. Borrowers must qualify at closing for all benefits.

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We're breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use.In this episode, Elena and Rob challenge the assumption that older consumers stick with older brands. Real purchase data from over 88,000 grocery trips shows older shoppers buy a mix of brands based on size and relevance, not age or nostalgia.Topics covered:   [01:00] "Examining Older Consumers' Loyalty towards Older Brands in Grocery Retailing"[02:00] What the data revealed about older shoppers[04:00] Do these findings apply beyond grocery categories?[05:00] Financial services and credit card research[06:00] Cars, durables, and 25 years of cross-category data[08:00] Your brand preferences are like your closet  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter.  Resources: Phua, P., Kennedy, R., Trinh, G., Page, B., & Sharp, B. (2020). Examining older consumers' loyalty towards older brands in grocery retailing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 101893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101893:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}   Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

The May All In For Citrus podcast features highlights from a recent OJ Break hosted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred. Podcast host Frank Giles caught up with Michael Rogers, CREC director, during the event. Rogers summarized some of the information presented at the OJ Break, including a talk by Nian Wang, UF/IFAS professor and Graves Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Biotechnology, on his work to develop a CRISPR citrus tree with resistance to HLB. Wang has already engaged with the regulatory agencies required to get a CRISPR tree approved for commercial use by growers. Those agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Rogers said the good news is a CRISPR tree is not a transgenic genetically modified plant, which means the regulatory process is easier to navigate. When a tree is proven to work in real-world grove conditions, it can be moved to growers more quickly. But Rogers added it will take time to identify the right tree. In addition, Wang discussed an observation he made during his research on letting some rootstock shoots grow up into the canopy of the tree. Some rootstocks have proven to be more tolerant to HLB. “Studies have shown that the root-die off from HLB is caused by carbohydrate starvation, because the plant is not moving the carbohydrates down to roots from the leaves,” Rogers explained. Wang observed that the rootstock shoots act as a means to move carbohydrates down to the roots. This could help sustain roots in HLB-infected trees. “I want to be clear this an observation and not a recommendation from UF/FAS,” Rogers said. “But it might spark some ideas with growers as it did today with the OJ Break audience. And that's a fact that some of our rootstocks are very tolerant to HLB on their own.” Also discussed in the May episode of All In For Citrus is managing the growing problem with snails in citrus as well as survey results on grower attitudes toward trunk injection of oxytetracycline. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Time again now to return to the imaginary airwaves with a podcast edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Should these sonic versions also contain a historic fact in order to signify something that is otherwise irrelevant to the information you are about to receive? Do you need to know that on this day eighty years ago, the founding negotiations began for the United Nations at a conference in San Francisco? That's one of many things to know about April 25. I'm Sean Tubbs, and there is no quiz at the end.In this edition:* Charlottesville City Council briefed on current state of affordable housing (learn more)* Bids have come in over budget for a project to improve a busy intersection in Charlottesville (learn more)* Charlottesville seeks applicants for Board and Commissions (learn more)* The University of Virginia announces the winners of its 2025 Sustainability Awards (learn more)* The Albemarle County Planning Commission votes 4 to 3 to recommend filling in the floodplain to allow for an industrial building in the Woolen Mills (story forthcoming on C-Ville Weekly)* We go back to the archives for a January briefing on the Broadway Blueprint (learn more)* Fire ants have been found in Albemarle County and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services want you to report any mounds you see (learn more)First shout out: When Driving Is Not An Option webinar on May 12A third of people living in the United States do not have a driver's license and must navigate a mobility system designed almost exclusively for drivers. Does it have to be that way?On Monday May 12th from 6:30 pm to -7:30 pm, Livable Cville will hold a conversation with Anna Zivarts, author of the book When Driving Is Not An Option. Charlottesville City Councilor Natalie Oschrin will also make an appearance.When Driving is Not an Option shines a light on the reality for non-drivers and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone. Zivarts is a low-vision mom, disability advocate, and non-driver. In this webinar, she'll explain how healthier, more climate-friendly communities can be the result of what happened when the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities.Councilor Oschrin will share about how these ideas apply to the Charlottesville area. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end. You can sign up here for this free event.Second shout-out: Second-shout out: Cville Village?Can you drive a neighbor to a doctor's appointment? Change an overhead lightbulb, plant a flower, walk a dog for someone who is sick, visit someone who is lonely? If so, Cville Village needs you!Cville Village is a local 501c3 nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with a national network of Villages whose goals are to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Volunteers do small chores for, and have gatherings of, professors and schoolteachers, nurses and lawyers, aides and housekeepers. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. They assist folks continue living at home, with a little help from their friends.Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills.Volunteering for Cville Village will expand your circle of friends and shower you with thanks.To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call us at (434) 218-3727. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In this power-packed episode of The Food Professor Podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois bring listeners up to speed on one of the most complex and fast-moving stories in the global food and agriculture sector: the unfolding international tariff war. Appropriately titled “The Global Tariff War Edition,” this episode features a timely and incisive interview with Mark Warner, Managing Director at MAAW Law and one of North America's leading experts on trade, investment, and competition law.The conversation kicks off with Michael and Sylvain diving into the latest developments in U.S.–China trade tensions, which have seen tariffs skyrocket to 125% on inbound U.S. goods into China. They explore the ripple effects on key commodities like soybeans and canola, discuss the surprising resilience of commodity markets, and examine why Canada isn't positioned to step in as a major alternative supplier.The hosts also explore cultural signals from the food world, including the increasing trend of Americans packing lunches and the declining use of doggy bags in restaurants—signs Sylvain suggests may point to growing economic insecurity and workplace anxiety.In the second half of the show, Michael and Sylvain sit down with Mark Warner, who brings deep legal and historical context to the tariff debate. Warner unpacks how the Trump administration is using the rarely-invoked International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to sidestep traditional trade channels. He outlines the risks and potential rewards for Canadian agri-food exporters navigating this new landscape, and why subtle diplomacy—not headline-grabbing bravado—may serve Canada better in the long run. From trade agreements and geopolitical strategy to supply management and softwood lumber, Warner's nuanced take is essential listening for anyone working in, or watching, the agri-food space.And there's also a moment of celebration: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois shares his recent honour—receiving the prestigious Charles III Coronation Medal from the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. In a heartfelt reflection, he dedicates the medal to his wife, Janelle, recognizing her essential support in his research and public policy work. It's a well-deserved acknowledgment of Sylvain's national impact on food policy and scholarship.With sharp insight, humour, and a dash of royal recognition, this episode offers listeners a blend of timely news and expert analysis that defines The Food Professor Podcast.Tune into Bite Sized!Corus Entertainment is excited to add a brand-new topical program to its Talk Radio lineup on April 12called Bite Sized, which explores the business of food in the country. 640 Toronto Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET980 CFPL Sundays at 9 a.m. ET680 CJOB Sundays at 2 p.m. CST770 QR Calgary Sundays at 3 p.m. MST880 CHED Sundays at 3 p.m. MST730 CKNW Sundays at 1 p.m. PSTAbout MarkMark is an Ontario and New York attorney who has practiced trade, investment and competition law in Toronto, New York, Washington, D.C and Brussels and as counsel to the OECD in Paris.  He advises natural resource clients through Pilot Law LLP and fintech and financial Services clients through Atlantis International. Mark has also recently been appointed as a Fellow of the US Canada Institute in Washington, D.C.Mark is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministries of Economic Development & Trade, Research & Innovation and Consumer Services. He led Ontario's legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state disputes and for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.Mark was also co-author of the Second Edition of a leading Canadian trade law treatise (with the Hon. William C. Graham and Professors Jean-Gabriel Castel and Armand de Mestral). He has been listed in the Euromoney / International Financial Law Review Guide to the World's Leading Competition lawyers and in 2015 was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.Mark earned a BA (Joint Honours) from McGill, an MA in Economics from the University of Toronto, a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School and an LLM from Georgetown University Law Centre. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

