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Top Stories
John Carroll, Head of Product Management and International Business, Santander UK Corporate & Commercial, has joined the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to relaunch and lead its new UK Trade and Investment Policy programme. ICC provides a critical voice for business at a global level to champion free trade and provide the rules that govern international business.
John Carroll has joined the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in the UK to lead the Trade and Investment Policy programme. His role will draw on his experience as Head of Product Management and International Business at Santander UK Corporate & Commercial – in addition to a diverse range of roles across International Payments and Trade areas – as well as his extensive experience in the Asian, Latin American, European and Middle Eastern Markets.
The programme comprises trade experts and business representatives from across the country and will represent a diverse range of sectors and company sizes. It will feed directly into ICC's global Trade and Investment Policy Commission, an influential body with over 180 members from over 40 countries, as well as intergovernmental organisations such as the EU and United Nations.
Crucially, it provides a forum for UK business experts to examine trade and investment policy issues and draw up policy recommendations for governments and international organisations. Members not only shape global trade rules, and access cutting edge information, but also connect with key influencers who can help to drive their business forward internationally.
John Carroll comments: "ICC governs international trade and this programme empowers UK companies to shape trade and investment policy on a truly global level and influence the multilateral trading system, allowing companies to trade and invest across borders – a vital driver of global economic growth."
In his role, Carroll will lead the programme in influencing policy to bring concrete improvements to cross-border trade facilitation and investment, as well as raising awareness of the benefit that international trade can bring to businesses through economic recovery, job creation and sustainable development.
"In line with ICC's historic mission – to promote trade and investment as vehicles for peace and prosperity – the Trade and Investment Policy programme engages the ICC network to help define the multilateral trade agenda. It actively promotes international trade and investment as engines for economic growth and employment," says Chris Southworth, Director at ICC United Kingdom. "Certainly, the programme's constructive role in representing business views reflects ICC's history of authoritative involvement in international trade and investment."
In his new role leading the programme, Carroll is the keynote speaker at a Liverpool Chamber of Commerce conference taking place today at the International Festival for Business in Liverpool – the UK's biggest ever business festival. The conference – "Meet your Global Business Network" – focuses on providing current and prospective exporters with the information and assurance needed to expand into new markets. His speech will focus on the launch of ICC's "Trade Matters" campaign – remaking the case for trade.
Top Stories
The Future of Finance Teams: Digitally Transformed
By Simon Bull, Sales Operations & Business Development Manager at Aqilla
Finance teams haven't always been at the forefront of digital transformation trends, not least because their heavily regulated environment can – to an extent – create understandable caution and slow the pace of technology change. For instance, finance teams will be familiar with storing their sensitive data on their office premises, keeping it under their own roof and control. As a result, software modernisation can get left behind thanks to an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mentality that can inform the thinking of finance and IT professionals alike.
Yet, across the economy, the pressure created by lockdown to build more flexible and integrated tech strategies is rapidly growing, not least because of the need to work from home. In the case of many organisations, the transition to flexible, remote working was straightforward, albeit slightly turbulent, but the finance department may have found it more challenging to transition to the required standards of remote working.
In particular, digital transformation for finance teams increasingly means switching away from outdated in-house technology architectures and software products to flexible and more financially efficient cloud-based services. It's an approach that offers a number of important potential advantages, and also some pitfalls to avoid:
- Cost Management: The cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) approach that is the basis of many of today's cloud computing businesses offers users the convenience of a monthly pay-as-you-go model. Instead of investing significant sums in one-off software purchases, for example, all users need to access cloud-based finance software services is a desktop computer, laptop or smart device and internet connectivity. In turn, this also saves money on the server hardware that has previously sat in the corner of the office, and it may no longer be needed at all. In selecting cloud-based finance software services, organisations should always compare pricing from several providers to make sure they are getting the most competitive deal.
- Stronger Security: The best cloud providers should have security at the top of their list of capabilities, and checking on their accreditations, policies and track record should always form part of any selection criteria. This should include areas such as data protection, backup services and their ability to deal with common security issues, such as ransomware.
- Service as Standard: 'Service' is a buzzword employed by many SaaS providers, but it's something that shouldn't be taken for granted. Done well, cloud-based customer support and service can deliver an outstanding experience where the provider really feels like an extension of the in-house IT Team. The best ways to assess the service capabilities of any cloud provider are to ask for references from existing customers, check online reviews and evaluate their Service Level Agreement (SLA) to understand the small print of any agreement.
- Built for purpose: one of the major plus points of adopting a cloud-based software service is that they are built for purpose, and many offer an amazing degree of bespoke capabilities enabling every organisation to tailor them to their precise needs. This is in contrast to traditional software solutions that can, in effect, force the user to work in a prescribed way that might not be suited to their circumstances or priorities..
- Specialised Compliance: This is where the specialisation offered by many cloud software providers can be of particular benefit, and those serving the finance industry should have compliance at the heart of their product design. Even for the most niche requirements, there is often a software provider out there who is geared to meeting those needs.
- Better Performance: Today's cloud-based finance software market offers a sophisticated range of options from simple entry-level functionality to powerful performance designed to fit the needs of even the biggest and most complex finance departments. Key features could include: extensive analysis, proper periodic management and business calendars, multi-currency, multilingual and multi-company operation, full VAT handling International coding, tax and language flexibility, automatic reconciliation / bank integration, built-in key performance measurement, advanced search, selection and drill-down, document and image scanning.
Without doubt, the future of finance will be one that is digitally transformed. Even before the pandemic, modernisation offered compelling arguments for change across the tech strategies of many finance teams. Lockdown has accelerated the pace of change because cloud-based finance software can help teams to adapt and capitalise on working from home to match the success digital transformation has brought to many other key business functions. To put it simply, Covid-19 has become a catalyst for a digital transformation in finance, particularly in moving finance and accounting software away from traditional on-premise solutions to built-for-cloud services.
Top Stories
Trust matters more than ever in an uncertain world
By Zac Cohen, COO, Trulioo
Trust in the time of COVID-19
Perhaps more than ever before, retail and investment banks the world over face a pivotal moment in their evolution, as banking transitions from a digital-first towards a digital-only landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic has put severe restrictions on traditional face-to-face or high street banking and forced sections of society that had previously been resistant to or unable to access digital banking to make the shift. This understandably brings with it significant anxiety and fear.
For an industry that has been striving to rebuild consumer confidence since the global financial crisis of 2008, COVID-19 presents a huge challenge. It needs to foster trust at a time when the world is facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and stands on the brink of an even more severe global recession.
Without doubt, a thriving digital economy will be critical for the global economy to bounce back quickly and strongly from COVID-19. Therefore building online trust has become critical to our very future.
