Via replaced by ground...coffee

Starbucks offers customers option to replace Via | Chicago Breaking Business: "Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks will offer customers who don’t like Starbucks Via Ready Brew the option of replacing it with a 12-ounce bag of ground coffee.

Starbucks will announce the promotion tomorrow. It will run through August.

Via is Starbucks’ instant coffee product, which currently includes Italian, Columbian, and decaffeinated varieties, as well as several flavors.

The move is the latest one for the instant coffee product, which earned Starbucks $135 million in its first year on the market. The products were introduced in late 2009 in Starbucks cafes and a few select chains. In May of 2010, Via expanded to 30,000 locations, including grocery stores.

In a statement, Starbucks global chief marketing officer Annie Young-Scrivner said the promotion shows “how strongly we feel about Starbucks Via Ready Brew and how committed we are to customer satisfaction.”"

Chips that aren't good for you...

Intel Finds Chip Flaw Expected to Cost $1 Billion - NYTimes.com: "Intel said on Monday it had stopped shipping a new chipset after discovering a design flaw that might cause 5 percent of the chips to fail over the next three to five years.

The loss in revenue and the fixing of the nearly half a million laptop and desktop computers that contain the chipset are expected to cost Intel $1 billion.

Intel said that the Series 6, or Cougar Point, chipset, which controls the movement of data to hard drives, DVD drives and monitors, has a failure rate of 5 percent over the typical three- to five-year lifespan of a computer."

Educators haven't evolved...

Evolution teaching poor in U.S. high schools - Science Fair: Science and Space News - USATODAY.com: "Evolution, the inheritance of changed characteristics across generations, is the fundamental unifying concept underlying biology, as a National Research Council science education standards released in 1996 noted. That report said, '... 'biological evolution' cannot be eliminated from the life science standards.'

But only 28% of the 926 teachers surveyed, 'unabashedly introduce evidence that evolution has occurred and craft lesson plans so that evolution is a theme that unifies disparate topics in biology,' according to the Science report by Michael Berkman and Eric Plutzer of Penn State. Most biology teachers belong to the 'cautious 60%,' who are 'neither strong advocates for evolutionary biology nor explicit endorsers of nonscientific alternatives,' the study says. As mentioned, 13% of respondents advocated biblical creationism or 'intelligent design' creationism in biology class."

No Icing on the Food Cake

An era of cheap food may be drawing to a close - Business - Retail - Food Inc. - msnbc.com: "U.S. grain prices should stay unrelentingly high this year, according to a Reuters poll, the latest sign that the era of cheap food has come to an end.
U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat prices -- which surged by as much has 50 percent last year and hit their highest levels since mid-2008 -- will dip by at most 5 percent by the end of 2011, according to the poll of 16 analysts.

The forecasts suggest no quick relief for nations bedeviled by record high food costs that have stoked civil unrest. It means any extreme weather event in a grains-producing part of the world could send prices soaring further."

Too Hot for Basmati

Global warming may rob basmati of its fragrance - The Times of India: "An experiment by Indian agriculture scientists points to the enormous effect global warming could have on the fragrant basmati rice. Basmati, Sanskrit for the fragrant one, may lose not just its aroma, the famous long grains may get shorter, say scientists.

H Pathak, principal investigator of Indian Agricultural Research Institute's Climate Change Challenge Programme, told TOI the Tarawari basmati grown in research fields in Delhi did not grow long enough and wasn't as fragrant as it should have been when cooked.
He said global warming may be to blame for the disappointing basmati produced in the 2006-2007 experiment. Temperatures that year crossed 26 degree Celsius in September when the basmati flowers and, 15 to 20 days later, when the grain begins to fill out, because of which a shrivelling of the grain was seen.

The extra heat, he said, prevented the food stored by the plant from travelling to the grain. Consequently, it failed to grow to the right length. The heat also destroyed fatty acids stored in the grain which give the basmati its distinct fragrance when cooked.

No field studies have been done so far but if true, global warming may have enormous implications for India's prized basmati crop, which stood at 4.5 million tonnes last year.

Read more: Global warming may rob basmati of its fragrance - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Global-warming-may-rob-basmati-of-its-fragrance/articleshow/7387659.cms#ixzz1CUsZQ02i..."

Conspicuous lack of depth

Conspicuous Consumption Is Back - BusinessWeek: "GRASPING FOR STATUS
Handbags were studied because they are 'the quintessential luxury good for women,' a key way to flaunt an owner's status everywhere she goes, says Nunes. Handbag manufacturers are careful to reflect consumer demand, so why didn't they make less ostentatious bags during the recession? 'A good chunk of America loves using products to signal their status,' Nunes says. 'If the recession didn't hit them'—and thus they could still afford to shop—'their need for status outweighed their need to follow social norms.' A spokesperson for Louis Vuitton declined to comment; a phone call and an e-mail to Gucci were not returned.

After a 2010 holiday season that favored luxury retailers, the stigma against conspicuous luxury seems to be fading further, says Sherif Mityas, a partner in the retail practice at management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. For those who can afford it, 'it's en vogue to spend money,' he says. 'They don't need to hide their luxury anymore.'

For several years, women's fashion has been dominated by dark, subdued colors. 'Personally, I'm over the gray and black,' says Sapna Shah, principal at research firm Retail Eye Partners. Early indications are that 2011 collections will look different—more upbeat and prosperous."

