Finally, the new President of the United States, Trump, was officially sworn in. In the past few weeks, Trump, who has not yet taken office, has become one of the focuses of the world's news media: threatening to seize Greenland and the Panama Canal by force, threatening to annex Canada
Recently, reporters learned from the official website of Shandong University of Finance and Economics that the school has released this year’s recruitment brochure for high-level athletes.
The school attaches great importance to the work of high-level sports teams. It is a general higher education institution approved by the Ministry of Education with the qualification to recruit high-level sports teams. It has relatively complete sports team teaching, training, and competition venues and facilities. It has now formed a standardized and efficient high-level sports team management system, and has repeatedly won good results in international and domestic high-level competitions.
The school’s men’s volleyball team won the championship of the China University Volleyball Super League in 2009, 2010 and 2011; it won the championship of the China University Volleyball Championship in 2010 and 2011;
In 2010, he represented Chinese college students in the volleyball competition of the World University Five-Ball Championship, winning the championship and receiving awards from the Ministry of Education and the Shandong Provincial Department of Education; in 2012, he won the championship of the 9th China University Games; in 2017, he won the championship of the men's volleyball university group of the National University Games.
In addition, the school’s men’s football team won the championship of the 14th Shandong Province University Games in 2018. In addition, table tennis, aerobics, men's basketball and other projects have achieved excellent results in various competitions across the country and the province.
1. Enrollment projects and enrollment plans
1. Enrollment projects: men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball, men’s football (11-a-side), men’s table tennis, women’s table tennis.
2. The total enrollment plan is not to exceed 65 people, including: no more than 6 people for men's volleyball, no more than 6 people for women's volleyball, no more than 11 people for men's football, no more than 21 people for men's table tennis, and no more than 21 people for women's table tennis.
3. The school will determine the final specific enrollment plan for each enrollment province and each enrollment project (position on the field) based on the actual number of candidates applying, their scores, and the school's high-level sports team building needs in accordance with the principle of merit-based admissions and preferring shortage over excess.
2. Registration conditions
Comply with the registration requirements for recruiting high-level sports teams stipulated in the relevant documents of the Ministry of Education, and meet one of the following conditions:
(1) Those who have graduated from senior secondary education schools, obtained national second-level athlete certificates (inclusive) or above, and have been among the top six main players in collective events or the top three in individual events in high school competitions at the provincial level (inclusive) or above;
(2) Those who have the equivalent of senior secondary education graduation and have obtained national first-level athlete certificates (inclusive) or above.
The sports you apply for are consistent with the sports level certificate.
The province (autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government) where the candidate is located organizes a unified test for high-level athletes. Candidates (excluding national first-level athletes and above) must participate in the unified test and pass the test. Candidates from provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) that do not organize a unified test must obtain a certificate for national second-level athletes (inclusive) or above.
Participate in the college entrance examination registration organized by provincial education admissions departments.
3. Registration and preliminary qualification review
1. Fill in the registration form
Candidates must download and fill out the "Shandong University of Finance and Economics 2019 High-Level Athletes Recruitment Form" (click the bottom to read the full text to download), and save it with "name" + "2019 High-Level Registration Form" as the file name (for example: "Li Hua 2019 High-Level Registration Form").
2. Prepare registration materials
Candidates must make the following materials into scanned files and use compression software to create a file, and name the file "name" + "2019 registration materials" (for example: "Li Hua 2019 registration materials").
(1) Scan the front and back of the second-generation ID card on one page;
(2) 2019 Summer College Entrance Examination Registration Information Confirmation Form for General College Admissions;
(3) High school diploma or equivalent academic qualification certificate. Fresh graduates must provide academic qualification certificate issued by the school;
(4) Scanned copy of athlete level certificate (just scan the content page);
(5) Take a screenshot of the public announcement result of your sports skill level from the "Comprehensive Inquiry System for Athletes' Skill Level" of the State Sports General Administration;
(6) Scanned copies of the order book and score book used when applying for athlete grade certificates (only need to scan the cover, catalog and candidate content page);
(7) Scanned copy of the certificate of the best performance in the competition in the past three years.