A billion reasons to protect customers
The global banking system processes more than a billion transactions every day, from transfers and domestic and international payments, to loan approvals and the creation of new accounts. And each one of these transactions represents an opportunity for some sort of financial crime, whether that's money laundering, identity theft, bribery or the financing of terrorism.
The global pandemic has only served to accentuate this level of risk, with new threats emerging on the back of COVID-19, and bad actors looking to exploit new opportunities. In particular, online fraudsters are looking to target people who are using digital services for the first time as a result of the pandemic, often the most vulnerable groups in our society such as the elderly.
Research that we recently conducted in the UK and the U.S. found that concerns about online security are higher within financial services than in any other sector, with more than half of people (51%) reporting that they are 'very concerned' about identity theft when using financial services sites.
Crucially, 90% of people believe that banks have a responsibility to reduce cybercrime through whatever identity verification is necessary.
Building trust from day one
Of course, customers want online banking services to be responsive, intuitive and fast, but it's important to recognise that, first and foremost, people want to know that their money and their personal data are safe.
Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) practices are now essential in enabling banks to not only identify each individual customer, but to build trust across the digital ecosystem more broadly.
Identity verification technology during the onboarding process enables a bank to demonstrate to its customers that it is taking their security seriously from the very outset of the relationship. First impressions count — more than three quarters (77%) of consumers claim that the account opening process can 'make or break' their relationship with a financial services brand.
Banks simply cannot afford anything other than optimal onboarding and identity verification – fail to deliver this and trust is immediately eroded and in many cases, the customer walks away.
On the other hand, where banks do succeed in demonstrating their commitment to security during these first engagements, delivering a fast, secure and seamless account creation process, they are able to develop a more meaningful relationship with their customers. As many as 84% of consumers report having greater trust in financial services brands that use real-time identity verification during the onboarding process and 71% are more likely to share more personal data.
A layered approach to identity verification
In order to provide first-class onboarding processes and establish trust at the outset of the customer journey, banks need to ensure they can deliver relevant and compliant identity checks for customers, dependent on their geography and the type of service or product that they are looking to access. They need to move beyond a 'one size fits all approach' to identity verification, which can lead to cumbersome or unnecessary checks on the one hand, and increased risk on the other.
This is why a digital identity network is so powerful. This is essentially a marketplace of hundreds of data sources, verification processes and tools that leverage network data intelligence to verify and authenticate identities online.
This marketplace approach lets businesses get a more holistic view of risk and then apply whichever verification layers are needed to provide assurance and build trust.
For example, a bank may only need to perform a basic KYC check when onboarding a customer with an established government ID number or driving license. If that same customer then wants to take out a loan, the bank would need to run other verification checks to create a higher level of assurance. And if the bank wants to onboard a customer whose only form of digital identity is a name tied to their mobile phone number, it would likewise build up assurance through multiple verification and authentication layers — for instance, ID document verification, which captures images from a person's ID document and assesses its validity, combined with biometric authentication, which compares a selfie photo (taken and sent through the mobile phone) with the photo on an ID document.
With such a layered approach to identity verification, banks have complete flexibility and choice to apply the most appropriate identity checks at every stage of the customer journey, meaning that they can manage and optimise customer experience while minimising risk and ensuring compliance against a rapidly changing regulatory backdrop.
Building a global ecosystem of trust for the digital economy
To build and maintain online trust in such a complex and diverse environment is extremely challenging for banks.
Indeed, despite rapid digitisation across all sectors and regions, the internet continues to suffer from a lack of a critical identity layer that would solve many of these complex problems. While there are layers of protocols and methodologies for transporting data over networks, there is no protocol for transporting assurance. In online transactions, then, there is no standardized way to establish that an individual is who they say they are — the essence of identity.
Clearly this needs to change in order to drive trust, digital access and financial inclusion.
A digital identity network provides banks with the assurance they need in these turbulent times, protecting both themselves and their customers from fraud and delivering seamless customer experiences. In particular, it allows banks to enter new markets and reach new customers who have previously been marginalised or excluded from the digital economy, with confidence. In this way, digital identity can become a great equalizer, enabling more people to access and enjoy the benefits of a digital economy, built on trust.
Top Stories
Workforce Diversity Matters To Our ESG Evaluation
We believe the limited representation of Black voices in key decision-making processes prevents companies from reaping the benefits of a diverse workforce. It also exposes companies' reputations to allegations of discrimination, as shown by recent calls on social media to boycott certain businesses after apparently racist behavior of employees were captured on video and shared. As such, we believe companies need to be deliberate in how they recruit, hire, and develop Black talent if they want to achieve a sustainable and diverse workforce, thereby improving ESG performance.
As part of our social assessment in the ESG Evaluation, we assess how effective a company is at developing a productive and inclusive workforce. Key indicators include employee retention and turnover rates, labor standards, pay, benefits, and rewards. We also assess whether fair labor standards are entrenched across the value chain. Moreover, we evaluate an entity's preparedness to respond to long-term risks and opportunities, including from changing demographics and social patterns. We assess the extent to which decision-making demonstrates the company's commitment to its long-term strategy and sustainability, as well as its success at building an inclusive workplace culture. These practices are particularly important given the presence of systemic racism, which continues to disadvantage Black people in corporate environments, particularly in the U.S.
U.S. workplaces have yet to achieve equal opportunity for people of different races, and policies have so far not fully addressed the widespread issue of racism. According to the Center of Public Integrity and the Washington Post, from 2010 to 2017, one million discrimination complaints were filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Office Commission. More than 30% of these cases related to racial discrimination.
Labour Market Outcomes Are Rooted In Systemic Racism
The Black community has long been subject to civil and human injustices that have contributed to a vicious cycle of low educational attainment, high unemployment, and concentrated poverty. This has made it difficult for Black people to enter the workforce, advance in higher wage work, and accumulate generational wealth. Poverty serves as a systemic hurdle to Black employees because it creates barriers to higher educational attainment, thereby limiting their ability to procure employment and financial opportunities that would enable wealth accumulation. In 2018, the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that Black Americans have the second-highest poverty rate in the U.S. (after Native Americans, another highly marginalized group). The study also highlighted a striking wealth disparity; while the median net worth of a white household in 2016 was $103,000, for Black households it was only $9,200 (see chart 1).
Chart 1
Yet, structural hurdles and enduring biases have also historically disadvantaged Black jobseekers, regardless of educational attainment. In the U.S., only 31% of Black employees are in management or professional positions, and a low proportion is in upper management positions (see chart 2).
Chart 2
Black Employees are largely underrepresented in management and professional occupations
Educational attainment of the labor force, age and above in the U.S.
What's more, Black employees are often held to higher standards than their white counterparts. A 2015 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Black workers receive extra scrutiny in the workplace, leading to lower wages, slower promotions, and sometimes even job loss. This legacy may also create an additional barrier to career advancement, which is apparent in the low proportion of Black employees in upper management positions. Of the Fortune 500 companies, Black employees only account for 3.2% of executive and senior management and only 0.8% of CEOs (four in total) are Black (see chart 3).