It's Alcohol Awareness Month. Our guests from the Mississippi Department of Revue, their Director of Public Relations and Communications, Tina Richardson and Riley Nelson, Chief of Enforcement Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control. We're talking about liquor sales, laws, taxes, and vendor questions. Oh and it's primary election day!!I love a good website and DOR has one. dor.mo.gov from there you can click on ABC, titles and tags, cannabis – whatever you want answers about.Are you ready to vote today? If not, I've got some assistance for you. Yallvote.ms is the short cut to get tons of election information. They've got a “My Election Day” button to click to see where you vote, see a sample ballot, and see who your current office holders are. If you aren't registered to vote . . . get yourself registered before May 5th so you CAN vote in the General Municipal Election, June 1st.Can alcoholic beverages be sold on election day? According to the FAQ page of the Department of Revenue's ABC section: Sales of alcoholic beverages are not limited or restricted on election days. Local governments cannot restrict the sale of alcoholic beverages by package stores or on-premises ABC permittees on election days. Beer sales on election days may be restricted by a local ordinance.Office of Consumer Services can provide information about services offered by DMH and DMH certified community service providers. Information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling the DMH Helpline at 1-877-210-8513. Receive information about mental health, IDD, and substance abuse services available in your area. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest podcast episode (#120), we explore how replacing static web forms with an interactive bot Contact Us form can transform consumer engagement and streamline contact center operations. My colleague, @john Calhoun, Consumer Services Manager, at @McKee Foods Corp is here to help me with this topic.

Tuesday's show featured our monthly visit with the New Hampshire Insurance Company. Our guest from the Department was Deputy Commissioner Keith Nyhan who explains how the Consumer Services division is staffed and how much they recovered for New Hampshire residents in 2024. Also provided were statistics regarding the revenue the agency produced for the state.

Our CIO and Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Mike Wilson explains the challenges to growth for U.S. stocks and why some investors are looking to China and Europe.----- Transcript -----Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley's CIO and Chief U.S. Equity Strategist. Today on the podcast I'll be discussing new headwinds for growth and what that means for equities. It's Monday, Feb 24th at 11:30am in New York. So let's get after it. Until this past Friday's sharp sell off in stocks, the correlation between bond yields and stocks had been in negative territory since December. This inverse correlation strengthened further into year-end as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield definitively breached 4.5 per cent on the upside for the first time since April of 2024. In November, we had identified this as an important yield threshold for stock valuations. This view was based on prior rate sensitivity equities showed in April of 2024 and the fall of 2023 as the 10-year yield pushed above this same level. In our view, the equity market has been signaling that yields above this point have a higher likelihood of weighing on growth. Supporting our view, interest rate sensitive companies like homebuilders have underperformed materially. This is why we have consistently recommended the quality factor and industries that are less vulnerable to these headwinds.In our year ahead outlook, we suggested the first half of 2025 would be choppier for stocks than what we experienced last fall. We cited several reasons including the upside in yields and a stronger U.S. dollar. Since rates broke above 4.5 per cent in mid-December, the S&P 500 has made no progress. Specifically, the 6,100 resistance level that we identified in the fall has proven to be formidable for the time being. In addition to higher rates, softer growth prospects alongside a less dovish Fed are also holding back many stocks. As we have also discussed, falling rates won't help if it's accompanied by falling growth expectations as Friday's sharp selloff in the face of lower rates illustrated. Beyond rates and a stronger US dollar, there are several other reasons why growth expectations are coming down. First, the immediate policy changes from the new administration, led by immigration enforcement and tariffs, are likely to weigh on growth while providing little relief on inflation in the short term. Second, the Dept of Govt Efficiency, or DOGE, is off to an aggressive start and this is another headwind to growth, initially.Third, there appears to have been a modest pull-forward of goods demand at the end of last year ahead of the tariffs, and that impulse may now be fading. Fourth, consumers are still feeling the affordability pinch of higher rates and elevated price levels which weighed on last month's retail sales data. Finally, difficult comparisons, broader awareness of Deep Seek, and the debate around AI [CapEx] deceleration are weighing on the earnings revisions of some of the largest companies in the major indices.All of these items are causing some investors to consider cheaper foreign stocks for the first time in quite a while – with China and Europe doing the best. In the case of China, it's mostly related to the news around DeepSeek and perhaps stimulus for the consumer finally arriving this year. The European rally is predicated on hopes for peace in Ukraine and the German election results that may lead to the loosening of fiscal constraints. Of the two, China appears to have more legs to the story, in my opinion. Our Equity Strategy in the U.S. remains the same. We see limited upside at the index level in the first half of the year but plenty of opportunity at the stock, sector and factor levels. We continue to favor Financials, Software over Semiconductors, Media/Entertainment and Consumer Services over Goods. We also maintain an overriding penchant for quality across all size cohorts.Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the podcast, leave us a review wherever you listen, and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or colleague today.

Our CIO and Chief U.S. Equity Strategy Mike Wilson suggests that stock, factor and sector selection remain key to portfolio performance.----- Listener Survey -----Complete a short listener survey at http://www.morganstanley.com/podcast-survey and help us make the podcast even more valuable for you. For every survey completed, Morgan Stanley will donate $25 to the Feeding America® organization to support their important work.----- Transcript -----Hi, I'm Andrew Sheets, Head of Corporate Credit Research at Morgan Stanley. Before we get into today's episode, the team behind Thoughts on the Market wants your thoughts and your input. Fill out our listener survey and help us make this podcast even more valuable for you. The link is in the show notes.Plus, help us help the Feeding America organization. For every survey completed, Morgan Stanley will donate $25 towards their important work.Thanks for your time and the support. On to the show… Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley's CIO and Chief US Equity Strategist. Today on the podcast I'll be discussing equities in the context of higher rates and weaker earnings revisions. It's Tuesday, Feb 18th at 11:30am in New York. So let's get after it.Since early December, the S&P 500 has made little headway. The almost unimpeded run from the summer was halted by a few things but none as important as the rise in 10-year Treasury yields, in my view. In December, we cited 4 to 4.5 percent as the sweet spot for equity multiples assuming growth and earnings remained on track. We viewed 4.5 percent as a key level for equity valuations. And sure enough, when the Fed leaned less dovish at its December meeting, yields crossed that 4.5 percent threshold; and correlations between stocks and yields settled firmly in negative territory, where they remain. In other words, yields are no longer supportive of higher valuations—a key driver of returns the past few years. Instead, earnings are now the primary driver of returns and that is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future. While the Fed was already increasingly less dovish, the uncertainty on tariffs and last week's inflation data could further that shift with the bond market moving to just one cut for the rest of the year. Our official call is in line with that view with our economists now just looking for just one cut–in June. It depends on how the inflation and growth data roll in. Our strategy has shifted, too. With the S&P 500 reaching our tactical target of 6100 in December and earnings revision breadth now rolling over for the index, we have been more focused on sectors and factors. In particular, we've favored areas of the market showing strong earnings revisions on an absolute or relative basis.Financials, Media and Entertainment, Software over Semiconductors and Consumer Services over Goods continue to fit that bill. Within Defensives, we have favored Utilities over Staples, REITs and Healthcare. While we've seen outperformance in all these trades, we are sticking with them, for now. We maintain an overriding preference for Large-cap quality unless 10-year Treasury yields fall sustainably below 4.5 percent without a meaningful degradation in growth. The key component of 10-year yields to watch for equity valuations remains the term premium – which has come down, but is still elevated compared to the past few years. Other macro developments driving stock prices include the very active policy announcements from the White House including tariffs, immigration enforcement, and cost cutting efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. For tariffs, we believe they will be more of an idiosyncratic event for equity markets. However, if tariffs were to be imposed and maintained on China, Mexico and Canada through 2026, the impact to earnings-per-share would be roughly 5-7 percent for the S&P 500. That's not an insignificant reduction and likely one of the reasons why guidance this past quarter was more muted than fourth quarter results. Industries facing greater headwinds from China tariffs include consumer discretionary goods and electronics. Lower immigration flow and stock is more likely to affect aggregate demand than to be a wage cost headwind, at least for public companies. Finally, skepticism remains high as it relates to DOGE's ability to cut Federal spending meaningfully. I remain more optimistic on that front, but realize greater success also presents a headwind to growth before it provides a tailwind via lower fiscal deficits and less crowding out of the private economy—things that could lead to more Fed cuts and lower long-term interest rates as term premium falls. Bottom line, higher backend rates and growth headwinds from the stronger dollar and the initial policy changes suggest equity multiples are capped for now. That means stock, factor and sector selection remains key to performance rather than simply adding beta to one's portfolio. On that score, we continue to favor earnings revision breadth, quality, and size factors alongside financials, software, media/entertainment and consumer services at the industry level. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the podcast, help us make it even more valuable to you. Share your feedback on the show at morganstanley.com/podcast-survey or head to the episode notes for the survey link.

