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Royal Power Solutions (RPS) vice-president of supply chain Kevin Reed (pictured) believes medium-sized suppliers should find a reason for entry and control what they can when deciding to expand into Mexico.

RPS, based in Illinois, US, celebrated the opening of its automotive parts manufacturing factory in Quertaro, Mexico last month, where it assembles automotive battery terminal systems, moulded plastic covers and studded eyelets for tier one and two manufacturers, including those producing electric vehicles.

As one of Mexicos fastest-growing cities, Quertaro has the second highest GDP per capita and is home to 300 automotive industry companies. The city is in the Bajo region in central Mexico where OEMs BMW, Honda, Audi, Volkswagen, GM and Nissan have invested.

According to Reed, among the main logistics challenges investing in Mexico are the countrys locally produced raw material supply and logistics infrastructure.

The single largest materials input for producing eyelets and terminals flat roll copper and aluminium are not available directly from mills within Mexico today, he explained, adding that copper was also used in battery-powered hybrid fully electric vehicles.

Supply and demandLast year, RPS supply chain efforts were largely focused on qualifying local suppliers for outside processes and market testing various logistics providers. Supplier partnerships should be considered and there is no shame in sub-contracting when necessary, states Reed. The key is to control what you can.

Milk run optimisation (cost-optimal routes for inbound and outbound shipments) is one of the strategies Reed suggests deploying when operating in the country. Regarding challenges, he cites tax and regulation, particularly in focus in light of the news from the US senate last week.

The US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA)has now been approved by the US Senate, which has joined Mexico in ratifying the new North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). Canada still needs to put pen to paper, however the news does seem to move towards resolution and further lifts uncertainty for North American supply chains.

As the bill becomes law however, it will raise questions for manufacturers and logistics providers around compliance, including how to meet new rules of origin requirements, and rises in production cost, and border trade.

According to the National Auto Parts Industry (INA), Mexico is the fifth-largest automotive parts producer in the world and the largest In Latin America. Looking ahead, INA has forecast that production of Mexican automotive parts will continue to grow, with an expected US$96 billion value by 2021 - another indication of the crucial role the country plays in US automotive trade.

The impact of the USMCA on automotive trade between the North American trading partners will be under discussion at the forthcoming Automotive Logistics Mexico conference to be held in Mexico City between February 25-27

Kevin Reed will be a speaker at the conference, where he will further discuss the challenges and opportunities of operating in Mexico

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Control what you can in Mexico, says RPS - Automotive Logistics

Far-left Senator Bernie Sanders surprised users on social media Monday; posting a bizarre tweet claiming the United States needs national rent control to regulate the cost of apartments across the country.

This is a crisis. We need national rent control, wrote Sanders on social media.

Sanders is now tied with former Vice President Joe Biden in the latest national polls; setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown between the two top Democrats ahead of the Iowa Caucus.

The online poll, released Thursday, shows that 20% of registered Democrats and independents said they would back Sanders over 11 other candidates to run in the general election against President Donald Trump, an increase of 2 percentage points from a similar poll that ran last week, reports Reuters. Another 19% supported Biden, 12% said they would vote for Senator Elizabeth Warren, 9% backed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 6% said they would support Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

The poll also shows that about one in five potential primary voters remain undecided. And among those who have picked, nearly two out of three say they are open to changing their minds, adds the website. Sanders, an independent who built a national network of fervent supporters while running for the partys nomination in 2016, has consistently ranked among the most popular candidates since he entered the race.

Read the full report here.

Source: Reuters

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BACK IN THE USSR! Bernie Sanders Calls for 'National Rent Control' for Apartments Across the USA - Sean Hannity

A second term for President Trump would produce reassuring continuity for markets, at least in the short term. We have seen the impact his pronouncements on social media can have, and this is likely to be a feature of a second term in office for President Trump.

A change in administration would likely introduce some short-term volatility, but the longer-term impact of individual candidates is harder to judge. We will be carefully tracking the primaries from February onwards when the Democratic nominee will become clearer as we consider what market impact, if any, the challenger may have.

At an institutional level, a Democratic president who facing a Republican senateSenate might be less disruptive for markets than one with party backing. Gridlock would prevent any potential rollback of Trumps tax cuts or contentious policies around healthcare, technology and energybig policy shifts that could create market volatility. But stagnation and malaise would likely benefit no one and, while Democratic control of the Presidency and both houses could be negative for some sectors, it could also lead to opportunities opening up elsewhere as the policy focus shifts.

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US Election 2020: Beyond the media thunderdome - Coutts

Suddenly needing a replacement for the young, popular, bilingual manager they hired in November and dumped in dishonor last week, the Mets picked the young, popular, bilingual manager prospect they already had.