Chart 3
Diversity And Inclusion Policies Are Only The First Step
In our opinion, D&I programs are an important mechanism for improving racial equity in the workplace. They aim to link a company's strategies, mission, and business practices in a way that supports demographic differences among talent and enables an environment in which all employees are empowered to contribute their unique views and perspectives. As D&I programs have evolved, they've begun to encompass initiatives such as targeted recruitment, diversity education and training, career development, mentoring, and grievance procedures. Done well, D&I programs offer several business benefits, from improved productivity to innovation, which help boost a company's ESG performance by helping it anticipate changing consumer preferences and consumption patterns.
Several studies have investigated the link between diverse workforces and a firm's financial performance. According to a 2020 McKinsey & Co study, companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 36% more likely to show financial returns that exceed the national industry median. Another study by sociologist Cedric Herring, during his time at the University of Illinois, Chicago, found that companies with the highest racial diversity were able to generate nearly 15x more sales revenue than firms with the lowest levels of racial diversity. Herring suggests that racial diversity is the most important predictor of a company's competitive positioning, and a better indicator of sales revenue and customer attainment than a company's size, years in business, and overall employee headcount. Diversity has also been linked to increased innovation potential. Studies show that diversity supports, enhanced creativity, more informed decision-making, increased capacity for innovation, improved customer acquisition, stronger revenue-generating potential, and better talent management.
Analyzing Diversity Remains A Challenge
Where available, we analyze a company's ethnic diversity metrics as one indicator for a diverse workforce. Businesses tend to focus mainly on the workforce composition and on recruiting employees from different identity groups, including race, gender, age, culture, cognition, and education. Social equality activists are increasingly demanding that companies release diversity statistics, thereby holding them accountable for persisting race gaps.
Although transparency practices are improving, the availability of data is a persistent issue. According to the U.K.'s Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work 2018 Scorecard report, only 11% of employers report ethnicity and pay data. In France, a race-neutral policy approach to education and employment stands in contrast to that in other European countries. It is illegal for employers or institutions in France to ask about someone's race or ethnicity. The intent of this was to avoid discrimination. However, in 2006, more than 25 years after the 1978 law prohibiting the collection of ethnic data, a poll by research company TNS-Sofres showed that more than half of France's black adults said they had experienced racial discrimination. Furthermore, companies more frequently report strictly on percentages of minority employees without commenting, directly or otherwise, on the positions they occupy. This can mask some disparities in terms of job level, promotions, or lack of diversity in certain roles.
We also take into consideration companies' strategies to increase diversity including quotas, targets, or affirmative action policies. Over the past few years, several European countries have proposed or implemented diversity quotas for boards of companies, principally to increase female participation. The U.S. state of California followed suit in 2018, while legislation is pending in other states. Although still controversial, quotas have helped increase the number of women on boards. Similar policies on ethnic diversity are largely missing. In the U.K., the 2017 Parker Review set a voluntary target for FTSE100 boards to have at least one director from an ethnic minority group by 2021. The Review's 2020 update shows some progress but not full compliance with the recommendations.
Regardless of the approach a company takes to increase workforce diversity, it is clear that quality data is a necessary ingredient of an effective diversity strategy. As such, we believe transparency at all levels of the organization is imperative for companies to solidify the trust and loyalty of their employees, suppliers, and shareholders. In turn, this will help boost productivity and strengthen the potential for innovation, thereby supporting ESG performance.
The Emphasis Must Be On Inclusion
Recruiting ethnic minorities does not necessarily translate into an environment that's free of discrimination, allowing each employee an equal opportunity to advance. In our opinion, employers with a culture that tolerates discriminatory practices and microaggression are vulnerable to productivity lapses, decreased innovation, and lower creativity. Therefore, we believe the success of D&I initiatives appears to hinge on the inclusion side of the equation, which should ensure employees feel their contributions are appreciated and full participation is encouraged. According to author and inclusion strategist Verna Myers, Vice President of Inclusion Strategy at
Netflix, "Diversity is about being invited to the party. Inclusion is about being asked to dance." Analyzing inclusion practices could provide better insight into how companies manage more covert forms of discrimination associated with microaggression. In a U.S. national survey of over 3,700 office workers conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), 58% of black respondents said they have encountered racism at the workplace. According to the NORC, workplace prejudice often shows up in subtle ways, through microaggression, typically during employee interactions through comments that proliferate Black stereotypes. Examples include referring to Black employees as intimidating, or unprofessional because of their hairstyles, thus creating a situation in which these employees are perceived as "not right" for the job. Such a toxic environment can go undetected by senior management, particularly when people of color are underrepresented at the workplace and in management positions. Many instances of discrimination also likely go unreported, making it even more difficult to expose covert forms of racism in corporate culture. In some cases, microaggression could ultimately result in higher staff turnover rates, one of the factors that informs a company's Social Profile in our ESG Evaluation.
Many corporate leaders have committed additional resources to D&I programs in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. However, the success of these programs lies in how they resonate with employees. Literature on this topic suggests that achieving true inclusion requires a shift in the organizational culture to acknowledge the value of different backgrounds, expose conscious and unconscious biases, and create an atmosphere of respect and empathy. Managers, in particular, play a crucial role in employee development and are therefore important stakeholders in supporting racial inclusion. However, many are not necessarily inclined to reflect on or talk about racial discrimination, and without a business culture that fosters inclusion, meaningful change is unlikely to result.
Companies have started promoting conversations with Black employees to better understand their experiences, which we believe is a starting point. Ultimately, achieving a sustainable diverse workforce and addressing system racism will require continued leadership and accountability. A 2018 Boston Consulting Group study of more than 1,700 companies in eight countries, across different industries and sizes, found that five key factors help diversity to flourish:
- Participative leadership: managers support employee contributions;
- Strategic priority: top management and the CEO clearly demonstrate support for diversity; – Frequent communication: free and open communication is encouraged within teams;
- Culture of openness to new ideas: employees feel that they can express their perspectives without fear of retaliation; and
- Fair employment practices: employees with equal roles achieve equal pay, and companies enact robust anti-discrimination policies.
Looking To The Future
The Black Lives Matter movement has ignited a broader awareness of racism in society that has put the corporate sector in the spotlight. We believe companies' diversity track records will be increasingly scrutinized, making a diverse and inclusive workforce a reputational imperative. In our view, more corporate entities will treat the challenge of workplace diversity as they would any other existential risk, and therefore gather the right information, including opting into voluntary diversity initiatives, to make the most informed choices.
