Report: British seafood claims misleading

Shops call for cuts in red tape
A body which represents Retailers has called for the Scottish Government to support shopkeepers. In its manifesto ahead of the Holyrood election, the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) urged politicians to limit Regulation. It said nearly 250,000 people were employed in retail in Scotland and sales amounted to £25bn. Ministers hoped to raise £30m from the biggest shops. However opposition parties have said the levy would hit big names in Scotland's high streets - and they look set ...

Melanie Nayer: Luxury Travel: Sights and Sounds of Sanya
*SEE PHOTOS BELOW* Waking up to an orange sunrise over the South China Sea is a sight that's hard to forget. In Sanya, it's a daily occurrence. Known as the "Hawaii of the East," and thanks to the year-round tropical weather, Sanya is fast becoming a getaway for those who require a little exclusivity in their daily see-and-be-seen life. Located only an hour plane ride from Hong Kong and three hours from Beijing, Sanya is one of the world's best beach getaways relatively unknown to travelers o...

McDonnell wants to privatize ABC retail operation
Gov. Bob McDonnell is pursuing a new liquor privatization plan that he hopes will be easier to swallow. McDonnell proposes that the state retain control of the wholesale operation and privatize the retail portion to reap a $200 million to $400 million Windfall for transportation, under a plan to be crafted into Legislation for the General Assembly session that starts Wednesday. Annual revenue to the state's general fund from liquor sales - budgeted at $324 million in the Fiscal Year that b...

Governor reveals ABC plan
Gov. Bob McDonnell is pursuing a new liquor privatization plan that he hopes will be easier to swallow. McDonnell proposes that the state retain control of the wholesale operation and privatize the retail portion to reap a $200 million to $400 million Windfall for transportation, under a plan to be crafted into Legislation for the General Assembly session that starts today. Annual revenue to the state's general fund from liquor sales — budgeted at $324 million in the Fiscal Year that began...

McDonnell outlines new scaled-back, retail-only ABC plan
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell will unveil a proposal Wednesday to close 332 state-owned liquor stores and replace them with 1,000 private retail outlets -- a scaled-back version of a plan he's pushed for months to end Virginia's monopoly on the sale of distilled spirits. Under the proposal, the state is expected to reap at least $200 million upfront for the sale of new liquor licenses and $13.1 million more than it now collects each year in profits and taxes at Alcoholic Beverage Control stores, acco...

Ponce Inlet Restaurants Face New Regulations
On January 20, 2011 , the town council of Ponce Inlet will vote on a new proposed sound ordinance. Should the town approve the ordinance as written, it will deliver another blow to the sustainability of businesses here in Ponce Inlet and most of all Down the Hatch Restaurant.  According to police records, since 2007 the average number of noise related complaints attributed to the restaurants here in Ponce Inlet is 3 per year per restaurant [Jerry's Pizza, Inlet Harbor, Racings Nor...

Four are held in Irish pork probe
Four men have been arrested in Northern Ireland as part of an investigation into the 2008 Irish pork contamination scare. The men, aged 25, 27, 29 and 43, were arrested at four locations in counties Armagh and Tyrone on suspicion of Fraud by false representation. In 2008, all Irish pork produce was recalled from Supermarkets in the EU as well as some world markets. The recall was ordered after meal on a number of farms was found to have had between 80 and 200 times more dioxins than the recogni...

Cardno ENTRIX Expands REACh Consulting Strength to Europe
HOUSTON, Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardno ENTRIX is expanding its global product safety and compliance service offerings to the European Union (EU) under the leadership of Wim Jetten, a widely recognized and well respected expert in EU chemical policy.  Based in Europe, Mr. Jetten started as a Senior Advisor to the firm on January 3, 2011.   Mr. Jetten brings over three decades of chemical industry experience and regulatory expertise to his role. Prior to Cardno ENTRIX, Mr. Jetten ...

Sainsbury's posts 'record' sales
The UK's third-largest Supermarket chain said non-food sales had grown particularly strongly. The group said it had created nearly 6,000 new jobs over the period. Earlier this week, it said it aimed to create 20,000 jobs over the next three years....

JCPenney Ranks Tops in Customer Service for Third Consecutive Year
PLANO, Texas, Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third consecutive year, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was recognized for its industry-leading Customer Service by ranking No. 1 among Department Store Retailers in the Customers' Choice survey released by the NRF Foundation and American Express. The positive results signify the impact JCPenney associates have made with customers as a result of the Company's CustomerFIRST initiative.  Launched in 2008, CustomerFIRST is a comprehens...

Enviro group sues Martinez over halting carbon reduction rules
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center sued Gov. Susana Martinez Tuesday in New Mexico Supreme Court after Martinez halted a carbon reduction program. NMELC, which filed the suit on behalf of New Energy Economy, petitioned the states’s High Court for a writ of mandamus which would compel Martinez and New Mexico Environmental Department Secretary F. David Martin to publish the greenhouse gas Regulation in the State Register. This would put the Regulation into effect in New Mexico. “T...

In age of austerity, Dutch government is enforcing taxes on prostitution
Source: AP Amsterdam (AP) — Workers in the world's oldest profession are about to get a lesson in the harsh reality of Europe's new age of Austerity. The Dutch government has warned Prostitutes who advertise their wares in the famed windows of Amsterdam's red light district to expect a business-only visit from the taxman. Prostitution has flourished in Amsterdam since the 1600s, when the Netherlands was a major naval power and sailors swaggered into the port looking for a good time. The country ...