Luis Rojas will succeed Carlos Beltran who lost his job because ofhis involvement in the Astros sign-stealing scandal as the Mets manager, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said Wednesday at Citi Field.

Heading into his 14th season with the organization, Rojas checks a lot of boxes: He is analytically adept, having helped players digest data in his role as quality-control coach last year; he knows the roster, having coached or managed many of the Mets during his dozen years working in the minors; and he comes from a famous baseball family, the son of former Expos/Giants manager Felipe Alou and the brother of former All-Star outfielder Moises Alou.

Not a bad option for a team that found itself in the highly unusual position of looking for a manager in January.

The short version is hes very, very well qualified, said Van Wagenen, who interviewed Rojas multiple times in October but opted for Beltran instead. We anticipate him to be a great addition to our team. We think he has the ability to be consistent, to be calm under pressure and to understand the opportunity that this team has as we head into the 2020 season.

Hes respected by the players, hes trusted by the players and hes someone that we have great confidence in his ability to lead our team and his ability to put us in the best position to succeed.

Rojas promotion isnt official yet. Van Wagenen said the Mets are working to finalize a multi-year deal with Rojas, 38, who will be formally introduced in a news conference at Citi Field when the contract is done.

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Aside from filling Rojas previous role, the Mets dont expect any changes to the coaching staff. The Red Soxreportedly areinterested in bench coach Hensley Meulens for their manager opening, but they have not requested permission to interview him, Van Wagenen said.

Selecting Rojas mostly ends the Mets portion of the 2017 Astros cheating saga. Beltran was a player on that team and was named in Major League Baseballs report on the issue, and he and the team parted ways that is the official term last week.

That left Van Wagenen & Co. conducting their second manager search of the offseason. Becausethey went through this process in October, this time around it was largely a matter of referring to their notes and deciding whether they needed to re-open their group of candidates, Van Wagenen said.

Have circumstances changed now that would change what we were looking for in a manager? Van Wagenen said. We came to the conclusion that going to the existing candidate pool that we had already gone through this extensive process with was [the best choice]. Even though circumstances have changed, the people that we narrowed our focus to before were the right people for us to focus on.

Van Wagenen said Rojas was someone we focused on very early and very quickly. He called Rojas a serious candidate back in October.

When it came to this unfortunate circumstance, we didnt want to change the values that we outlined for ourselves in the initial process, Van Wagenen said. We wanted to continue the momentum that we have with the work thats been done in preparation for spring training, and we felt like Luis was in a position to be a leader of that group.

Rojas was popular among Mets last year, his first on the major-league staff, and shortly after the news broke Wednesday, Pete Alonso, Marcus Stroman and Dominic Smith all chimed in approvingly on social media.

This will be Rojas first managing job in the majors, but dont call him inexperienced. In addition to managing in the Dominic Winter League and leading the Dominican Republic team in an Olympic qualifying tournament a job Rojas was honored to be picked for he also managed Mets minor league teams for eight seasons. Along the way, he had Jacob deGrom on the 2012 Savannah Sand Gnats and Alonso and Jeff McNeil on the 2018 Binghamton Rumble Ponies, among many others.

And now they are all in the majors, with Rojas in charge.

[Rojas]has a good finger on the pulse of this particular team, Van Wagenen said. He was part of it last year, he was part of the momentum ride we had in the second half of the year and the success we had. From our evaluation standpoint, that was another separator for him versus some of the other candidates. He knows these guys. He knows how to communicate to them. Every returning player on the roster has a relationship with him. Thats valuable to us at this time.

Age: 38

Former role with the Mets: Quality-control coach in 2019, acting as a conduit between the front office and coaching staff. Rojas helped incorporate analytics into game strategy and preparation. He was also the team's outfield coach last season.

Playing career: A leftfielder, first baseman and third baseman, Rojas played with the Orioles (2000), Marlins (2001-02) and Expos/Nationals (2003-05) in their minor league systems.

Managing career: Gulf Coast Mets (2011), Savannah Sand Gnats (2012-14), St. Lucie Mets (2015-16), Binghamton Rumble Ponies (2017-18)

Family tree: Son of 17-year major league player and former Expos and Giants manager Felipe Alou and brother of six-time All-Star outfielder Moises Alou, who played the last two seasons of his career with the Mets in 2007-08. He is the nephew of former MLB outfielders Matty and Jesus Alou. According to MLB.com, Rojas uses his paternal grandfathers last name, Rojas, while his father and brother use his paternal grandmothers last name, Alou.

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Mets finalizing deal to make Rojas their next manager - Newsday

A. Trevor Sutton, Concordia Seminary

Silicon Valleys newest fad is dopamine fasting, or temporarily abstaining from addictive activities such as social media, music, internet gaming even food. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey is known for his intermittent fasting diet. In this file photo, he gestures while interacting with students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi.