A Call To Action: The Race At Work Charter
In collaboration with the U.K. government, the BITC established the 2018 Race at Work Charter detailing five actions all employers, regardless of sector, could undertake to further support diversity and inclusion. Since the Charter's inception, more than 100 companies have added their signatures, including the National Grid, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank. By joining this initiative, companies are committing to taking meaningful action against discrimination in the workplace. The five actions are to:
- Appoint an executive sponsor for race.
- Report ethnicity data metrics and monitor progress.
- Commit, at the Board level, to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying.
- Clearly state that promoting equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all managers.
- Take meaningful action to support the career progression of ethnic minorities.
The success of a company's D&I efforts will be reflected in several indicators, including: the proportion of Black employees in the workforce overall, also in management and leadership positions; and the pay gap between employees in similar roles. Large, technologically advanced companies will likely be among the first to back their D&I commitments with meaningful targets and report regularly on progress. In the end, an effective, inclusive framework that supports long-lasting diversity and ESG goals depends on sound communication and ongoing commitment of employees at all levels of the organization.
Related Research
- Environmental, Social, And Governance: Why Corporations' Responses To George Floyd Protests Matter, July 23, 2020
- The ESG Pulse: Social Factors Could Drive More Rating Actions As Health And Inequality Remain In Focus, July 16, 2020
- Environmental, Social, And Governance Evaluation Analytical Approach, June 17, 2020
- Environmental, Social, And Governance: How We Apply Our ESG Evaluation Analytical Approach: Part 2, June 17, 2020
- How We Apply Our ESG Evaluation Analytical Approach: Part 2, June 17, 2020
- People Power: COVID-19 Will Redefine Workforce Dynamics In The Post-Pandemic Era, June 4, 2020
- The ESG Lens on COVID-19, Part 2: How Companies Deal with Disruption, April 28, 2020
- COVID 19: A Test Of The Stakeholder Approach, April 21, 2020
- The ESG Lens On COVID-19, Part 1, April 20, 2020
- How To Navigate The ESG Risk Atlas, April 11, 2019
- How We Apply Our ESG Evaluation Analytical Approach, April 10, 2019
- The ESG Advantage: Exploring Links To Corporate Financial Performance, April 8, 2019
External Research
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/discrimination-complaint-outcomes/
- https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters#
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000312240907400203
- https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_uk/news/2020/02/ey-parker-review-2017-report-final.pdf – https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_uk/news/2020/02/ey-parker-review-2020-report-final.pdf
- https://www.talentinnovation.org/_private/assets/BeingBlack-KeyFindings-CTI.pdf
- https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/how-diverse-leadership-teams-boost-innovation
- https://www.bitc.org.uk/race-at-work-charter-signatories/
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Guess Where the Latest Travel Start-Up Is From
Not exactly. Try Ramallah.
"Palestine is often only seen through the prism of conflict and occupation — both of which are real and stifling," notes Saed Nashef, General Partner with globally-funded, Ramallah-based Sadara Ventures. "At the same time, Palestine has talent and economic opportunity." He is thrilled to lead Yamsafer's A round.
Born and bred in East Jerusalem, Nashef moved to the United States in 1988 and was an engineer with Microsoft in Redmond for six years before becoming involved in several start-ups in the Seattle area. In 2007 he decided to return home. "I saw an opportunity to have noticeable impact on the development of a knowledge-based economy in Palestine, while generating healthy returns on investments. Sadara provided a great platform for that."Raising a fund that primarily invests in early-stage Palestinian tech start-ups was, one might say, a contrarian play. But Sadara was able to raise a $30 million fund from the likes of the Google Foundation, Cisco, the George Soros Economic Development Fund, the Skoll Foundation and the European Investment Bank, among others. "Most of what we're seeing locally is consumer Internet and mobile apps," Nashef notes. "While a lot of investment opportunity will be in the commercialization of technology for local markets, or adapting proven models from more developed markets for local consumption, I expect that innovative IP-based opportunities are just around the corner."
Yamsafer was founded in September of last year by local entrepreneurs Faris Zaher, Seri Abdelhadi and Sameh Alfar. They recognized that the MENA region has been one of the world's fastest-growing inbound and outbound travel markets for the past decade, compounding at a steady 10 percent even during political uncertainty. Despite exogenous shocks to inbound demand caused by the Arab Spring, a steady rise in the number of intra-regional travelers has created an opportunity for local online travel agencies that provide quality Arabic content and effectively acquire local customers. Added to these factors, the team made this an easy bet for Nashef. "They are focused, passionate and execution-oriented. They have a proven model for regional growth — and these guys have bootstrapped for a year and have learned a ton about the space. It has all the right ingredients to become a premier online hotel-booking site for the Middle East."Zaher, the company's CEO and co-founder, is ecstatic. "We are thrilled to have found in Sadara a venture fund that shares our vision and that is capable of adding significant value to the Company," he noted. "With this round of investment we plan to scale our technology and migrate it to mobile platforms, expand customer acquisition efforts and strengthen ties with hoteliers to increase occupancy rates and make regional travel even more affordable," he said.
Yamsafer is the first Palestinian company to secure an early-stage venture capital investment. In fact, most Middle East start-ups have much smaller rounds as relative cost advantages — star local software engineers, for example, are often a fifth of the average cost for the same talent in Silicon Valley — require less of an infusion. Nashef told me that when one finds the right team with the right idea, a little audacity can go a long way. "Our strategy is to invest in a few (8 to 10) start-ups with great potential, and work closely with them to build great companies that can create real value. We want our entrepreneurs to focus on building the business, and not have to worry about fundraising during critical stages of the company's development."
In recent years, there has been increased hope that the highly aid-dependent Palestinian economy can be invigorated by means of a competitive ICT sector. Many local Internet entrepreneurs have set their sights on succeeding in regional and global markets through the export of proprietary content and services. Nashef concedes, however, that the political conflicts will continue to depress the full opportunity in Ramallah's start-ups. "Our greatest potential can be achieved only if there is parallel progress in both the political and the economic tracks," he cautions.
Christopher M. Schroeder (@cmschroed) is a Washington, D.C.- and New York-based entrepreneur, venture investor and former CEO of the online content and social platform start-up healthcentral.com, which he sold last January. He is writing a book about tech start-ups in the Middle East due Spring 2013.

subset: commoncrawl


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Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve Its History, Promote Its Values & Celebrate Excellence Everywhere
"You look back on your career and realize that you went through your life a lot quicker than a lot of people. You have a lot of failure and success in a matter of minutes on the football field."