El-Erian: Europe has no easy solution out of their current death spiral
Mohamed El- Erian says that European government have no first best solution. What do they do? Years of spending and transfer payments are catching up to some of the most egregious violators of common sense. Via Bloomberg: “The Europeans are operating in a world of second and third bests,” El-Erian said in Bloomberg Radio Interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. “There is not first best. They look at the benefits and the costs. It’s a very difficu...

Chinas lending quota?
This year to everyone’s surprise the PBoC failed to announce 2011’s Lending quota. Instead it announced a series of new polices aimed at monitoring the banks. According to an article in Thursday’s People’s Daily: The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s Central Bank, will check credit and capital levels of Commercial Banks each month to determine the reserve requirements for individual lenders, viewed as a measure to strengthen control over banks’...

Euro Debt Crisis Metastasizes, As Polish Yields Spike To 6.18% (EPOL)
Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. Mike "Mish" Shedlock Mish is an investment advisor at Sitka Pacific Capital. He writes the widely read Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis. Portugal is the recent flashpoint, but Spain and Belgium are on deck. Note too that sovereign spreads in Ireland and Greece are at record highs in spite of the alleged Bailouts. In response to the clearly not-contained crisis, Germany is considering expanding the bailout fund from 750 billion-...

Why Japan Is Rushing to Aid Europe: It's All About China
Investors are inundated with talk about the tightly knit nature of the current Global Economy. But a series of moves on Tuesday – when U.S. stocks got a boost on prospects that Asian savings could be used to prop up the Debt of European states -- shows how real those proclamations are. In the last few months, Portugal had become the latest overly indebted European nation to alarm credit markets. But after Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Tuesday pledged to buy more than 20% o...

Bailout police are circling
The Bailout police are circling to once and for all try to stem the spread of busted countries. European Debt and stocks are rallying after Japan’s interest announced yesterday and today’s story that the EU are discussing putting together a package for Portugal and will possibly buy Greek Debt in the secondary market in order to lower their financing costs. Portugal successfully sold 3 yr and 10 yr paper with yields higher than the previous one’s but not as bad as feared with...

Kosovo organ case surgeon bailed
A surgeon charged with a role in the alleged trafficking of human organs in Kosovo has been arrested and bailed in his native Turkey. Yusuf Sonmez was arrested in Istanbul after he was charged along with eight others by EU prosecutors in Kosovo late last year. Charges against them include human organ trafficking and the unlawful exercise of medical activities. Dr Sonmez is said to have previously denied organ trafficking. The EU prosecutor in charge of the case, Jonathan Ratel, described him as ...

Ford Takes Top Honors in Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards
Polk's Automotive Loyalty Awards are presented to OEMs that demonstrate a manufacturer's ability to retain owners over repeat buying cycles.  "The 2010 awards are based on an analysis of 4.9 million return to market events during the 2010 model year," said Brad Smith, director of Polk's loyalty management practice.  The model year runs from Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010. Loyalty is determined when a household that owns a new vehicle returns to market and purchases or leases anot...

Nissan confident in Renault's handling of spy ring
Nissan has confidence in how Renault is handling an international spy ring's attempt to steal secrets about their shared electric car program, a top executive has said. "Our partner is very focused on making sure they understand what went wrong," said Carlos Tavares, chairman of Nissan's Americas division. French automaker Renault has suspended three top managers for allegedly leaking secrets about its electric car program to China. Renault number two Patrick Pelata told Saturday's Le Monde dail...

What Makes A Green Job Green?
Monica Potts says having a definition of "Green Jobs" doesn't bring us any closer to understanding how they fit into an Economic Recovery: So, what is a green job? The two-part BLS definition, which the bureau began working on in early 2010, was released last September. It focuses on the degree of environmental impact: Green jobs must either be in industries that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources, or must be jobs in which workers' duties...

Martha Stewart Joins the Green Movement
Martha Stewart Omnimedia (MSO) and KB Home (KBH) will launch a line of green homes. The announcement was made in conjunction with Builder magazine. The project is officially known as the "KB Home GreenHouse: An Idea Home Created with Martha Stewart." The announcement was made ahead of the NAHB International Builders' Show. The homes are billed as operating on "net-zero energy." KB Home said, "It is the company's first net-zero energy home, meaning it is intended to produce more energy than it ...

China denies link to Renault spy ring
French newspaper Le Figaro reported that a Chinese firm had paid undisclosed sums into Swiss and Liechtenstein Bank Accounts opened by two Renault executives implicated in the inquiry, which centres on electric car technology. "As for this so-called story that China is involved, we believe this is totally groundless, irresponsible and unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters on Tuesday. Renault said it had suspended three top managers last week over suspicions they had l...

Climate Craziness of the Week: Eat bugs, not meat, to save the planet
From Mongabay: Scientists in the Netherlands have discovered that insects produce significantly less greenhouse gas per kilogram of meat than cattle or pigs. Their study, published in the online journal PLoS, suggests that a move towards insect farming could result in a more sustainable — and affordable — form of meat production. The rearing of cattle and pigs for meat production results in an estimated 18 percent of global greenhouse Gas Emissions. With worldwide consumption of beef...

An energy saving bulb has gone - evacuate the room now!
Energy-saving light bulbs are so dangerous that everyone must leave the room for at least 15 minutes if one falls to the floor and breaks, a Government department warned yesterday. The startling alert came as health experts also warned that toxic mercury inside the bulbs can aggravate a range of problems including migraines and dizziness. And a leading dermatologist said tens of thousands of people with skin complaints will find it hard to tolerate being near the bulbs as they cause conditio...