Silicon Valleys newest fad is dopamine fasting, or temporarily abstaining from addictive activities such as social media, music, internet gaming even food. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey is

Photo: Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty Images 2018

Silicon Valleys newest fad is dopamine fasting, or temporarily abstaining from addictive activities such as social media, music, internet gaming even food. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey is known for his intermittent fasting diet. In this file photo, he gestures while interacting with students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi.

Silicon Valleys newest fad is dopamine fasting, or temporarily abstaining from addictive activities such as social media, music, internet gaming even food. Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey is

Silicon Valley's latest fad is dopamine fasting and that may not be as crazy as it sounds

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A. Trevor Sutton, Concordia Seminary

(THE CONVERSATION) Silicon Valleys newest fad is dopamine fasting, or temporarily abstaining from addictive activities such as social media, music, internet gaming even food.

Twitters CEO, Jack Dorsey, for example, is known for his intermittent fasting diet. Other celebrities such as Kourtney Kardashian and Chris Pratt have also lauded the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Dubbed dopamine fasting by San Francisco psychologist Cameron Sepah, the trend is getting increasing international attention as a potential cure for technology addiction.

Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter that helps control basic functions such as motor control, memory and excitement. It is also involved in anticipating the reward of a stimulating activity. Denying the brain the dopamine-derived pleasure of many modern day temptations, the theory goes, may help people regain control, improving focus and productivity.

This idea did not entirely originate in Silicon Valley. As a scholar who studies digital technology and religion, Id argue that the motivations and benefits of dopamine fasting resemble what many religions have been teaching since ancient times.

Fasting can take multiple forms in different religious traditions.

Muslims observe nearly a month-long fast during Ramadan when they abstain from food or drinks. They are allowed to break the fast only after the Sun goes down.

The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, includes a period of fasting. And many Christian traditions observe fasting periods throughout the year, particularly during the Lenten season leading up to Easter. Vipassana meditation, a practice with Buddhist roots, involves abstaining from speaking for multiple days.

The reasons these ancient religions encourage fasting, in my assessment, are quite similar to the motivations of modern dopamine fasters.

Some religious traditions encourage fasting to develop personal holiness and discipline. For example, Orthodox Christians avoid animal products on Wednesdays and Fridays as a way to develop discipline and self-control. Others, including Christianity and Islam, use fasting as a way to develop appreciation and gratitude.

The early fourth-century Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo recognized that the practice of fasting could maximize pleasure for things that one gives up. For example, abstaining from meat during Lent heightens appreciation for it after the fast is over.

Scholars have drawn parallels between dopamine fasting and religious fasting. For example, David Nutt, professor of brain science at Imperial College London, said in an November 2019 interview with the British newspaper Guardian:

Retreating from life probably makes life more interesting when you come back to itMonks have been doing it for thousands of years. Whether that has anything to do with dopamine is unclear.

Many individuals engage in dopamine fasting for much the same reasons as religious fasters. Some, for example, use it as a way to develop greater discipline. In a November 2019 interview, psychologist at Stanford University Russell Poldrack noted that the practice at self-control in doing one of these fasts can be useful. It can give one a feeling of mastery over their own behaviors, he said.

Others such as Nellie Bowles, a journalist who covers the Silicon Valley, finds that dopamine fasting makes everyday tasks more exciting and fun.

Research shows that fasting, whether religious or not, can have several health benefits.

For example, a study published in the Journal of Research in Medical Science had 14 individuals undergo a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. The participants reported significant improvements in physical and psychological well-being after the fast.

According to a research review by nutrition scientists John Trepanowski and Richard Bloomer, religious and nonreligious fasting can have similar health benefits.

Dopamine fasting is supposed to make ordinary tasks such as eating and listening to music more pleasurable. After temporarily abstaining from an activity, fasters have found it more rewarding to reengage in the activity.

There are those who disagree. Neuroscientists have argued that dopamine is essential to healthy brain functioning and have raised questions about the trends apparent goal of reducing dopamine.

While it is true that certain behaviors lead to the increase of dopamine, experts caution on the claims regarding dopamine fasting. Joshua Berke, a neuroscientist, said that dopamine is not a pleasure juice with a certain level that gets depleted. Rather, the dynamic of dopamine changes from moment to moment.

Nonetheless, advocates of dopamine fasting believe that it can curb addictive behaviors and make daily life more pleasurable, something that religious traditions have for millennia encouraged people to develop patterns of fasting and feasting.

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Silicon Valley's latest fad is dopamine fasting and that may not be as crazy as it sounds - Shelton Herald