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We're breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use.In this episode, Elena and Rob explore how sunlight influences consumer spending habits, revealing that brighter days lead to bigger sales across all product categories.Topics covered:   [01:05] "The Effect of Weather on Consumer Spending"[02:45] How mood impacts purchasing decisions[04:10] Six years of retail data analysis[05:30] Artificial sunlight experiments[08:20] Weather-based marketing opportunities  To learn more, visit marketingarchitects.com/podcast or subscribe to our newsletter at marketingarchitects.com/newsletter. Resources: Murray, Kyle B., Fabrizio Di Muro, Adam Finn, and Peter Popkowski Leszczyc. "The Effect of Weather on Consumer Spending." Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 17, no. 6, July 2010, pp. 512-520. Elsevier, doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2010.08.006. Get more research-backed marketing strategies by subscribing to The Marketing Architects on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

You set up an assumption, you have a theory, you analyze your data, and you show that the assumption does not hold. Doing good qualitative research is that simple. Except that it's not, of course. On the ground, in the research and writing process, these basic rules can be quite tricky to implement. So we discuss some heuristics researchers can use to limit their conversants, settle on suitable theoretical lenses to examine their data, and collecting more data than what they thought was necessary.   References Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation Of Cultures. Basic Books. Goodall, J. (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. Harvard University Press. Popper, K. R. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Basic Books. Durkheim, E. (1895). The Rules of Sociological Method. Free Press. Giddens, A. (1976). New Rules of Sociological Method. Hutchinson. Barley, S. R. (1986). Technology as an Occasion for Structuring: Evidence from Observations of CT Scanners and the Social Order of Radiology Departments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31(1), 78-108. Kellogg, K. C. (2022). Local Adaptation Without Work Intensification: Experimentalist Governance of Digital Technology for Mutually Beneficial Role Reconfiguration in Organizations. Organization Science, 33(2), 571-599. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1445 Mertens, W., Recker, J., Kummer, T.-F., Kohlborn, T., & Viaene, S. (2016). Constructive Deviance as a Driver for Performance in Retail. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 30, 193-203. Markus, M. L. (1983). Power, Politics, and MIS Implementation. Communications of the ACM, 26(6), 430-444. Berente, N., Lyytinen, K., Yoo, Y., & King, J. L. (2016). Routines as Shock Absorbers During Organizational Transformation: Integration, Control, and NASA's Enterprise Information System. Organization Science, 27(3), 551-572. Alashoor, T., Keil, M., Smith, H. J., & McConnell, A. R. (2023). Too Tired and in Too Good of a Mood to Worry about Privacy: Explaining the Privacy Paradox through the Lens of Effort Level in Information Processing. Information Systems Research, 34(4), 1415-1436. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (4th ed.). Sage. Berente, N., Recker, J., & Leonardi, P. (2023). . This IS Research podcast, 13 September 2023. Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., & Hamilton, A. L. (2013). Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research: Notes on the Gioia Methodology. Organizational Research Methods, 16(1), 15-31. Lebovitz, S., Levina, N., & Lifshitz-Assaf, H. (2021). Is AI Ground Truth Really “True”? The Dangers of Training and Evaluating AI Tools Based on Experts' Know-What. MIS Quarterly, 45(3), 1501-1525. Ryle, G. (1949). The Concept of Mind. University of Chicago Press. Langley, A. (1999). Strategies for Theorizing from Process Data. Academy of Management Review, 24(4), 691-711. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd ed.). Sage. Cramton, C. D., & Hinds, P. J. (2014). An Embedded Model of Cultural Adaptation in Global Teams. Organization Science, 25(4), 1056-1081. 

Guillaume Guersing, Head of Consumer Services, Geopost, explains Geopost's new e-commerce discovery platform, Singular. Showcasing SMEs on the Singular website Selecting local merchants in lifestyle categories Expanding Geopost's services to SMEs Why Singular is a discovery platform, not a marketplace Growth in e-commerce after Singular's launch How Singular differs in Italy, Spain and Croatia  

Join host Chris Carril and guest Wendy Ritz Ph.D., AIB-SE Conference Chair, and Dr. Brittney Bauer, Ph.D., AIB-SE Marketing Chair, as they discuss planning the annual AIB-SE conference, the history of X-Culture, and defining a successful international business conference.More info on the 2024 AIB-SE Conference: https://us-se.aib.world/pre-conference/Chris Carril is the Vice President-Tax Planning and Treasury Management for Maritz Holdings in Fenton, MO.  His responsibilities include the company's treasury, tax and risk management functions and he is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Missouri. He has previously held financial positions at A.G. Edwards, Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company, and Furniture Brands International. Recently, Chris has joined the Advisory Board of the Boeing Institute of International Business at Saint Louis University. Chris enjoys spending time with his four children and rescue dog, Lyla, enjoying St Louis Muny theatre, and attending St. Louis University Billiken basketball games.Dr. Wendy Ritz is Associate Professor teaching Marketing at Florida State University. She is a fellow with the Direct Marketing Education Foundation and an active board member with the Academy of International Business Southeast Chapter. Her research focuses on the buyer journey in various markets, such as prosumption, business-to-business, international sales and marketing, and across various electronic platforms. She has published in several marketing journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, Journal in Research of Interactive Marketing, and the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, The Journal of Consumer Behavior, Marketing Education Review, and the Harvard Business Review.Dr. Brittney Bauer is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago and the Director of the Quinlan School of Business Behavioral Lab. She earned her dual Ph.D. in marketing and international business from Saint Louis University in 2019. Furthermore, she received a Certificate for University Teaching Skills from the Center of Teaching Excellence and a Research Methods Minor during her doctoral studies. Dr. Bauer received the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 College of Business Outstanding Research Awards. Her work has been published in well-respected journals such as the International Journal of Research in Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Product & Brand Management, and Academy of Management Perspectives. Dr. Bauer has an extensive research pipeline currently under review at top marketing and international business journals, and her work has also been noted in the media. She is an editorial review board member and ad-hoc reviewer for various academic journals. Moreover, Dr. Bauer is an active member of the American Marketing Association, Academy of Marketing Science, and Academy of International Business, and has performed various leadership roles for their respective annual meetings. She has also earned several Best Reviewer and Best Paper Awards at these national and international conferences. https://www.luc.edu/quinlan/faculty/brittneybauer.shtml Visit Guest Wendy Ritz's LinkedIn