Looking back...at Fall 2010

I appreciated the class alot.  I really enjoyed the field trip to a facility.  This is a great way to see how a real facility is laid out and using what we learned in the classroom and applying it to real world situations works really well for me....BZ
Also, I just want to thank you for everything you have taught me this semester. I appreciate the fact that you challenged me. I learned so much! I will definitely keep in touch!...SK 
Thank you for teaching the class. AK
I just wanted to say thanks for recommending me for another internship.  I also wanted to let you know that I have found an internship for the spring semester.  I accepted the position a few or so ago.  Thank you for thinking of me when you heard of this position...TG
Here's my final reflection paper for Honors Directed Reading. Thank you both for a fun, informative session and for the best final project I've had in my college career. I wish all my finals involved potlucks...MK
Here is a copy of our final presentation! Thank you for an awesome class! Your advice and knowledge is outstanding!...KJ

Taking your class really inspired me to reach high, and I thank you for that!  Your lectures gave me a lot of insight of the expectations that businesses have and what I need to do to fulfill them...RR
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your help this semester and to let you know that I truly enjoyed your class each week...TR
I have never had a more intelligent and knowledgeable instructor who at the same time is extraordinarily patient, kind, and encouraging as you. I am very happy I was able to take another wonderful course of yours. In both of your courses - E-Commerce
and Industrial Engineering I always felt that I learned a great deal, and feel well rounded in the subject matter
after I complete it...CS 12/10/2010

Dr. Gopal, I'm so excited! I really think this will be a step in the right direction for my career.  I can't thank you enough for your willingness to help and the communications you sent out on my behalf...JB 11/29/2010

Just wanted to update you that I passed my first section of the CPA exam! I also took the second part on Monday so I will find out in 4 weeks if I've passed that one as well. Hope all is well with you. How are classes? Happy Thanksgiving!...MF


I just wanted to thank all of you for your help over the past several years I have been attending the IIT INTM program. I am very happy today as I was promoted to IMT (Industrial Manufacturing Technology) program coordinator at ECC...CS

Professor Gopal, My mom is going to be in town on Wednesday, and if you're available we'd like to treat you to dinner.  I have a window of availability between classes from 3-6:30pm.  If you're available at all during that time and would like to grab dinner with us, let me know!...MS

Thank you very much!  As usual, your assistance is invaluable to me.  I will work on the website as soon as I get my "recommendation letter packer" together for you and Drs. Butler and Harbold.  I was actually planning on doing a website, though its focus was to be on Verdi baritones rather than me.  Do you think I would do myself a disservice by mixing the two?  Verdibaritones.com is not registered yet.
 ...JB

Here is my LVMH case study. This one was a lot of fun to read and
research about. I have always loved most of the brands that LVMH has,
but didn't realize the extent of the market that they have in their
pocket! 

Thank you for doing that. I think it would be interesting to take that class so I may take it in the spring next year. As an update, I talked to my parents about the possibility of graduating early. They both want to see me play tennis that last semester if I'm up for it. At this point I'm planning on returning for that last semester, but picking my classes as if I am graduating early. Thanks again for all you've done for me the last two and a half years...JG

Gurram, I understand how busy you are and very much appreciate your time in recommending me. LMH

I don't know if you remember me, but I took a marketing class from you in 2007. For my marketing project I designed the "QuickFix Entertainment Kiosk," if that rings a bell. It was one of the best classes I have ever taken that was not part of my major...JB

How do you know so much? What do you read? SK, 10/18/2010

Just wanted to let you know that I got the internship! I'm very excited about it. A little nervous of course, but I really hope this all works out. If all goes well, I should be starting next Monday but I have to get a drug test and a background check before then (which might not be easy cause I'm not sure how to do all that). But, I'm getting a packet in the mail tomorrow that should explain all of that to me. Awesome, huh?Thanks for pointing me in this direction...LM

Good evening, Dr. Gopal. I'm exhausted after this mid-term...EH

Thank you very much for your time and effort spend on the guest lecture you gave at my Topics in Industry class last Wednesday. I could tell that the students were very engaged and interested in the Industrial Engineering topic and I am sure they got the needed information on this important subject matter....MS, 10/6

I knew that there were two Gopals on campus, but my roommate assumed she had "my" Gopal so I just went along with her. I can't believe I made that mistake!! I told her that you are the best Dr. Gopal on the campus though!!...KH 10/7
Great seeing you today. As always, I had blast visiting with you and speaking with your class. Hopefully, we are making some supply chain converts!!...JB, 10/5

Many thanks Professor Gopal for your valued contribution...MZ 

The job is going well. It is pretty stressful and time consuming, but I have learned so much within the last month and a half. These first 12 weeks are classroom training with tests and homework so I'm looking forward to that part of the program to end. The people at zzz are wondeful and I'm interested to see how all of this training turns out. How has your summer been? Ready for classes to begin?...KC

haha yeah, we had chocolate!...I should be all set for fall/will be in Michigan on the 25th and 26th

but I'd like to meet relatively soon just to talk about longer term scheduling/what I should do with my LIFE! ..AG

If possible, I'd like you to be my advisor because your focus is in marketing and because you actually know me personally. So if you're able to, I'd really appreciate it!...AG

I will be attending an interview for a full-time position at Kellogg's this Friday, and I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to write a letter of recommendation for me to include in the portfolio that I'm bringing to the interview...Thanks so much for considering doing this for me, and I hope to be hearing from you soon. All the Best, EC.