(Florida State)...6'1'', 190...Frederick S. Biletnikoff ... Florida State All-American ... No. 2 draft pick, 1965 ... Career record: 589 receptions, 8,974 yards, 76 TDs ... Had 40 or more catches 10 straight years ... Durable with fluid moves, deceptive speed, great hands ... All-AFL/AFC four times ... 1971 NFL receiving champion ... Played in two AFL All-Star games, four AFC-NFC Pro Bowls, eight AFL/AFC title games, two Super Bowls ... MVP in Super Bowl XI ... Born February 23, 1943, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Fred Biletnikoff, a 6-1, 190-pounder with excellent hands and deceptive speed, caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns during his 14-year career with the Oakland Raiders from 1965 through 1978. At the time of his retirement, Fred not only dominated the Raiders' record book for pass receiving but he owned several significant NFL marks as well. Along with another Hall of Fame receiver, Raymond Berry, Fred held the record for having caught 40 or more passes in 10 consecutive seasons. His 70 receptions, 1,167 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns in 19 post-season games were also NFL post-season career records.
The talented pass-catcher came to the Raiders as their No. 2 draft pick in 1965. A 1964 All-America at Florida State, Biletnikoff caught four touchdown passes in his team's Gator Bowl victory over Oklahoma. He also played in the College All-Star game before reporting to the Raiders' training camp. Biletnikoff started as a special teams player and did not see action as a flanker until the seventh game of his rookie campaign.
When he did get a chance to start, he responded with a seven-catch, 118-yard performance and, in the process, became a regular for good. A durable, dependable performer, Biletnikoff missed only eight games because of injury in 14 seasons. Biletnikoff, a native of Erie, PA, reached the zenith of a career filled with outstanding achievements when he caught four passes for 79 yards to set up three Oakland scores in the Raiders' 32-14 victory in Super Bowl XI. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
Fred was an All-AFL pick in that league's final 1969 season, earned All-Pro honors in 1972, and won All-AFC acclaim in 1970, 1972 and 1973. He played in two AFL All-Star games and four AFC-NFC Pro Bowl games as well as three AFL and five AFC championship games, plus Super Bowls II and XI.
Full Name: Frederick S. Biletnikoff
Birthdate: February 23, 1943
Birthplace: Erie, Pennsylvania
High School: Erie Tech (PA)
Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame: January 30, 1988
Enshrined into Pro Football Hall of Fame: July 30, 1988
Presenter: Al Davis, Managing General Partner, Raiders
Other Members of Class of 1988: Mike Ditka, Jack Ham, Alan Page
Pro Career: 14 seasons, 190 games
Drafted: 2nd round by Oakland Raiders, AFL
Uniform Number: 25, (14)


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Meryl Streep, Matt Damon and Sandra Bullock got out of the blocks first in the race for Oscars, winning double Golden Globe nominations for their film work in 2009, while George Clooney's new flick scored six nods.
Streep scored nods for her portrayal of chef/spy Julia Child in "Julie & Julia" and her role in "It's Complicated." Bullock was recognized for starring roles in "The Blind Side" and "The Proposal," and Damon won a best actor nod for "The Informant" and for his supporting role in "Invictus."
"Up in the Air," the Jason Reitman-written-and-directed film, starring George Clooney as a shallow, frequent-flying hatchet man, scored six nominations. Raising eyebrows for its absence from the best picture list was the Clint Eastwood-directed Nelson Mandela biopic "Invictus," although Eastwood and stars Damon and Morgan Freeman were nominated for their roles in it.
U.S. & World
"Avatar," the mega-budget James Cameron movie due out on Friday, was nominated for best picture, along with his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," "Inglorious Basterds," "Precious" and "Up in the Air."
Winners will be announced Jan. 17, six days before Academy Award nominations close. The prizes are seen as precursors for the Academy Awards, especially when it comes to dramas. Last year's best drama winner at the Globes, "Slumdog Millionaire," went on to win best picture and dominate at the Oscars.
In addition to Freeman, best actor-in-a-drama nominees included George Clooney ("Up in the Air"), Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart"), Colin Firth ("A Single Man") and Tobey Maguire ("Brothers"). Best actress in a drama nominees were Emily Blunt ("The Young Victoria"), Sandra Bullock ("Blind Side"), Helen Mirren ("The Last Station"), Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Gabourey Sadibe, ("Precious").
Streep's double nominations came in the musical or comedy category, where Bullock also was nominated for "The Proposal."
Nominees for best animated film included "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Princess and the Frog" and "Up."
Nominees for best television drama included "Big Love," "Mad Men" and "House," while comedy nominees included "30 Rock" and "The Office."
The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 85 critics and reporters for overseas outlets.


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Fresh bottom paint, prop speed and new zincs in 2017
Owner looking to move up, will consider trades up to 105
Graceful motor yacht with impressive pilothouse and large flybridge combines head turning style with quality craftsmanship.
This professionally maintained vessel is ready for cruising and features luxurious interior woodwork and flooring. Interior highlights include enclosed pilothouse with doors to port and starboard leading to wide walkways, elegant salon, home-sized galley, day head, washer, dryer, spacious master and VIP accommodations with separate crew quarters and large walk-in engine room. Expansive covered flybridge with ample seating can be accessed from galley and aft deck, forward Sunpads, aft cockpit with teak sole and u-shaped seating, curved teak staircases on port and starboard descend from aft deck to swim platform, watertight transom door for access to engine room and crew quarters.
Owner looking to move up.
|Electrical System
• 21 KW Onan
• 15 KW Onan
• 50/100 shore service
Glendenning cable master
• BN shore power management system
• Charles C- Charger system with 20/30/60/100 amp chargers
• Mastervolt 24/100 amp charger
• Galvanic Isolator
|Electrical & Navigational Equipment
Pilot House Electronics:
• Northstar 961 GPS Plotter
• Sea Hailer
• Sea 156 VHF
• Robertson AP21 autopilot
• Simrad AR 77 Electronic Gyro Compass
• Raytheon E120 Color 96 Mile Radar/Plotter with 6′ open array
• Simrad RA 42 radar
• Data Marine Link system Speed, Depth and Wind indicator
• Bilge Pump monitor system
• Glendinning electronic shift controls
• ACR remote spotlight controller
• 2 Floscan units
• Bow thruster
• Ritchie Compass
• 12″ monitor for for ship's camera systems
• Wesmar Stablizers
• Just aft of helm is the AC/DC electrical panel with clear doors
• Epirb
• (2) KVH track vision sat systems
Flybridge Electronics:
• (2) Raytheon E120 monitor for Color Radar, Plotter, Fish Finder
• (2) Flo Scan Units
• Glendinning electronic shift controls
• Robertson AP 20 autopilot
• Side Power Bow Thruster
• Wesmar Stablizers
• Norcold refrigerator
• ACR remote spot light control
|Engine/Mechanical Equipment
The engine room is accessed from either a staircase on the aft starboard side of salon or the access door from the swim platform. The stand up engine room is very large with easy access to all of the ship's mechanical and electrical systems as well as the gen sets. There are engine gauges, start up panels and fuel sight gauges on forward bulkhead, (2) crash pumps, Racor fuel filters, (7) Cruise Air compressors, Ravena oil changer system for mains and generator, Delta T system, and an air compressor.
|Deck Equipment
• Muir windlass with 200 feet of chain
• CQR #1 00 anchor
• Sunbrella pilothouse window covers and all exterior seating
• Marquip boarding ladder
• Dual Kahlenberg horns
• 6 person Avon life raft
• Glendinning cablemaster systems
The pilothouse has sliding watertight doors on each side, and offers access from the tide ladder and access forward to the bow area. The lower helm has a beautiful high gloss cherry raised panel for great visibility and view of all the electronics. There are 2 black leather Stidd helm chairs with recessed foot rest and matching black leather console combing to reduce glare. There is a custom companion settee to starboard along with oak sole, chart storage and galley access.