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is seeking the public's identifying any suspected price gouging of gasoline in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene. The agency is accepting reports of suspected cases here. If the price gouging complaint involves other goods or services, such as water, ice, food, generators, batteries, home repair materials or tree removal services, call the Consumer Protection Section of the Office of the Attorney General at (800) 552-9963 or (804) 786-2042, or click here and select “Citizen Resources.”Article LinkSupport the show

Mark Ritenour, professor of postharvest technology with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), joined the September episode of the All In For Citrus podcast to provide a recap of Packinghouse Day. The event was held Sept. 12 at the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in Lake Alfred. Based at the Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Ritenour has worked with UF/IFAS for 26 years. Much of his research has focused on the fresh fruit industry. That is also the focus of Packinghouse Day, which marked its 63rd year in 2024.   Ritenour said despite the sharp contraction of the fresh citrus segment in recent years, Packinghouse Day has maintained a loyal following of growers, packers and stakeholders who value the meeting and the opportunity to get together with industry peers.   The educational program touched on a wide range of topics. Scott McClure, with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, informed growers and packers about the services the agency offers to help prepare for food safety audits and other audits.   The meeting also addressed movement of fruit between states.   “There are agreements between Florida, Alabama and Georgia on the movement of fruit, but you must contact your respective departments of agriculture (and get clearance), along with preharvest grove inspections to get certificates to harvest the fruit and transport it across those boarders,” Ritenour said. “The good news is you can do it, and there are procedures in place (to accommodate the movement).”   There was a presentation from Paul Mears of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the phytosanitary requirements of key export markets for fresh citrus. Other topics addressed included disease management and requirements to avoid the potential of pest movement in shipments. Ritenour discusses these presentations in the podcast.   A highlight of Packinghouse Day was the John T. Lesley Award of Excellence presentation. The honor was first presented in 1981 to John T. Lesley for “recognition of an individual for outstanding leadership and service on behalf of the Florida fresh citrus industry.” This year's winner is Lindsay Raley Jr. of Dundee Citrus Growers Association.   Also in the podcast, Michael Rogers, CREC director, provides a rundown of a busy slate of citrus events planned for this fall. Don't miss the September episode of All In For Citrus. The podcast is a partnership between UF/IFAS and AgNet Media.

Aug. 29, 2024 - Richard Berkley, who leads the Office of Consumer Services in the State Department of Public Services, discusses a pilot program capping the energy bills of low-income New Yorkers who electrify their homes.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is offering free equipment for assembling new beehives to Virginia residents. Applications for the department's 2024 Beehive Distribution Program are being accepted now through Sept. 6 here. A random drawing will be held to choose which qualified recipients will receive the equipment. To be eligible, applicants must be residents of Virginia and 18 years or older. Businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies are not eligible to apply. Multiple people with the same mailing and/or physical address can apply, but only three beehive units will be given out per household in the same...Article LinkSupport the Show.

The federal government is seeking comments related to the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as it reviews the science behind healthy eating, with a plan expected next year. Dairy has always had a central role in proper nutrition, and newer science reinforces that. That doesn't mean the process is easy, two experts said in a Dairy Defined podcast released today. “One of the biggest distinguishing factors in this year's advisory committee is a focus on using a health equity lens to ensure that the committee considers factors such as socioeconomic position, food security, race, and, or ethnicity and culture,” said Brandon Lipps, who during his time as  USDA deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, oversaw the writing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services. “With products like milk that have so many available nutrients, we can serve Americans so well. And we need to make sure that the committee thinks about the basics when they're talking about that.”Lipps, co-founder of Caprock Strategies, was joined by NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman in the podcast. 

In this episode, we explore the mosquitoes of Florida, covering everything from mosquito biology, types of mosquitoes, mosquito surveillance and control, and ways you can yourself from these important, but sometimes pesky insects. Learn More: UF/IFAS Document about mosquito repellents (Table of effectiveness at end): https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN419 Mosquitoes & Their Control: Integrated Pest Management for Mosquito Reduction Around Homes and Neighborhoods - https://www.floridahealth.gov/%5C/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-borne-diseases/_documents/fl-resident-guide-to-mosquito-control-ifas.pdf Mosquito Control Programs - Mosquito Control Programs / Mosquito Control / Business Services / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov) Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance - Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance | Florida Department of Health (floridahealth.gov) How You Can Help: Follow the 3-D's: Dump standing water; Dress in loose, light-colored, long sleeves and pants; Defend using a CED recommended repellent. Reach out to your local Mosquito Control District if you're still having issues with mosquitoes despite efforts to control them around your home: Mosquito Control Programs / Mosquito Control / Business Services / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov) Share this episode or information from this episode with family, friends and colleagues. Sources for this Episode: Mosquitoes - https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topics/mosquitoes FDACS Public Health Applicator's Manual -https://ccmedia.fdacs.gov/content/download/109002/file/Public-Health-Manual-2023.pdf Division of Vector-Borne Diseases - https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/index.html   Special thanks to Alissa Berro, Section Manager, Public Works, Pinellas County for assistance in the script writing of this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend who might enjoy learning about Florida's natural areas and the wild things that live here! If you're active on iNaturalist, consider joining our iNaturalist project, Naturally Florida's Listener Observations, here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/naturally-florida-s-listener-observations --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/naturallyflorida/message

In this episode, we explore the mosquitoes of Florida, covering everything from mosquito biology, types of mosquitoes, mosquito surveillance and control, and ways you can yourself from these important, but sometimes pesky insects. Learn More: UF/IFAS Document about mosquito repellents (Table of effectiveness at end): https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN419 Mosquitoes & Their Control: Integrated Pest Management for Mosquito Reduction Around Homes and Neighborhoods - https://www.floridahealth.gov/%5C/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-borne-diseases/_documents/fl-resident-guide-to-mosquito-control-ifas.pdf Mosquito Control Programs - Mosquito Control Programs / Mosquito Control / Business Services / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov) Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance - Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance | Florida Department of Health (floridahealth.gov) How You Can Help: Follow the 3-D's: Dump standing water; Dress in loose, light-colored, long sleeves and pants; Defend using a CED recommended repellent. Reach out to your local Mosquito Control District if you're still having issues with mosquitoes despite efforts to control them around your home: Mosquito Control Programs / Mosquito Control / Business Services / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov) Share this episode or information from this episode with family, friends and colleagues. Sources for this Episode: Mosquitoes - https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topics/mosquitoes FDACS Public Health Applicator's Manual -https://ccmedia.fdacs.gov/content/download/109002/file/Public-Health-Manual-2023.pdf Division of Vector-Borne Diseases - https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/index.html   Special thanks to Alissa Berro, Section Manager, Public Works, Pinellas County for assistance in the script writing of this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend who might enjoy learning about Florida's natural areas and the wild things that live here! If you're active on iNaturalist, consider joining our iNaturalist project, Naturally Florida's Listener Observations, here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/naturally-florida-s-listener-observations --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/naturallyflorida/message