I guess you’ve probably been back for a while, but a hearty “Welcome back” is still OK, right? I imagine you’re already busy preparing for a new semester ... hard to believe the summer is already slipping away!As you can see from my contact info below, my career has taken yet another turn. Would love to get together/catch up sometime soon if you’re available ... and MAY want to bring my daughter Sarah; she could use some good academic guidance/adviceJ!..KK

Hope all is going well for you! How are you? I just wanted to email you and let you know that I started my job at Porte Brown this week. It has been great! I have done a ton of training and will continue to do training until tax season. I am so excited and happy how things are working out there. It is a definite adjustment to the "real world"...I'm very tired by the time I get home, but it is worth it. I did see Kelly Bradford (her last name is Walters now I believe). She says hi back to you and that you are a great professor...MF

Thank you again for everything you have done for me in the past 4 years. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for you. Hope your summer is going well and your garden is blooming with all this rain!

It was really great catching up with you again! I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your insights. I have really taken them to heart and am changing my focus because there are so many opportunities abroad...PM

I heard that you helped *** with the GreenFest. That's awesome! She said you were very helpful. Thanks for coming out for that!...LM

Hello Professor Gopal, How are you and how was the school year? I hope your summer is going well and you are enjoying your time. I am currently working at Benedictine University for the Summer and it's pretty enjoyable. Well I hope to see you soon. Take care...JS

Thank you again for everything you have done for me. You really don't realize what a huge impact you have made on my life. I hope that one day I will be able to help someone in the same way you helped me because something like that is priceless...MF

The Good 'Cancer'...according to Allstate

Beware Virgo drivers, Allstate data warn | Chicago Breaking Business: "Don’t call them aggressive drivers. Call them “resourceful” drivers, and that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the worst on the road.

Virgos, known for being practical, industrious and perfectionists, were 700 percent more likely to be in a car accident in the last year than passionate, determined Scorpios, according to Allstate Insurance, which recently compared claims data against the revised astrological calendar.

Scorpios were involved in only 1.5 percent of accidents last year, making them the best drivers on the road. The rest of the list, from best to worst drivers, was Ophiuchus, Cancer, Aquarius, Libra, Aries, Capricorn, Gemini, Sagittarius, Pisces, Taurus, Leo and Virgo.

Allstate found that drivers whose Zodiac signs are tied to traits such as compassion, graciousness and resourcefulness had the fewest number of reported accidents."

Tip of the Immigration Fraud-berg

Immigration fraud: Hundreds of Indian students may be deported from US - Yahoo! India Finance: "Washington: Hundreds of Indian students , mostly from Andhra Pradesh , face the prospect of deportation from the US after authorities raided and shut down a university in the Silicon Valley on charges of a massive immigration fraud .

The Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton, a major suburb in San Francisco Bay Area, has been charged by federal investigating authorities with being part of an effort to defraud, misuse visa permits and indulge in money laundering and other crimes.

According to a federal complaint filed in a California court, the University, which was raided and shut down last week, helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status.

The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals, the complaint said."

Electronic dangers

Attention Turns to the Dangers of Distracted Pedestrians - NYTimes.com: "In New York, a bill is pending in the legislature’s transportation committee that would ban the use of mobile phones, iPods or other electronic devices while crossing streets — runners and other exercisers included. Legislation pending in Oregon would restrict bicyclists from using mobile phones and music players, and a Virginia bill would keep such riders from using a “hand-held communication device.”

In California, State Senator Joe Simitian, who led a successful fight to ban motorists from sending text messages and using hand-held phones, has reintroduced a bill that failed last year to fine bicyclists $20 for similar multitasking.

“The big thing has been distracted driving, but now it’s moving into other ways technology can distract you, into everyday things,” said Anne Teigen, a policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislative developments."

Electronic dangers

Attention Turns to the Dangers of Distracted Pedestrians - NYTimes.com: "In New York, a bill is pending in the legislature’s transportation committee that would ban the use of mobile phones, iPods or other electronic devices while crossing streets — runners and other exercisers included. Legislation pending in Oregon would restrict bicyclists from using mobile phones and music players, and a Virginia bill would keep such riders from using a “hand-held communication device.”

In California, State Senator Joe Simitian, who led a successful fight to ban motorists from sending text messages and using hand-held phones, has reintroduced a bill that failed last year to fine bicyclists $20 for similar multitasking.

“The big thing has been distracted driving, but now it’s moving into other ways technology can distract you, into everyday things,” said Anne Teigen, a policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislative developments."

Bats in Pitchers

Bat Uses Carnivorous Plant as a Toilet : Discovery News: "A bat and a carnivorous plant in Borneo enjoy an unusual, mutually beneficial relationship, according to a new paper. The bat roosts and relieves itself in the plant's prey-trapping pitchers, feeding the plant.

The discovery, outlined in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters, represents only the second known case of a mutualistic association between a carnivorous plant and a mammal. The other case was reported in 2009, when scientists saw three tree shrews pooping into the pitchers of another carnivorous plant."

Obama courts one and all

President Obama appears to be glossing over the depth of work required to make the citizenry educated...when large groups of people deny scientific and historical evidence and make up their "facts."

