Japan consumer confidence softening.
According to an October 14, 2007 report filed by Kyodo News (New York), "Consumer sentiment in Japan for September rose to the highest level in more than eight years, reflecting the economic upturn, particularly improved employment, the government said Thursday." But the September 2007 confidence numbers may...

Watch the biofuel meter in your car.
ON 8 July 2007, Live Earth began a 24-hour radio, television, and Internet broadcast in nine cities around the world. Millions of people watched the show. The aim of the show was to persuade the world to go green. The world is going green. Many countries are...

Ethanol hangover.
Earlier this year, Mexicans took to the streets of the capital to protest a spike in the price of tortillas, a staple for tens of millions of people. Since President Bush outlined US government targets for using corn-based fuel as a gasoline alternative, a biofuel boom has driven up...

Green revolution? Venezuela's socialist reforms float on a sea of oil.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With his outspoken criticism of the US and self-proclaimed Bolivarian Revolution--the current catchphrase now being "Fatherland, Socialism, or Death!"--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has catapulted his off-rich country into the forefront of 21st-century geopolitics. Among many profound reforms to private and public life, Chavez...

Portrait of an Expatriate Community: The English in Rome, 1362-1420.
The English in Rome, 1362-1420: Portrait of an Expatriate Community. By Margaret Harvey. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 278 pp. $45.00. The English in Rome is Margaret Harvey's third monograph exploring relations between England and Rome during the papal schism and its aftermath. Two loosely connected...

Paola Lanaro, ed.: At the Centre of the Old World: Trade and Manufacturing in Venice and the Venetian Mainland, 1400-1800.
Paola Lanaro, ed. At the Centre of the Old World: Trade and Manufacturing in Venice and the Venetian Mainland, 1400-1800. Toronto: Victoria University/University of Toronto Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2006. Paperback $32. 412 pp. + maps and illustrations. Review by R. BURR LITCHFIELD, BROWN UNIVERSITY. ...

Tree-Huggers Move Over: Survey Finds that 'Regular' Folks Have Gone Green.
ENERGY RESOURCE-1 May 2007-Tree-Huggers Move Over: Survey Finds that 'Regular' Folks Have Gone Green(C)2007 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com Green is no longer the province of tree-huggers, according to the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey that finds consumers in both America and the UK "have woken up to the...

Orthopedic outsourcing dynamics: firms are taking advantage of an increasingly full-service and global model.
If you're older than 65 (or soon will be) and/or obese (or even a few extra pounds overweight), the orthopedic industry would like to say thank you in advance. Oh, if you've got a bad back, that's even better. All joking aside, the largest drivers of orthopedic industry growth...

Alimport contracts for $118m in U.S. food purchases.
The largest gathering of U.S. food exporters in Cuba since Raul Castro took the reigns of power last year came off without a hitch--and resulted in $118 million worth of new food deals with Alimport, Cuba's state food purchasing agency. Further negotiations following the May 28-30 event...

Commerce Energy Group Offers New 'Clear Choice' Clean Energy Plans for Texas, Maryland.
ENERGY RESOURCE-23 January 2007-Commerce Energy Group Offers New 'Clear Choice' Clean Energy Plans for Texas, Maryland(C)2007 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com Commerce Energy Group Inc., a U.S. electricity and natural gas marketing company, today announced new service plans designed to make it "easier and more affordable" for residential and...