The Financial Impact of College EducationGoing to college is a financial decision, second only to buying a house. More specifically, it's an investment decision. Will it pay off? Perhaps the most important factor determining that is whether you graduate with a degree. Fail to do that, and any money you spend, or borrow, for college, will likely be money down the drain in terms of future earnings.The good news is that data just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that earning a college degree is still financially worthwhile—generally speaking. The data shows that recent college grads working full time earn about $25,000 a year more than those with only a high school diploma.The catch is, they have to be working. That means majors chosen by college grads must give them skills that managers are willing to pay for.Another study by the American Educational Research Journal shows that engineering and computer science degrees give the highest rate of return on dollars spent for education. They're followed by business, health, math, and science majors.So for example, those with a bachelor degree in engineering can expect to start out at around $80,000 a year, and significantly higher with a master's degree. The highest paid engineers working on aircraft, satellites, bridges and other infrastructure can earn several hundred thousand dollars a year. One catch, though, you have to be really good at math.Meanwhile, computer systems managers make, on average, a bit over $140,000, but can earn significantly more than that depending on the level of complexity and responsibility with the job.Managing Student Loan DebtThe study also showed that education, humanities and arts majors ranked the lowest in return on investment. Now, to be clear, we're not telling you to avoid those fields if that's where your passion lies. But college is expensive, and it's important to know the earning potential of any major you're considering, especially if you're borrowing to attend college.U.S. Census Bureau data shows a median salary of around $53,000 for degrees in Family and Consumer Services and Fine Arts … and $55,000 for degrees in Elementary education and Social work. If that's where you're headed, you'll need to watch your expenses like a hawk, and borrow as little as possible.Now consider that according to the National Education Association, teachers with student loan debt owe an average of $56,000. We'll take that with a grain of salt because the NEA exists to advocate for higher teacher salaries, but if that figure is even close to accurate, it shows the difficulty many teachers have in paying back their student loans—when they only make that much in a year.Remember, college is an investment, so always consider how long it will take to pay back your student loans on the salary you can expect to get with your major. Obviously, the less you borrow, the faster that will be. But also, the higher the salary, the faster you'll get out of the red and into the black.Perhaps the ultimate example of that is the emergency room physician. That person will leave medical school with an average of $215,000 in student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative. That sounds like an awful lot, and it is, but consider that the median salary of an emergency room physician is now $350,000 a year. A doctor will almost certainly pay off student loan debt before a teacher.But again, we're not telling you not to become a teacher or social worker if you feel that's your Godly calling. Just do everything you can to minimize your student loan debt. That's good advice regardless of the major you choose.Remember Proverbs 22:7— just 15 words that you need to memorize: “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”Practical Advice for Future StudentsSo, take as many Advanced Placement classes as possible. Get a part time job in high school and college and put your earnings toward tuition. But perhaps the most productive use of your time will be applying for scholarships.Set up a scholarship application assembly line and apply for dozens of them. It will pay off, but it takes time and effort. The greatest gift you can give yourself is to graduate from college with little or no debt. That way, you'll hit the ground running when you take on the world as a new grad.On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:I have an investment property that I'm planning to sell, but at the same time after I sell that, I was planning on paying off a mortgage at my primary residence. I was wondering if there are any tax advantages to doing that? I'm 71 and still working. I'm a widow and have my husband's pension and my own social security that I'm drawing from so I'm in a good place with my income. I'm trying to play catch-up on my retirement to prepare for that and I max out my 401(k) and I'm doing fine there. Does it make sense if I take $7,000 out of savings to lump sum into an IRA before April 15th so that it counts for 2023? If I do that, I can do another $7,000 for 2024 but I'm worried about whether I will be taxed again on that since I've already been taxed on that money as earned income. My husband and I are believers and are in our mid 60's. We're dual citizens of the U.S. and Canada and half of our working income was gained in each country where we own and operate a farm and have for the past 40 years. There is no successor in view right now and we want to continue to farm as long as our health allows. But we have no retirement accounts or plans for retirement. However, we are completely debt-free. So we're not sure if we should start with an accountant or a lawyer or another place but we were wondering if there is a Certified Kingdom Advisor that would be familiar with agriculture, qualified to practice in both the U.S. and Canada for retirement planning?Resources Mentioned:An Uncommon Guide to Retirement: Finding God's Purpose for the Next Season of Life by Jeff HaanenRich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich FoolFind a Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA)FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on the Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. Visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can join the FaithFi Community and give as we expand our outreach.

As California grapples with how to reduce homelessness, Marisa and Guy sit down with Governor Gavin Newsom's top housing official. Tomiquia Moss spent her career trying to chip away at the state's homelessness crisis, starting as a social worker in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood to now, as the Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. 

In this episode of How I Grew This, Mada Seghete is joined by Daniel Broukhim, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of FabFitFun. They explore the evolution of FabFitFun, including the company's approach to customer acquisition, influencer marketing, the importance of content creation, and the balance between mobile and web experiences. Daniel is a highly skilled Chief Executive Officer, boasting a remarkable track record in the internet industry. His visionary leadership has propelled his company, FabFitFun, to unprecedented heights, with an astounding membership base of over one million individuals worldwide. Beyond his influential role at FabFitFun, Daniel extends his expertise as an angel investor and philanthropist, actively supporting and guiding a diverse portfolio of companies. Notable among his investments and advisory roles are Cargomatic and MediaLab. For our valued listeners, we are pleased to offer a fantastic 20% discount on the FabFitFun box, featuring an exquisite selection of seasonal items. To avail of this great opportunity, simply apply the coupon code 'HOWIGREWTHIS' during the checkout process. Indulge in an assortment of premium beauty, wellness, fashion, and lifestyle products meticulously curated to elevate your experience.

This week, Brett got to share some time with a true gentleman, friend, and public servant - Hugh Thomas. Hugh has been the Executive Director of the Suwannee River Water Management District for over seven years, and he has brought a wealth of experience to that role which was earned in the private sector as well as his various roles at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He's a big believer in the innovative work of the Suwannee River Partnership, and he shares some insights on how the “Fifth Largest Water Management District in Florida”, is tackling the water quantity and quality challenges of today and tomorrow. They talk about his family's roots in Gilchrist County; the shocking news that Hugh was born in Tampa; how his professional path has crossed a few times with mutual friend and guest of the podcast, Ann Shortelle; his philosophy for partnership with the agricultural community; his appreciation for governing boards, and his in particular; his questionable advice on whether to build a house with your spouse as a young couple; and of course, his likeness to the mythical lumberjack - Paul Bunyan. Hugh was generous with his time and insights, and we hope you enjoy the conversation. To find out more about the Suwannee River Partnership, head here: https://suwanneeriverpartnership.com To learn about the Suwannee River Water Management District, go here: https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com To see the cost-share opportunities available through the District's portal, go here: https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/366/Agricultural-Cost-Share-Program and here: https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/374/RIVER-Cost-Share-Program And because you probably don't know where Bell, Florida is (or that the town was named after the winner of a beauty contest, Bell Fletcher), check out the town's website here: https://www.townofbellflorida.com This episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline. Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast's leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com. This Episode is also thanks to my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions. RES is the nation's leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida's natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of a new venture where we're striving to become Florida's first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state's natural environment and the events that shape it. To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier. You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you'd like to know more about. Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance. And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band for giving permission to use his music for this podcast. The song is called Doing Work for Free, (Apple Music | Spotify) and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.