Obama to Propose Extending Partial Freeze on Domestic Spending - NYTimes.com: "In a State of the Union address to a newly divided Congress, Mr. Obama outlined what he called a plan to “win the future” — a blueprint for spending in key areas, like education, high-speed rail, clean-energy technology and high-speed Internet to help the United States weather the unsettling impact of globalization and the challenge from emerging powers like China and India."

...

“Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back,” Mr. Obama declared. “Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.”

Pink is Green

Book Review - Cinderella Ate My Daughter - By Peggy Orenstein - NYTimes.com: "There are now more than 26,000 Disney Princess items on the market; in 2009, Princess products generated sales of $4 billion.

Disney didn’t have the tiara market to itself for long. Orenstein takes us on a tour of the princess industrial complex, its practices as coolly calculating as its products are soft and fluffy. She describes a toy fair, held at the Javits Center in New York, at which the merchandise for girls seems to come in only one color: pink jewelry boxes, pink vanity mirrors, pink telephones, pink hair dryers, pink fur stoles. “Is all this pink really necessary?” Orenstein finally asks a sales rep."

A whopper of sales

McDonald’s Profit Rises 2% - NYTimes.com: "McDonald’s said it earned $1.24 billion, or $1.16 a share, in the quarter, up from $1.22 billion, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier.

Revenue, including sales from company-owned restaurants and royalties from franchisees and other fees, rose 4 percent, to $6.21 billion from $6.0 billion."

Sleeping on Down(y)

P&G pitches Downy product as sleep aid - Yahoo! Finance: "Studies have shown that sleep -- or lack of it -- has become a growing issue for many, with implications for health, safety, job performance and marital satisfaction. It was an intriguing new link for Downy, one of 23 brands for the maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers with at least $1 billion a year in sales.

'We are looking to new consumer groups and new places that consumers are looking for our product to be helpful at,' said Marty Vanderstelt, Downy brand manager. 'So this whole idea of how important sleep is now for America, how important the topic is, sort of spawns new explorations, new spaces, for us.'"

Why regulations are needed

Regulators shut banks in NC, SC, Ga, Colo - Yahoo! Finance: "Regulators on Friday closed banks in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Colorado, bringing to seven the number of closures in 2011 following last year's toll of 157 bank failures amid the limping economy and mounting bad loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the banks, the largest by far being United Western Bank, based in Denver, with $2.05 billion in assets."

Texas Strategy- Education is OUT, Perry Dancing is IN.

Public education in Texas faces massive cuts - Yahoo! Finance: "Public education in Texas is facing billions in proposed budget cuts that would include slashing arts education, pre-kindergarten programs and teacher incentive pay as lawmakers take on a massive deficit with the promise of no new taxes.

Lawmakers got their first glimpse of what the next state budget might look like late Tuesday, including the $5 billion cut to public schools, as Republican Gov. Rick Perry and his supporters were dancing at an inaugural celebration.

Texas is facing a $15 billion revenue shortfall, and few corners of state government were spared in the draft proposal for the next two years. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, and Republican leaders have vowed not to raise taxes."

Obama: Playing to the Money Base

President Obama has indicated that federal regulations are preventing corporations from hiring, and he intends to de-regulate. Clearly a move designed to win support from Wall Street and the business community. When S&P 500 firms are making record profits and showing massive profit growth, his claim regarding the impact of regulation is tenuous, at best, and is clearly self-serving and business-serving.

Obama orders review of rules to boost economy - Yahoo! Finance: "President Barack Obama, in another move to smooth frayed ties with corporate America, ordered a far-reaching review of federal regulations Tuesday with the goal of weeding out rules that hurt job growth and creation. Republicans and business groups welcomed the step but suggested he do even more.

Business groups have bitterly complained that new regulations carrying out health care and financial overhaul, among others, are holding back hiring and economic growth...

...

Obama's action is "a positive first step," said Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's biggest business organization.

But, Donohue added, "a robust and globally competitive economy requires fundamental reform of our broken regulatory system." He called on Congress to "reclaim some of the authority it has delegated to agencies."

Obama plans to give a speech to the chamber, with whom he has frequently locked horns over health care and financial regulation, on Feb. 7.

The National Association of Manufacturers said it "appreciated" Obama's call for a regulatory review, but called for Obama to demonstrate results by "delaying poorly thought-out proposals that are costing jobs," listing the EPA's proposals to regulate greenhouse gases as a prime example."

Food For Everyone - Every Retailer, that is.

Stores Like Target and CVS Add Groceries to Attract Shoppers - NYTimes.com: "Reflecting a major shift in the way Americans shop for food, retailers better known for selling clothes or aspirin, including Walgreens, CVS/Pharmacy and Target, are expanding in a big way into the grocery business, with fresh produce, frozen meats and, yes, even sushi.

Target invested $500 million last year alone in a new push on groceries, retrofitting some of its general merchandise stores with full-blown food sections. Sales and traffic at stores with the new grocery areas are about 6 percent higher than at similar stores without them, the company says.

Walgreens began making over some stores in Chicago and New York a year ago, and added up to 500 food items. CVS/Pharmacy last year redesigned about 200 of its stores in urban areas like Boston, Detroit and New York, and expects to make over about 20 percent of its 7,100 stores in all."