Entering the salon through a large slider from the aft deck one can appreciate the natural light offered from the vessel's large cabin windows. The high-gloss cherry interior and updated earth carpeting really work well. To port is a matching black leather sofa and reclining chair with end tables on each end of the sofa, and a single cocktail table in front of the sofa. A formal dining table is to starboard with 4 chairs, and custom cabinets are along the full length of the starboard side of salon with an integrated pop up surround sound system, a 42″ pop up flat screen television, and wine cooler.
Moving forward up 2 steps there is a curved stainless steel stairwell with teak treads heading to the flybridge. Just forward is the day head and across to the starboard side is the galley.
|Master Stateroom
The master is located amidships and offers the dimensions of a much larger motor yacht. There is a centerline king bed with matching built-in 2-drawer end tables along with halogen reading lamps above the pillow and wall lamps. To starboard side is full length cedar lined locker followed by a makeup vanity and aft are 6 drawers with above counter storage cabinets. To port is a matching full length cedar locker with a built in small settee and 6 drawers of storage. There is a new 42″ Samsung LCD with cabinets below housing electronics. The en suite head has black Corian counter tops with 2 sinks and 2 cedar lines drawers. There is also a large Corian stall shower with Grohe shower head.
The galley is to starboard as you head forward from the salon. It is a well-lit area with high gloss cherry finish and is complimented by black granite countertops. The refrigeration consists of low profile Sub Zero drawers with 4 designated for refrigeration and 2 drawers for freezers.
There is a 4 burner propane gas cook top and icemaker below. Miele dishwasher and trash compactor. Overhead is a GE Convection Microwave and Keurig coffee maker. There are plenty of overhead cabinets on both sides, as well as deep storage below the sink to facilitate all storage needs.
|VIP Stateroom
The VIP is located forward and is accessed from the port side companion way where you will find linen cabinets and separate washer/dryer units.
There is a centerline queen bed with 4 large port holes that make for a very bright and open stateroom. Storage drawers are located below the bed and just forward is a full length cedar lined closet with 3 drawers and a wall mounted 19″ Samsung LCD television.
To starboard is the en suite head with matching high gloss cherry vanity with the black Corian top and single sink and storage below. A large stall shower with a glass door and mirrored ceilings and large porthole compliment the vanity.
|Aft Deck
The aft deck has a teak sole with 2 custom built settees, a refrigerator, sink and access to the salon is through a large sliding door. On both sides of the aft deck are Euro style curved staircases to the teak swim platform, with access to the engine room and crew quarters.
The flybridge is accessed from the outside by a molded stair case on the aft deck and from the inside by the custom curved Stainless steel staircase in the salon. Both have sliding glass doors. The helm area has 2 white Stidd helm chairs with floor rest. There is built-in L-shaped bench seating with new cushions that will comfortably seat 10. Aft is the deck chalks for the Nautica RB12 center console RIB with Yamaha 40 HP 4 stroke motor. A Nautical Structures low profile EX 1500 davit is located on the portside of bridge for tender launching.
|The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.
|Contact Information
Contact Carlos Navarro Today!
Sellers Receive Complimentary Dockage
- 2002 Carver Voyager Pilothouse
- Yucatan, Mexico
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- Miami/ Coral Gables, FL
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- Miami/ Coral Gables, FL
- 1981 Bertram 42 Convertible
- Miami/ Coral Gables, FL
- 1986 Bertram 46 III Convertible
- Miami/ Coral Gables, FL


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Puerto Viejo, Cocles, Manzanillo, Chiquita, Punta Uva, Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Manuel Antonio in 6 days. Look at your Costa Rican map and you can see we were seriously 'Doin' Costa Rica'.
Yup, we just got back from an excursion around Costa Rica and do we have a TON of work to do in the next few weeks putting together some videos for you guys.
We got this opportunity THANX to David and Mindy, a couple from North Carolina, who were emailing us with questions prior to their vacation as well as checking out our videos on YouTube and our travel info on Travel Costa Rica Now. After meeting David and Mindy in La Fortuna they asked us if we'd like to join them on a few legs of their journey around Costa Rica. We have no car and travel on a backpacker budget which they generously offered to help with, so of course we said, "hell yeah". The fact David and Mindy were very COOL was sugar on cereal.
Hope you ENjoY these pics, they're just a sampling of what's to come.
It was a fun time road trippin' it around Costa Rica with David and Mindy and once again, a huge THANX, totally appreciated.
I think we got some GREAT video footage,,,,so be on the L@@K out.
TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!


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PN Junction Lab: First-Time User Guide
Published on
This first-time user guide provides introductory material to PN Junction Lab on nanoHUB. The introduction to PN junctions is followed by a tour of the Rappture interface, which notes key inputs and typical outputs. We discuss the default simulation (what happens if you don't change any inputs, and just hit "simulate") as well as the limitations of the tool. We conclude with several references for further study.
Sponsored by
Cite this work
Researchers should cite this work as follows:


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Is HF setup to receive a donation thru paypal??
that "junior" thing is giving me a complex.....
Is HF setup to receive a donation thru paypal??
that "junior" thing is giving me a complex.....
Yes, on the Donation Page just choose the amount and click 'Order'. You will be presented with a payment page that has PayPal as an option.
I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt. - Cormac McCarthy
You made it so easy, I just had to donate.
"Don't speak unless it improves the silence." -proverb
DIY Gathered End Hammock
DIY Stretch-Side Hammock
Stretch-Side "Knotty Mod"
DIY Bugnet
I made this thread sticky and I edited to title.
Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
Premium Quality, Fresh Roasted Coffee
Do we need to get Neo to have another one of his famous "Donating Member Drives"? He's like the Jerry Lewis of HF.
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
I'm glad this thread got bumped... got me off my behind and beyond my perpetual 'good intentions'!
Sticky is good!
- Frawg
{generic tagline}
Yes, I don't know why more folks don't do it. I can't give much but I'll give a little when I can, cause I love this place!