Kristen Leone, a leading authority in Digital Transformation and Strategy at Google, empowers the company's major clients with innovative insights, enhancing consumer experiences through strategic digital approaches. Kristen is a strategic leader celebrated for her entrepreneurial growth mindset. I was delighted to interview her, and in this podcast, we delve into:The divergence of purpose and workEvolving job fit and the Fit DeltaChanging desires and organizational needs Career decision frameworkMentioned on the Show: Learned Optimism, Martin SeligmanThinking Fast and Slow, Daniel KahnemanThe Extended Mind, Annie Murphy PaulShow GuestKristen Leone is a Digital Transformation and Strategy expert at Google.  She concurrently serves as Head of Industry for the Home and Consumer Services category, partnering with advertisers in the automotive, real estate, and home security industries to drive transformative impact for their businesses. Before Google, Kristen led Sales Strategy teams at The Weather Company/An IBM Business and WebMD. She co-founded the venture-backed startup Joor, the premier digital platform for wholesale management in contemporary fashion. And she honed her skills as a classically trained brand manager at General Mills. Kristen holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Princeton University. Follow her on LinkedIn  Support the showJill Griffin is committed to improving workplace life through leadership guidance, well-being, and impactful strategies. Her executive coaching, workshop facilitation, and innovation have driven multi-million-dollar revenues for top agencies, startups, and renowned brands. Her strategic acumen and perceptive insights contribute to individual and organizational success. Collaborating with individuals, teams, and organizations, Jill fosters high-performance cultures and facilitates growth for leaders. Visit JillGriffinCoaching.com for more details on: Book a 1:1 Career Strategy and Executive Coaching HERE Gallup CliftonStrengths Corporate Workshops to build a strengths-based culture Team Dynamics training to increase retention, communication, goal setting, and effective decision-making Keynote Speaking Grab a personal Resume Refresh with Jill Griffin HERE Follow @jillGriffinOffical on Instagram for daily inspiration Connect with and follow Jill on LinkedIn

Join Marisol Nichols with guest Chris Jones from STOP THE TRAFFIK, a UK-based organization fighting human trafficking since 2005. Explore how their exploitation analytics, prevention programs, and data-driven solutions are unraveling the complexities of modern slavery. Discover their incredible partnerships with META, TikTok, IBM, and leading financial institutions as they collectively combat human trafficking globally. About Chris Jones Chris Jones is a highly experienced data-driven and performance marketer with 24.3 years of experience. He has worked with FMCG, mining, tech, and telecom sectors in the United Kingdom and other international markets, where he successfully managed large accounts in highly competitive sectors. Currently, he is the Director of Commercial and Marketing of Stop the Traffik – a London-based company that operates in the Consumer Services and Non-profit Organizations industries.  With a mission to disrupt human trafficking networks, Stop the Traffik is dedicated to generating targeted action and building resilience to protect vulnerable communities. With over 50 employees, their focus is on providing report writing, support, data gathering, and analysis services. Chris' expertise has been a great asset in helping the organization achieve their objectives. Like the show? We appreciate your positive reviews and comments. FOLLOW MARISOL: Podcast → https://marisolnichols.com/podcast/ Website → https://marisolnichols.com/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/marisolnichols Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/marisolnichols/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@realmarisolnichols Twitter → https://twitter.com/marisolnichols BUSINESS/SPONSORS/INQUIRIES ↳ Info@MarisolNichols.com #JoinThefight #ModernSlavery #EndHumanTrafficking #HumanTrafficking #StopTheTraffik #DataDrivenServices #MarisolNichols #MarisolNicholsPodcast #Season2 #MNPEpisode10 #Podcast #Thriller #TrueCrime #OnlineSafety Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doug Hoyes is joined by special guest, Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer, a collection agent, who serves as the Chief Operations Officer at collection agency Kingston Data & Credit. This marks Blair's seventh appearance on the show! In this episode, Doug and Blair discuss the messy world of debt collection, statute-barred claims, and credit reporting. They answer questions such as, how long does it take for a credit card company to send your debt to collections? Does a statute-barred debt affect your credit report? What happens if you don't pay it? Can you be sued and when is it time to speak to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee? Tune in for lots of great advice and tips!   00:00 Introduction 01:44 How long does it take for collection agencies to report to a collection agency? 04:44 How does a collection agency receive new files to collect? 06:36 How do collection agencies contact and monitor those in debt? 09:59 When do collection agencies report to the credit bureau? 11:05 What is the difference between a trade line and a registered item? 15:11 What is the difference between soft inquiries and hard inquires and how do they affect your credit score? 16:34 How often should you pull your credit bureau? 18:56 Statute-Barred Claims: Do I Have to Pay? 23:13 Proof of Claim Forms 29:12 Creditors plan 32:49 Settlements 37:14 Concluding comments     Related Links:   Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer on Twitter (X) https://twitter.com/kdcblair Blair's blog: https://receivableaccounts.blogspot.com/ Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer's previous appearances on Debt Free in 30: Episode 20, January 17, 2025 – Stop the Collection Calls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tsrKacdx4U Episode 57, October 3, 2015, Collection Agents – How Did They Find Me? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SMU1R5N0ms Episode 70, January 2, 2016, Top 10 Tips for Dealing with a Collection Agent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=736J-IefWrI Episode 264, September 21, 2019, How to Negotiate with a Collection Agent, https://youtu.be/ZgNWpKfBUwU?si=czAQLjQqWTOLctml  59,000 Views Episode 296, May 2, 2020 -  Dealing with Collection Calls in COVID-19: Debt Negotiations, Deferrals, and Credit Report Impact https://youtu.be/S86gnBEkeUY?si=r0HLIpLHlWfTXdN_ (During Covid, I had a beard) Episode 373, October 23, 2021, Your Top Collections Questioned Answered by a Debt Collector, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue8gFE2Z48w Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services  https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-government-and-consumer-services I've Filed Bankruptcy & Collection Agents Are Still Calling Blog: https://www.hoyes.com/blog/ive-filed-bankruptcy-collection-agents-are-still-calling/ Collection Agents: How Did They Find Me? Blog: https://www.hoyes.com/blog/collection-agents-how-did-they-find-me/ Top 10 Tips For Dealing With A Collection Agent Blog: https://www.hoyes.com/blog/top-10-tips-for-dealing-with-a-collection-agent/ How Long Can a Collection Agency Collect on Debt in Canada? Blog: https://www.hoyes.com/blog/how-long-can-a-collection-agency-collect-on-a-debt-in-canada/ Stop The Collection Calls: Advice from Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer Blog: https://www.hoyes.com/blog/stop-the-collection-calls-advice-from-blair-demarco-wettlaufer/ Can a Collection Agency Sue You in Canada? Blog: https://www.hoyes.com/blog/can-a-collection-agency-sue-you-in-canada/