SuperSize My Drink

Starbucks to roll out biggest drink size yet - Business - Consumer news - Food Inc. - msnbc.com: "Starbucks Corp. will roll out its biggest drink size yet -- the 31-ounce 'Trenta' -- in all its U.S. coffee shops by May 3, the company said on Sunday.
The new size will be available only for iced coffee, iced tea and iced tea lemonade drinks in the United States. The Trenta is 7 ounces larger than Starbucks' 'Venti' cup for iced drinks, which currently is its largest size on offer.

...

McDonald's Corp., the world's biggest fast-food restaurant chain, has taken direct aim at Starbucks with frappes, fruit smoothies and espresso drinks such as lattes and cappuccino. It also has lured customers by selling 32-ounce sweet tea drinks for $1 each.

U.S. convenience stores, which have been taking on restaurant chains with an expanded selection of low-cost, quick-serve fare, for years have sold fountain drinks in large sizes, including 32 ounces and 64 ounces."

For Profit Colleges- Grabbing money from the government, and leaving students on the street

For-profit college grads also earn a life of debt - Business - Bloomberg Businessweek - msnbc.com: "Students at for-profit colleges carry the biggest loans in U.S. higher education. Bachelor's degree recipients at for-profits have median debt of $31,190 compared with $17,040 at private, nonprofit institutions and $7,960 at public colleges, according to Washington-based nonprofit Education Trust."

Executives Collect $2 Billion at For-Profit Colleges - BusinessWeek: "Strayer Education Inc., a chain of for-profit colleges that receives three-quarters of its revenue from U.S. taxpayers, paid Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Silberman $41.9 million last year. That’s 26 times the compensation of the highest-paid president of a traditional university.

Top executives at the 15 U.S. publicly traded for-profit colleges, led by Apollo Group Inc. and Education Management Corp., also received $2 billion during the last seven years from the proceeds of selling company stock, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show. At the same time, the industry registered the worst loan-default and four-year-college dropout rates in U.S. higher education. Since 2003, nine for-profit college insiders sold more than $45 million of stock apiece. Peter Sperling, vice chairman of Apollo’s University of Phoenix, the largest for-profit college, collected $574.3 million."

Land of the Rising Sun - not Japan

Solar Panel Maker Moves Work to China - NYTimes.com: "“While the United States and other Western industrial economies are beneficiaries of rapidly declining installation costs of solar energy, we expect the United States will continue to be at a disadvantage from a manufacturing standpoint,” he said.

Even though Evergreen opened its Devens plant, with all new equipment, only in 2008, it began talks with Chinese companies in early 2009. In September 2010, the company opened its factory in Wuhan, China, and will now rely on that operation."

Auctioning your airline seat...

Delta replaces bumping with auction for seats | Chicago Breaking Business: "For decades airlines have overbooked flights to avoid taking off with empty seats when passengers with reservations don’t show up at the airport for a flight. Between 8 percent to 10 percent of passengers with reservations for a particular flight typically don’t show up, according to Peter Belobaba, the director of MIT’s Global Airline Industry Program.

When too many people show up, airline-gate agents embark on last-minute negotiations with passengers who might be willing to take a later flight in return for a financial incentive.

Delta’s new system, which has been up and running since last month, replaces that often-chaotic system with a silent auction that asks passengers to name their price electronically before they arrive at the departure gate if it looks as though there may not be enough seats on a flight.

Passengers who check in with Delta online before leaving for the airport or at kiosks before going through security can type in the dollar amount they would accept from the airline to be bumped from their flight. Delta can then accept the lowest bids, eliminating a lot of the uncertainty early."

Not scripted the Indian way

Ms. Nikki Haley keeps referring to her Indian roots...while she changed her religion and ran a far-right campaign. Not the stuff that Indian legends are made of.

Nikki Haley scripts US history - The Times of India: "Daughter of Sikh immigrant parents from Punjab, Indian-American Namrata 'Nikki' Randhawa Haley proudly recollected her Indian heritage while being sworn in as the first woman and non-white Governor of South Carolina.

'I stand before you today, the proud daughter of Indian immigrants,' Haley said in her inaugural speech on the State House's south steps."

Hotter than an Indian pepper

Forget the chill, 2010 was India's hottest year on record - The Economic Times: "Severe cold may well be making headlines in the past two weeks, but here's the big picture: 2010 was the warmest year ever in India since weather records began in 1901. The Indian Meteorological Department announced on Thursday that the mean annual temperature in the country during 2010 was as much as 0.93 degrees Celsius higher than the long term (1961-1990) average.

IMD officials said the record heat in 2010 was a continuation of the warming trend in the past decade that can only be attributed to global warming. The last decade has been the warmest in the country's history. The previous warmest year was 2009, when the annual mean temperature was 0.913 degrees C above the long term average."

Indigo and Jet Airways- helping Indians catch up with the Carbon Footprint Leaders

Airplane travel is a significant source of carbon emissions. The turbo-charged growth in air travel in India and China will *help* these countries catch up with the west on carbon emissions. Preaching carbon reduction to the U.S. populace with the hope of significantly lowering global carbon footprint appears to be a cause with a marginal and declining influence.

After Indigo, Jet to add 49 aircraft over 5 years - The Economic Times: "A day after low-cost airline IndiGo made history by placing $15-billion order with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus to purcahse 180 aircraft, rival Jet Airways said it will add 49 aircraft over the next three to five years.

'New aircraft will be added from the next financial year,'said Naresh Goyal , chairman, Jet Airways on the sidelines of a conference in Mumbai."