Thanks for the bump! Just took a break from sewing my Speer tarp to donate. Thanks guys!
If you specify ZIP + 4 on the donation page, USPS will appreciate you and money will arrive faster: 04350-3401
Check's in the mail.
..Mike the Weed Warrior bio // Think globally, act locally: Remove an invasive plant


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"The Biggest Loser" will return in January with the weight-loss show's first young teen participants and trainer Jillian Michaels back on duty.
The show's 14th season will take on a new "mission" against the national increase in childhood obesity, NBC said Tuesday. Youths between the ages of 13 and 17 will join teams trying to shed pounds and get fit.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Sexy 'Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars' Pairs Photos
U.S. & World
Unlike adults competing for a $250,000 prize, the teenagers won't be subject to elimination from the show and will not be weighed for the broadcast, NBC said.
The show's producers discussed adding teens at length and are "incredibly sensitive" to safeguarding them, Michaels said.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Honey Boo Boo & Her Family
"It's brave, it's bold and I'm sure it's going to be controversial, and we'll do the best we can to handle it in the most positive and effective way possible," the usually tough-talking fitness expert said.
The goal is to focus on the kids' health rather than their weight, Michaels said, adding, "It's about getting them on the softball team, not into a size four."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past three decades, with about 17 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 considered obese based on height and weight measurements.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars — The Cast!
The season's 18 contestants will be divided into six-member teams, each including at least one youngster.
Michaels, who took a break from "Biggest Loser" to pursue adoption of a daughter, will join trainers Bob Harper and Dolvett Quince in working with the young contestants, with medical staff and childhood obesity experts also involved.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan & Grant Bowler In 'Liz & Dick'
The hard-driving trainer, who also has an infant son with her partner, says it remains to be seen whether motherhood will alter her overall approach toward adults who are "killing themselves" with bad health habits.
"I am a different person, motherhood changes your DNA. However, being a mom and doing this job are very different aspects of my life and personality," she said, adding, "I'm not going to make any promises."
"Biggest Loser" will return in early January, NBC said, but a debut date was not announced.
Copyright 2012 by Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
PLAY IT NOW: The Stars Go All Out On Stars Earn Stripes
PLAY IT NOW: J.W. Cortes Talks Teaming Up With Todd Palin On NBC's Stars Earn Stripes
More from Access: [ Jillian Michaels Biggest Loser Reality TV ]


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I was under the impression that the meaning of StarCraft was to get your actions-per-minute as high as possible, but apparently there's a more wholesome message to be found in Blizzard's strategy series. Uh, sort of.
This latest episode of Carbot Animations' StarCrafts series is the perfect holiday special for a night in with the family on Christmas Eve. Who needs Frosty the Snowman, anyway?


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Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo (CNN) -- "The poachers are usually hiding firearms in the fishing camps," Mathieu Eckel briefs us as his anti-poaching unit's shaky metal boats speed down one of the rivers that snakes it way through the Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
The river's dark waters are stunningly framed by shades of green and cascading vines in this remote corner of the Republic of Congo.
As Eckel's eco-guard unit turns a corner, he gives the order to cut the engines. We're approaching the first suspected site. The boats coast silently against the hum of the forest.
The team quietly assaults, but the camp is deserted.
A member of the team checks the ashes. "It's still warm, they must have left early morning, we missed them by a couple hours," he says.
For the next grueling, hot eight hours, the same scenario repeats itself.
Then, suddenly around a bend, the unit spots rising smoke. They rush ashore, fan out and within seconds the first gunshot rings out. The men sprint through the dense and disorienting terrain, forcing their way though the undergrowth and knee-deep water as even more bursts of gunfire echo through the forest.
Pumped on adrenaline, eco-guard Brice Moupele animatedly re-enacts what happened when he saw the poachers.
"I yelled 'Stop, stop!' and shot in the air," he says.
"The man tried to shoot at me. I tackled him and grabbed his gun, but he was able to escape." Moupele happily displays the captured weapon.
The team finds the poachers' canoe, weighed down with fresh elephant meat. An eco-guard lifts up a portion of the elephant's trunk, still dripping blood. He lifts up heavy chunks of elephant flesh, searching for weapons and tusk on the bottom of the wooden canoe.
"This is what they use to cut off the tusks" Eckel says, holding up a bloodied ax.
It's a sickening reminder of a trade that has decimated the park's elephant population. The non-profit group African Parks -- which runs Odzala -- estimates that Central Africa has lost 62% of its forest elephant population in the last decade. In the week we spent at the park, we only saw one alive.
Opinion: How to end the elephant slaughter
"The ivory we get, it's less than 1%" Eckel estimates. "In this area, it makes a lot of money. It's very difficult to say, maybe one or more elephant is killed a day."
Eckel describes the fight to protect what's left as guerrilla warfare carried out by just 76 eco-guards patrolling an area that is 13,500 km2 (8,390 square miles) -- about the size of Connecticut. Hardly enough, but around 40% of the team members are former poachers themselves.
"They are really motivated to stop the poaching and they know how the poachers work, so it's easy for them to think like them," Eckel explains.
It's part of a program developed by Eckel in the past year in which poachers are given amnesty if they hand over their weapons and confess. But it's still a tough sell in an area where villages live off poaching and there are no other alternatives.
The unit's successes haven't made them any friends. Members often find themselves pursuing neighbors, friends and even family members. They have all been threatened.
Frank Bolangonga tells us three men assaulted his wife down a dark side street in his village.
"She went to buy petrol at the market," he says. "When she was on her way back home they attacked her, tried to rape her, but she was strong. She pulled back and her dress ripped and she ran away."
The threats intensify after arrests and raids, and did so even more after the team brought in Ghislain Ngondjo, better known as "Pepito."
Vianney Evoura, who used to poach for Pepito back in 2004, testified against him in court. They live in the same village and Pepito's relatives have vowed revenge.
"His mother promised to poison me," Evoura says. "I don't go out after dark unless I am with five or six other people, I don't eat out. I am always on alert."
African Parks headquarters is just a 10-minute drive from Pepito's village, which has forced Eckel to send his own family away.
"There was threats of attack on the camp where we live, my family was with me at this time. I don't want to take the risk for them because of my job," he tells us.
But the toughest challenge for Eckel and his team is government corruption. He doesn't trust for a second that the government will follow any leads after the bust on the poachers' camp.
The team finds four guns, one of which Eckel says is military issue. Of all of the weapons the unit has in its stockpile -- a combination of those handed over in the amnesty program and those seized in raids -- the majority come from military stock.
"The military sells firearms to the poachers," Eckel claims. "Sometime we catch military with their firearms inside the park."
In an area where the lines between poachers and protectors tend to blur because of village and family ties, at times the team can't even trust itself.