A washing machine that burst into flames forcing an Auckland family to evacuate their home has prompted a wider warning about potentially fatal faults in four top loaders. The samsung toploader washine machines manufactured between 2010 and 2013 were recalled a decade ago but its feared some are still in circulation. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment manager of Consumer Services, Simon Gallagher explains what happened. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6338965406112

In this episode of How I Grew This, Mada Seghete is joined by Daniel Broukhim, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of FabFitFun. They explore the evolution of FabFitFun, including the company's approach to customer acquisition, influencer marketing, the importance of content creation, and the balance between mobile and web experiences. Daniel is a highly skilled Chief Executive Officer, boasting a remarkable track record in the internet industry. His visionary leadership has propelled his company, FabFitFun, to unprecedented heights, with an astounding membership base of over one million individuals worldwide. Beyond his influential role at FabFitFun, Daniel extends his expertise as an angel investor and philanthropist, actively supporting and guiding a diverse portfolio of companies. Notable among his investments and advisory roles are Cargomatic and MediaLab. For our valued listeners, we are pleased to offer a fantastic 20% discount on the FabFitFun box, featuring an exquisite selection of seasonal items. To avail of this great opportunity, simply apply the coupon code 'HOWIGREWTHIS' during the checkout process. Indulge in an assortment of premium beauty, wellness, fashion, and lifestyle products meticulously curated to elevate your experience.