A Bread-and-Butter Example

Panera opens pay-what-you-wish site in Portland - Yahoo! Finance: "Panera Bread Co. is preparing to open its third nonprofit restaurant where customers can pay what they wish for food.

The latest 'Panera Cares' community cafe will open Monday in Portland, Ore., its first West Coast location.

Panera opened community cafes last year in Clayton, Mo., and Dearborn, Mich. The restaurants are owned and operated by a nonprofit arm of the national restaurant chain, which receives no profit from the business.

So far, people have stepped up. Panera said about 20 percent of the visitors to the cafes leave more than the suggested amount, 20 percent leave less and 60 percent pay what is asked."

What a difference an "ehren" makes...

There was an interesting article in the NYT about Ms. Barbara Reich, a "home organizer" who helps the wealthy get organized and draw pleasure from their expensive belongings.

This reminded me of the excellent book "Bright-Sided..." by Barbara Ehrenreich, who examines the industry of positive thinking in USA.

Barbara Reich Organizes the Homes of New York’s Elite - NYTimes.com: "Meet Barbara Reich (rhymes with quiche), home organizer to the rich if not-quite-famous; streamliner of Hermès bracelets and Birkin bags, board games and third-grade art projects; subject of awe-filled recommendations at private school fund-raisers and cocktail parties from West End Avenue to Park. For $150 an hour, Ms. Reich, 42, a former management consultant with an M.B.A., will clear out the clutter, color-code sweaters and classify all manner of storage containers with the vaunted Brother P-touch label makers that she instructs her clients to buy. She is booked three weeks in advance....

Valerie Feigen, who co-owns the Edit boutique on Lexington Avenue — “a luxury shopping experience for women of distinction and style” — has hired Ms. Reich repeatedly over the past three years. “The perfect bag or a great pair of shoes can give you so much pleasure, but it can torture you when you don’t know where to put it,” Ms. Feigen said. “When your possessions are out of control, I think it’s very hard to be organized in general about your life. You don’t want your possessions to own you.”

Barbara Ehrenreich - Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America: "So I take it as a sign of progress that, in just the last decade or so, economists have begun to show an interest in using happiness rather than just the gross national product as a measure of an economy’s success. Happiness is, of course, a slippery thing to measure or define. Philosophers have debated what it is for centuries, and even if we were to define it simply as a greater frequency of positive feelings than negative ones, when we ask people if they are happy we are asking them to arrive at some sort of average over many moods and moments. Maybe I was upset earlier in the day but then was cheered up by a bit of good news, so what am I really? In one well-known psychological experiment, subjects were asked to answer a questionnaire on life satisfaction—but only after they had performed the apparently irrelevant task of photocopying a sheet of paper for the experimenter. For a randomly chosen half of the subjects, a dime had been left for them to find on the copy machine. As two economists summarize the results, “Reported satisfaction with life was raised substantially by the discovery of the coin on the copy machine—clearly not an income effect.”2"

Word of Mouth depends on What's being put into the Mouth

McKinsey has a number of articles on Word of Mouth and how corporations should be actively managing and generating WOM. It does not mention the simple rule- being honest in labeling products. Examples of downright lies and "finessed" lies abound in the food industry.

The Sweet Beet: 13 "Health Foods" That Aren't: "One bottle of Odwalla Smoothie has the same amount of sugar (60 grams) as TWO packages of M&Ms! There are 300 calories in this Smoothie -- the same level as in a McDonald's cheeseburger. Incidentally, the vitamin count is not high either. The highest level is Vitamin E, which is all added, i.e., it does not come from the fruit."

The Sweet Beet: 13 "Health Foods" That Aren't: "f you compare a bag of Lay's Potato Chips to Terra Chips, they have a lot in common. Both have 150 calories per ounce, and approximately 10 grams of fat. Sure, you get 'A full serving of vegetables in every ounce,' but you also get that with potato chips! (Potatoes are vegetables too.) Terra Chips are made with root vegetables (sweet potato, parsnip, taro and yuca) which are very high in starch (vegetables store their starch in their roots) and once dehydrated and refined, quite low in other nutrients as well."

A Deluge of IT

The Hindu : Education : It's raining IT jobs: "It is as if the software industry is on a hiring binge. Students from private universities are being recruited in thousands. First, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) recruited 1,091 from SRM University where 2,023 students were placed in software leaders including TCS, Wipro and HCL, in just seven days. Next, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) handed over job offers to 1,643 students of VIT University, Vellore.

At SASTRA University, Thanjavur, as on date, over 1,800 job offers have been made with TCS, creating a new record. TCS recruited 1,359 SASTRA students during its three-day campus recruitment drive early this month, says V. Badrinath, Dean - Training & Placements. Over 30 companies have visited the campus till now."

A Federal Pyramid Scheme

Perhaps the First Lady should pay attention to the food pyramid and convert it to a food garden.

Food pyramid: USDA sued by doctors' group that wants vegetarian alternative - chicagotribune.com: "'We are asking the government to protect the average American, not special agribusiness interests,' said registered dietitian Susan Levin, the organization's nutrition education director. 'MyPyramid is confusing, and it recommends meat and dairy products despite overwhelming evidence that these foods are unnecessary and unhealthy. Research shows the Power Plate is a better choice, and it's simple enough that a child could follow it.'..