"To find this in the Congo you must have contact with a ranger," Eckel says, showing a compass found at the poachers' camp. "It's a silver one and it's not an old one."
Also found during the raid was a cellphone.
Dogs help to sniff out poaching
The team torches the camp to send a message and sets off down the river with the poachers' canoe in tow as bright orange flames engulf the ramshackle huts.
But it's far from over.
The next morning, Eckel is busy drawing a map in the sand, strategizing the best way to get into position. One of the numbers on the phone they found is that of a notorious bushmeat trader.
"We had an initial phone contact and we organized a meeting," Eckel explains. "We play like we are the poacher and he thinks we are the poacher."
It's an ambush. Barreling down the road, the team spots the bushmeat trader on his motorcycle. Shouting with guns pointed, they force him to pull over.
"How do you justify that this phone we called you from was found with a poacher?" Eckel asks the trader. "You were saying that you wanted to collect material, ivory."
"I don't know who called me," the trader claims. "Everyone in the village has my number."
The cell phone rings, answered by an eco-guard pretending to be the suspected poacher. The person on the other end of the line issues a breathless warning.
"Remove all the weapons from the camp by the river, we've spotted the eco-guards at the small port."
Meanwhile, the trader breaks, giving up the name and location of the cell phone's owner.
"They are just there, they live there. He's a young guy."
The team detains not one, but two brothers and take them back to one of the unit's checkpoints. One confesses to owning one of the rifles found at the camp, but both deny they shot at the eco-guards and refuse to give up the names of the other members of the gang.
Poachers poison 87 elephants for ivory
They are handcuffed and driven off to jail.
When we return to Brazzaville, we interview Henri Djombo, minister of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development, and ask about the rampant corruption claims.
He denied direct military complicity, but conceded the government needs to clean up its ranks.
"Yes, it is true that there are accomplices to this illegal trading of wildlife, that is not easy," he told us.
He insists that the government is committed to fighting corruption and ending the culture of poaching with impunity.
A few days after the two brothers were detained, their families gave up the names of the rest of the gang members, in hopes of getting the brothers out of jail.
Based on that intel, the unit carried out another raid. One of the eco-guards was severely wounded, run over by a motorcycle as they attempted to detain the suspected poacher.
As the team was transporting the wounded guard to hospital, gang members torched the eco-guard camp at the checkpoint.
Out here, the war on ivory trading is violent and personal.
Opinion: Elephant killings surge as tusks fund terror
China crushes tons of confiscated ivory


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When Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, and Royce da 5'9" joined Joe Budden on his 2008 mixtape Halfway House, the chemistry on their collaborative track meant "Slaughterhouse" the song would quickly become Slaughterhouse the hip-hop supergroup. Other tracks recorded at their initial meeting bypassed the usual music distribution channels and were leaked to the net, including "Move On," which gave the music press the group's backstory in song.
They recorded their debut album in a mere six days, signed to the E1 label, and released their self-titled debut in 2009. Due to sample clearance issues, the final product did not include the promised single "Woodstock," but in keeping with the group's alternative marketing plan, it was released via Budden's Twitter account. In 2012, they took the industry on from the inside, releasing the Welcome to Our House album on the major label Shady/Interscope with Cee-Lo Green, Eminem, and Skylar Grey among their guests.


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Shattered: Case of the exploding cooktop
Last June's happy hour and barbecue for regional neuropsychologists included some unplanned fireworks: the explosion of the hosts' glass cooktop. Fortunately, no one was hurt– but the aftermath has been expensive.
"It sounded like a gunshot," recalls owner Tom Guterbock.
He and his wife, Bernice Marcopulos, were hosting Marcopulos' colleagues from Western State Hospital and UVA on June 27 when their party was interrupted by "glass flying all over," as Marcopulos describes it. She had been boiling hot dogs in a RevereWare pan on the Kitchen Aid cooktop for their children, ages two and four, at the time of the incident.
Guterbock called Kitchen Aid customer service the next day and spoke with an employee named Nakisha, who, he claims, stated that because the one-year warranty had expired (the unit was four years old), nothing could be done. She gave him the name of an authorized service center, Kraft Appliances, and Guterbock scheduled the repairs.
Kraft Appliances owner Tracy Kraft, who carried out the repairs, told me that he had "never seen that happen" to a cooktop unit. "I called Kitchen Aid to see if they would work with me" on replacing the surface, but got the same answer Guterbock had: The unit was out of warranty. Case closed.
When several months went by without a bill from Kraft, Marcopulos and Guterbock assumed that Kitchen Aid must have covered the cost after all. Alas, Kraft was simply slow to mail his invoice– which was for $381: $291 for parts, and $90 for installation. On October 15, after receiving the bill, Marcopulos called Kitchen Aid to discuss the situation. She, too, was connected to Nakisha.
Marcopulos got the same response as Guterbock and Kraft had: The warranty had expired.
"Her tone was pretty ornery to begin with," says Marcopulos, claiming that Nakisha's attitude "got worse" when she discovered that Guterbock had already called– as if, Marcopulos says, by calling about the same problem, "I was putting something over on her."
Nakisha allegedly told her that because the surface is made of safety glass which is "not sharp," the incident wouldn't have injured anyone. Marcopulos, thinking that Kitchen Aid would want to hear about a four-year-old, $1,500 cooktop unit that had allegedly exploded in the mundane act of boiling water, then asked to be transferred to the safety division.
Although company records state that she was connected to the safety division– and that the call must have been cut off by her cell phone– Marcopulos insists she never got off hold before being disconnected, at which point she gave up and contacted me.
"Glass does break," Rhonda Milliken, spokesperson for Whirlpool (which owns Kitchen Aid), said. Milliken explained that sometimes an object falling from overhead can damage the glass surface, which is then vulnerable to further damage when heated. "That's why we have strict warranties," she added.
Marcopulos, however, claims that nothing had ever fallen on the cooktop's surface.
Milliken seemed skeptical of Marcopulos' assertion that Kitchen Aid should have investigated the incident as a possible safety issue. "If she really felt that seriously about it, she would have pushed that" from the beginning, says Milliken. "She didn't cry 'safety issue' until October."
If Guterbock or Marcopulos had raised the question of safety in the June 28 call, Milliken explained, Whirlpool could have ordered an investigation and, if the unit was ruled defective, "We would have covered that." But because the unit had been repaired, it was too late to explore that possibility.
In the end, however, Whirlpool decided that it wasn't too late– and that the company would cover Kraft's $381 bill after all. The manager of the safety division also called Marcopulos to discuss her concerns– after which Marcopulos declared herself "a very satisfied customer."
Do you have a consumer problem or question? Email the Fearless Consumer, write her at 100 Second St. NW, 22902, or call 295-8700 ext. 406.