Today we have Dr. Barbara Thorne, a termite biologist and an expert on the invasive conehead species, a Central and South American termite that has invaded South Florida. Barbara is a research professor and professor emerita in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland. Since 2012 she has served as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services science advisor on the state's Conehead Termite Program. She also chairs the National Scientific Advisory Committee for the Conehead Termite Program. Barbara's research focuses on the biology of termites, which are highly social insects that form complex colony structures. She earned her Ph.D. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in 1983 from Harvard University where she studied with the late Dr. E. O. Wilson, a renowned biologist and naturalist. Show notes [00:03:14] Dawn points out that Barbara is from Southern California and asks Barbara if she were a Valley Girl since she grew up in the San Fernando Valley. [00:03:42] Dawn mentions that it was wanderlust that sent Barbara from the West Coast to the East Coast for college and asks why she decided on Brown University. [00:04:14] After Barbara explains that she was originally not interested in science, Ken asks what changed her mind. [00:06:34] Dawn mentions that some kids grow up fascinated with bugs, but not Barbara, so Dawn asks what eventually triggered Barbara's academic interest in insects. [00:07:58] Ken asks Barbara to elaborate on how Bug Camp and E.O. Wilson's book “The Insect Societies”  motivated her to go to Harvard. [00:10:22] Dawn explains, for those who aren't familiar, that E.O. Wilson was an American biologist who was recognized as the world's leading authority on ants among other topics. He spent 40 years on the Harvard faculty and authored more than 30 books, including two that won Pulitzer Prizes. Dawn asks how Wilson became Barbara's Ph.D. faculty advisor. [00:14:15] Ken asks why Barbara often refers to the time she was at Harvard as the golden age for research into social insects. [00:18:31] Dawn asks about Barbara's initial goal for her Ph.D. dissertation, which was to investigate the evolutionary driver that created the sociality in termites, who are a completely different branch of insects from the classic social insects (ants, bees, and wasps). Dawn goes on to ask what Wilson thought of this idea when Barbara proposed it. [00:21:22] Barbara spent 15 years in E.O. Wilson's lab and Ken wonders if she has a favorite story about Wilson. [00:28:29] Dawn explains that for Barbara's postdoc research, she continued to expand on the work of her dissertation, and then began working in the field of applied termite biology and targeted applications for control. This was when chlordane, a powerful pesticide against termites, was pulled from the market. Dawn asks Barbara to talk about the significance of pulling chlordane from the market and how this created an opportunity for her. [00:31:30] Ken asks Barbara what led her to join the faculty at the University of Maryland in the early 1990s. [00:33:59] Dawn mentions that during Barbara's time at Maryland, she investigated her hypothesis of accelerated inheritance as a driver for the evolution of eusociality in termites, following up this research in a 2003 paper in PNAS. Dawn goes on to explain that the paper provided experimental evidence for the powerful selective forces driving the evolution of eusociality in termites, a question that perplexed Charles Darwin. Dawn asks Barbara to talk about why Darwin was confused by the existence of social insects and how Barbara approached this question in termites. [00:49:16] Dawn mentions that Barbara expanded on the previously mentioned research with a study in 2009, using genetic markers to demonstrate that in merged colonies, offspring from both original, unrelated families can become new reproductives and even interbreed.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily Newsbrief for Wednesday, February 1st, 2023. Ladies and gentleman, did you know that you can sign up for our Fight Laugh Feast Conference, happening at the Ark Encounter this year? Well now you can! Head on over to fightlaughfeast.com, and you can sign up today! That’s fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-surgeon-general-warns-13-years-old-is-too-young-to-join-social-media U.S. Surgeon General Warns 13-Years-Old Is Too Young To Join Social Media U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy believes children 13 years old are too young to join social media platforms, citing kids are still “developing their identity,” and such engagement can create a distorted sense of themselves. Murthy, who has served as surgeon general under the Obama and the Biden administrations, signaled the warning in an interview with CNN, noting adolescents should only be allowed to access the platforms until they were 16 years old at the earliest. “It’s a time, you know, early adolescence, where kids are developing their identity, their sense of self,” Murthy said. “It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships, and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children.” Social media giant platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter require a minimum age of 13 to join. Murthy further noted the issue with addictive algorithms, which pits youth against Big Tech. “You have some of the best designers and product developers in the world who have designed these products to make sure people are maximizing the amount of time they spend on these platforms,” he said. “And if we tell a child, use the force of your willpower to control how much time you’re spending, you’re pitting a child against the world’s greatest product designers.” “And that’s just not a fair fight,” he added. “And so that’s why I think our kids need help.” The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study earlier this month which sampled 178 12-year-olds from three public middle schools in North Carolina and reviewed how often the minors check social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Researchers found individuals with habitual checking behaviors showed initial hypoactivation but increasing sensitivity to potential social cues over time. Nonhabitual individuals, however, showed initial hyperactivation and decreasing sensitivity. Dr. Adriana Stacey told CNN using social media releases a “dopamine dump” and compared the addictiveness of smartphones to cocaine. Surgeon General Murthy called on parents to band together to prevent their children from logging on to social media platforms until they’re at least 16 years old. Seattle Public School District officials filed a lawsuit earlier this month against several social media platform owners, including Facebook and TikTok, for allegedly intentionally cultivating and creating a mental health crisis among the youth and have caused a public nuisance affecting Seattle Public Schools. President Joe Biden drew attention to social media platforms in his 2022 State of the Union Address, alleging the harm social media has wrought on American youth should implore all to “hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they’re conducting on our children for profit.” The Biden administration & General Murthy took fire howewver, due to what appears to be inconscistencies in their rules. He told "CNN Newsroom" host Pamela Brown that parents should look to push back the age at which their children begin using social media platforms to make sure kids "don't get exposed to harm early." Last March, Murthy addressed a directive from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R., effectively cutting gender-affirming care for minors in his state, taking to Twitter to write, "Yesterday afternoon in Austin, I met with transgender youth and their parents to hear how they are coping in light of the state's recent directive equating gender-affirming care to child abuse." "The pain and fear in their voices was heartbreaking. Parents and kids are terrified about being separated. They described repeated attacks on their families at traumatic… LGBTQ+ youth were already at increased risk of suicide and other mental health struggles. We should be seeking to provide them with support and medical care…. "Forcing parents to choose between following medical advice for their child and risking an investigation from the state is simply not right. The government shouldn't be interfering with decisions between doctors and patients," he continued. https://www.theepochtimes.com/border-patrol-agents-told-to-not-chase-all-vehicles-that-flee_5022784.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Border Patrol Agents Told to Not Chase All Vehicles That Flee Texas—Border Patrol agents will soon be limited in chasing vehicles that flee from them, under new rules unveiled in January and set to take effect in May. Agents must determine that vehicular pursuits are “necessary and objectively reasonable” under the rules, and can terminate a pursuit at any time without fear of questioning from superiors. Agents are being told that they must consider factors such as “the seriousness of the reason” for a pursuit and weather conditions when deciding whether to chase a fleeing vehicle that failed to stop at a checkpoint or port of entry—the official places to enter the United States from Mexico and Canada. “A Vehicular Pursuit is considered Necessary when an Authorized Officer/Agent concludes there is an immediate need to apprehend a subject as part of their enforcement duties based on the totality of the known facts and circumstances,” the rules state. A pursuit meets the “objectively reasonable” standard when the government’s interest in apprehending the persons or people in the fleeing vehicle “clearly outweighs the Foreseeability of Risk to the public, officers/agents, other law enforcement, and vehicle occupants,” the rules state. Agents must evaluate the interest and the potential risk when choosing whether to pursue a fleeing vehicle and continue the evaluation during the chase. They must also alert a supervisor “as soon as feasible” during a pursuit and immediately terminate the chase if the supervisor does not authorize it to continue, or orders it stopped. If a chase is terminated, agents must pull their vehicle over to signal to the public and the fleeing driver that the chase has ended, according to the rules. They must alert superiors. They can then start driving again in the last known direction of the fleeing vehicle to check for “crashes, potential flight on foot, to determine if the Subject Vehicle was abandoned, or for any other incident.” The rules also suggest alternatives to vehicular pursuits, such as tracking with airplanes. Troy Miller, who became acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner in late 2022 after the ouster of Chris Magnus, said that vehicular pursuits “pose inherent risks—to members of the public, officers and agents, and vehicle occupants” and that the new policy “acknowledges these risks and shifts our Agency’s overall approach to a risk-based model when it comes to pursuits.” Magnus stressed that the policy does not bar vehicular pursuits but “provides a clear framework” for weighing the risks associated with pursuits against the benefits. https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/01/30/florida-taking-the-first-steps-to-become-26th-constitutional-carry-state-n527375 Florida taking the first steps to become 26th constitutional carry state The speaker of the Florida House announced lawmakers had filed the bill this morning. Florida lawmakers’ promise to introduce legislation allowing permitless concealed carry of firearms, called “Constitutional Carry” by proponents, has been met. At a Monday morning press briefing, House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) and other gathered lawmakers announced House Bill 543, which would allow weapons and firearms without a license for concealment. The proposed bill was written by Rep. Chuck Brannan (R-Lake City), with state Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa) writing the companion legislation for the Florida Senate. Gov. Ron DeSantis said in December that he was committed to the legislation passing and urged state lawmakers to propose it. Under the proposed bill, Floridians would no longer need to apply for a license for concealed carry. The state of Florida already allows firearm purchases for those 21 and older without need of state application, aside from federal requirements for background checks. Should the bill pass, the regulation of concealed carry permits, handled by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, would end. Gov. DeSantis voices support for Constitutional Carry in Florida-Play Video https://thepostmillennial.com/new-york-hotel-mobbed-by-illegal-migrants-who-refuse-to-leave?utm_campaign=64487 New York hotel mobbed by illegal migrants who refuse to leave Illegal aliens standing outside of the Watson Hotel in New York's Hell's Kitchen district on Sunday night refused to leave for a new shelter, causing police to mobilize. More than 50 migrants were outside of the hotel, along with activists who were handing out food and water. City officials said that single men were supposed to be brought to a new shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal that would provide the same services that they were receiving at the hotel. The city bus arrived, but only a small number of migrants hopped on the bus. Most decided to stay outside the hotel on West 57th Street. Activists claimed that migrants were being relocated from the hotel. One activist was quoted telling the New York Post that they were prepared to stay overnight. A dozen police were originally stationed at the Watson hotel, with police remaining on-scene until around midnight as migrants were still surrounding the entrance of the hotel. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is a new mega shelter that can house as many as 1,000 single adult men, Mayor Eric Adams said last week. https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/suicide-bomber-breaches-high-security-in-pakistan-mosque-kills-59 And now in world news… Suicide bomber breaches high security in Pakistan mosque, kills 59 A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a crowded mosque in a highly fortified security compound in Pakistan on Monday, killing 59 people, the latest attack by resurgent Islamist militants targeting police. The attacker appeared to have passed through several barricades manned by security forces to get into the “Red Zone” compound that houses police and counter-terrorism offices in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, police said. Many of the 170 wounded people were in critical condition. The death toll rose to 59 after several people succumbed to their wounds, hospital official Mohammad Asim said in a statement. The bombing happened a day before an International Monetary Fund mission to Islamabad to initiate talks on unlocking funding for the South Asian country’s economy, which is enduring a balance of payments crisis. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack. The bomber detonated his load at the moment hundreds of people lined up to say their prayers, officials said. “We have found traces of explosives,” Khan told reporters, adding that a security lapse had clearly occurred as the bomber had slipped through the most secured area of the compound. An inquiry was under way into how the attacker breached such an elite security cordon and whether there was any inside help. Story Real Estate: Home. It’s where you build your legacy. Where traditions are started, seeds are planted, meals are shared, and stories are told. Home is where you prepare to go out into the world. Finding the home that’s perfect for your family is a big job. Story Real Estate is Moscow’s top real estate team. They give people real estate advice all over the country. Family homes, investments, land, new construction, or commercial— they know real estate. If you’ve thought about a move to Moscow or anywhere in the country, reach out to get connected with a Story Real Estate agent. Wherever you’re going, they can help guide you Home. Visit storyrealestate.com. And now it’s time for my favorite topic.. Sports! The superbowl is all set ladies and gentleman… The Eagles started proceedings as they took on the San Francisco 49ers: San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles | 2023 NFC Conference Championship Game Highlights Play 5:45-5:56 Play 6:45-6:58 Play 8:57-9:09 The Philadelphia Eagles demolished the San Francisco 49ers 31-7, as they’re headed back to the Superbowl… The AFC Championship game between the Bengals & Chiefs was much closer, and had a lot of drama…Cincinatti Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs | 2023 AFC Championship Game Highlights Cincinatti Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs | 2023 AFC Championship Game Highlights Play 5:20-5:33 Play 14:47-15:09 Play 15:33-16:33 Man do I love sports…

Joy Reid leads this episode of The ReidOut with how Donald Trump feigned ignorance about QAnon back when he was president, but now he's apparently fully embracing this dangerous cult, as evidenced by his creepy rally for J.D. Vance this weekend. Joy and her panel discuss. Also in this episode, as the new special master gets to work, why does Trump seem so confident that his preposterous claims of executive privilege will hold up? Our legal experts have more. Plus, Nikki Fried, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, joins Joy on why Ron DeSantis may have greatly miscalculated the politics of using migrant men, women and children as political pawns. All this and more in this edition of The ReidOut on MSNBC.