Since the first USDA food pyramid was introduced nearly 20 years ago, obesity and diabetes have become commonplace. About 27 percent of young adults are now too overweight to qualify for military service, and an estimated one in three children born in 2000 will develop diabetes.

The lawsuit charges that the federal government should address the worsening epidemics of obesity and diet-related diseases by withdrawing the MyPyramid diagram and adopt the Power Plate food diagram and dietary guidelines.

The Power Plate graphic is based on current nutrition research showing that plant-based foods are the most nutrient-dense and help prevent chronic diseases. The graphic depicts a plate divided into four new food groups: fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables. There are no portion sizes and food hierarchies to follow; the Power Plate instead recommends eating a variety of all four of its food groups each day.

Downsizing - Employees AND Customers

Last semester I was discussing pricing in my marketing course, and I asked students to compare packaging sizes for some CPG items and the changes in unit prices over the past year. The students then observed the subtle changes in package quantities. In my marketing courses we discuss pricing strategies and the benefits, in a recessionary environment, of holding prices steady but improving the margin by reducing package sizes. While painful to my wallet, it was pleasing to see my former students put this strategy to good use. Of course, downsizing the employees is another way to improve the operating margin.

Downsized! More and More Products Lose Weight

by Consumer Reports staff

more-and-more-products-lose-weight: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance: "From toothpaste to tuna fish, hot dogs to hand soap, companies have been shaving ounces and inches from packaged goods for years, usually blaming it on rising costs for ingredients and energy. They've got a point: Higher commodity and fuel costs are expected to cause a spike in food prices by as much as 3 percent in 2011. But if manufacturers are skimping when costs go up, why aren't they more generous when costs hold steady or fall?

No one likes a price hike, but what riles readers are the ways manufacturers hide their handiwork: indenting the bottom of containers (a favorite trick among peanut butter processors), making plastic wraps thinner, or whipping ice cream so that you pay for air instead of ingredients"

Reasons For Reduction

Those moves may fool some people, but most have caught on. In a Consumer Reports survey several years ago, three-quarters of Americans said they noticed that packages were shrinking, and 71 percent of those people theorized that the main reason was to hide a price hike. Yet half said they'd prefer that companies keep the old package and raise the price. So why don't they?

"Because people are much more conscious of price than they are of package size or net weight of contents," says Edgar Dworsky, editor of Mouseprint.org, a blog that examines advertising's fine print. Slight downsizing is often imperceptible, whereas price increases are about as subtle as a pie in the face. And when prices rise, buyers often seek cheaper alternatives.

[How to Detox From Holiday Eating]

Despite awareness of downsizing, it's not easy to figure out which products have shrunk because relatively few packaged goods come in standard, recognizable sizes anymore. Tropicana and Florida's Natural, for example, shaved 5 ounces off their half-gallon cartons of premium orange juice. Häagen-Dazs, citing "ingredient" and "facility" costs, put its ice cream pints on a diet, knocking them down to 14 ounces. Other products come in such a range of sizes that it's hard to tell when one of them shrinks. Oreos, for instance, come in more than a dozen packages weighing from 2 ounces to more than 50 ounces.

What You Can Do

• Look at different brands. Not all competitors act in lockstep. Minute Maid still sells its orange juice in half-gallons, and Ben & Jerry's packs its ice cream in pints. In addition, companies don't always downsize every package in their lineup.

• Compare unit price (per ounce, per quart, per pound, or per sheet) of package sizes. Promotions change, making one size or another cheaper from week to week.

• Try store brands. They're usually 25 to 30 percent cheaper than name brands and are often at least as good, we've found.

• Stock up and save. Supermarkets sell staples such as paper goods, cereal, and soups at or below cost to draw you in. Those "loss leaders" rotate regularly. If you follow flyers, you'll see that many items go on sale at predictable intervals, letting you stock up until the next sale.

• Buy in bulk. Warehouse clubs offer everyday low prices on large sizes or multipacks, so you don't have to wait for a sale.

• Contact the company. When we asked customer-service representatives why a product had been downsized, we were often given coupons toward our next purchase.

[Worldwide Explosion in Popularity of 'Supergrain']

If enough people complain, companies may actually listen. Virginia reader Glenn Tonnesen thought Pepperidge Farm was trying to pull a fast one by labeling its German Dark Wheat bread "New Size, New Price." The old loaf weighed 24 ounces and cost $2.66 per pound; the new was 18 ounces and $2.92. The message, Tonnesen suggested: "We made it smaller, but that's OK because we made it more expensive!" Pressured by consumers unhappy with the lithe loaf, Pepperidge Farm brought back the larger one, briefly. It has since been discontinued.

Items That Shrank

Ivory Dish Detergent

Old: 30 oz.
New: 24 oz.
Difference: -20%

Reason: Reason The 30-ounce product was discontinued in smaller stores, due to increased costs for raw materials.

Tropicana Orange Juice

Old: 64 oz.
New: 59 oz.
Difference: -7.8%

Reason: Last winter's freeze in Florida. The choice was to raise prices drastically or drop package size. Based on consumer research, people preferred to keep the same price and get a little less juice to keep within their budgets.

Kraft American Cheese

Old: 24 slices
New: 22 slices
Difference: -8.3%

Reason: The larger 16-ounce package was discontinued because it wasn't selling.

Kirkland Signature (Costco) Paper Towels

Old: 96.2 sq. ft.
New: 85 sq. ft.
Difference: -11.6%

Reason: "It's a good question. I'll look into it and e-mail a response." (We never got one.)

Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream

Old: 16 oz.
New: 14 oz.
Difference: -12.5%

Reason:Due to the cost of ingredients and facility costs, it was either change the size of the container or raise the price.

Two Sides of Illinois

Two interesting stories out of Illinois - that support the notion that death and taxes do not always go together.

Illinois House Votes to Abolish Death Penalty - NYTimes.com: "The Illinois House has approved a plan to abolish capital punishment in a whirlwind reversal on a historic vote.

The legislation to halt state-sponsored execution gained the necessary 60 votes Thursday after an earlier vote fell short.

The landmark action comes nearly 11 years after then-Gov. George Ryan cleared death row and declared a moratorium on capital punishment in Illinois.

The legislation now moves to the Senate, where President John Cullerton says he supports the proposal and hopes it passes. But the Chicago Democrat says he won't push his members to back it, calling the vote a personal decision."

Quinn, Illinois lawmakers push 75 percent income tax increase - chicagotribune.com: "Gov. Pat Quinn and top Democratic lawmakers reached a tentative agreement Thursday on a major, post-election income-tax increase and a $1-a-pack cigarette-tax hike to stabilize the state budget and provide a cash infusion for schools.

The plan, detailed by Senate President John Cullerton following closed-door meetings with the governor and House Speaker Michael Madigan, still faces a review by rank-and-file members of the Democratic-led legislature in the waning days of a lame-duck session.

Under the proposal, the state's 3 percent personal income-tax rate would rise to 5.25 percent for four years, then fall to 3.75 percent. All told, that's a 75 percent increase."

Technology Ghosts - of the Dead and Buried

Electronics Recycling Options are Plentiful for Older Gadgets - NYTimes.com: "Many Americans have outdated technology in their homes, especially after the holidays when the average consumer planned to spend a record $232 on electronics gifts, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

The average household now has 25 devices, the group says. And a November report, “Tackling High-Tech Trash,” from Demos, a public policy organization focused on economic fairness and sustainability, cited government data showing that Americans owned three billion electronic products, with a turnover rate of about 400 million units each year.

Yet less than 14 percent of those gadgets are recycled, the report noted."

Evidence not needed-just Issa rules

Mr. Issa is asking businesses to identify regulations that are holding them back. He claims that the current administration is ignoring business. Apparently, he does not want to look at the profits on Wall-Street and the earnings of S&P companies the past year.

Issa, Senior Republican, Asks Businesses Which Rules They Dislike - NYTimes.com: "Last month a senior House Republican, Representative Darrell Issa of California, nevertheless dispatched letters to 150 companies, trade groups and research organizations asking them to identify federal regulations that are restraining economic recovery and job growth.

Mr. Issa, incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the concerns of businesses had been ignored by the Obama administration as it pursued what he described as an unprecedented regulatory expansion."

More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool - NYTimes.com

As students use more technology and devices, what is the impact on learning and education? An interesting question, with significant implications. As long as engineers somewhere produce the apps, should the rest of the citizenry worry about getting an education or learn any skills? Just downloading an app and finishing a task might be the answer...

More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool - NYTimes.com: "A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the iPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through “Jeopardy”-like games and math with step-by-step animation of complex problems.

As part of a pilot program, Roslyn High School on Long Island handed out 47 iPads on Dec. 20 to the students and teachers in two humanities classes. The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students."

Lingua franca of the Internet

Chinese To Be Most Popular Language On Internet : Discovery News: "We take it for granted that the most popular language on the Internet is English, since, after all, the Internet was an American creation. But thanks to the huge number of Internet users that China is adding each year, English will soon be replaced by Chinese as the most popular language on the Internet. (Just to clarify: People in China speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Min and an abundance of dialects, but the written language across the board is Chinese).

Last year, China added 36 million Internet users, bringing their total to 440 million users. The United States only has 220 million Internet users, but English is spoken in more countries than China, and so more websites are published in that language.

That shouldn't be much of a surprise, with China becoming an increasingly powerful country. China is now the largest space polluter and produces more greenhouse emissions than the United States, contributing to global warming.

The Next Web put together a pretty neat infographic about the most popular languages on the Internet based on information from Internet World Stats, an Internet marketing firm."

Why Being Grossed Out is Good for You : Discovery News

Why Being Grossed Out is Good for You : Discovery News: "THE GIST
Disgust evolved so we would avoid things that might make us sick.
Some argue that disgust is even at the root of our moral behavior.
Disgust sensitivity varies from person to person and depending on circumstances."

E-Waste to E-cycle

E-waste Laws Make Everyone Recycle : Discovery News: "Dubbed e-waste, electronics in landfills can leak toxins, including arsenic and lead, which eventually leach into the soil and water supply. Some estimates say that nearly 70 percent of used computers and monitors in the United States will end up in a landfill. Not only does this pollute, but it also means that precious metals like gold and silver are not recovered. As reporter Chris Carroll describes in his article High-Tech Trash, recycling gold from computers “is far more efficient and less environmentally destructive than ripping it from the earth.”

According to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, 65 percent of Americans are now affected by e-waste laws, which usually mandate that either the manufacturer provides recycling programs or prohibits what the consumer is allowed to throw out with the trash. On the coalition's website, you can see a breakdown of the legislation that has been passed state by state."