Incomplete registration materials will not be accepted; if it is indeed impossible to provide the original order book and grade book, copies can be used, but the event organizer must stamp the cover and the position where the candidate's name is reflected; the candidate's registration materials must be clear, true and complete; if the registration materials contain false content or conceal major facts that may have an adverse impact on the candidates, they shall be handled in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Education and the provincial admissions authority.
3. Send the registration form and registration materials
Before March 24, candidates must send the registration form and registration materials as attachments to the school’s admissions email: scd_zsb@163.com.
4. Preliminary review of qualifications
The school will review the information submitted by the candidates. The sports items in the athlete technical level certificate held by the candidates should be consistent with the sports items applied for in our school. Candidates' sports technical levels are verified strictly in accordance with the "Comprehensive Inquiry System for Athletes' Technical Levels" of the State Sports General Administration. Candidates who cannot be queried through the "Comprehensive Inquiry System for Athletes' Technical Levels" will be disqualified from participating in our school's 2019 high-level athlete selection. The review results will be announced through the Shandong University of Finance and Economics Undergraduate Admissions Information Network before March 27.
4. On-site confirmation and qualification review
Candidates who pass the preliminary review will go to the office of the School of Physical Education at Shungeng Campus of Shandong University of Finance and Economics (No. 40 Shungeng Road, Jinan City) from 9:00 to 17:00 on March 29 for on-site confirmation and qualification review. Candidates who pass the examination will sign the "Anti-Doping Commitment Letter for High-Level Sports Team Candidates" and pay a testing fee of 120 yuan according to the relevant charging standards of Shandong Province. Candidates who fail to conduct on-site confirmation within the time limit, refuse to sign a commitment letter, or refuse to undergo dope testing will be deemed to have voluntarily given up their qualifications for the exam.
Materials required for on-site confirmation:
1． "Shandong University of Finance and Economics 2019 High-level Athletes Enrollment Form" signed by the school where the recommendation is made and stamped with the official seal of the photo;
2. Original athlete level certificate;
3. Original sports performance certificates of the past three years, original participation order books, and score books;
4. Original second-generation ID card of the candidate;
5. Original copy of the registration information confirmation form for the 2019 Summer College Entrance Examination for General College Admissions.
5. Sports-specific tests
1. Testing time: Starting from March 30, 2019 (the specific testing time of each project will be notified when on-site confirmation)
2. Test location: Shandong University of Finance and Economics Shungeng Campus Gymnasium and Stadium
3. Test content and methods:
(1) Men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball
The content of the main attack, secondary attack, and support tests are: competition, spiking, and high touch;
The content of the second pass test is: competition, passing, and touching height;
The content of the free man test is: competition, first pass, and 6*6 meter movement.
(2) Men’s football
Goalkeeper test content: competition, goalkeeper-specific skills, 50-meter run;
Test content for other team members: competition, curved shot, and 50-meter run.
(3) Men’s table tennis, women’s table tennis
The competition is divided into two categories: single examination group and unified examination group. Candidates at the national first-level sports level and above can choose either group, but not both; national second-level athletes can only choose the unified examination group.
Ranking method for special test scores: For the total scores of volleyball and football professional tests, competition accounts for 50%, and other items each account for 25%. Candidates who participate in the test are ranked according to the total score from high to low according to the different items and positions on the field. Table tennis rankings are determined from high to low in individual examination groups and unified examination groups based on competition results.
4． Candidates who participate in our school's high-level sports team tests must purchase personal accident insurance in advance. The original policy must be presented during on-site confirmation. Those who have not purchased personal accident insurance will be disqualified from participating in the test.
6. Cultural examination
1. Candidates who sign up for high-level athlete recruitment generally need to take the National Unified College Entrance Examination (summer).
2. Candidates who are national first-level athletes and above can take the cultural independent examination organized by the State Sports General Administration. Candidates who take the separate cultural examination must register for the examination through the "China Sports Culture Education Network" or the "Sports Education Alliance" mobile APP. Those who fail to register and pay the examination fee will be deemed to have given up their qualifications and will not be able to take the cultural examination. The culture separate examination will be held from April 20 to 21, 2019.
7. Admission Principles
The school determines the qualified list based on the candidates' sports special test scores and the school's high-level sports team building needs, and publishes it through the school's undergraduate admissions information network and the Ministry of Education's Sunshine College Entrance Examination Information Platform.
1. If the national first-level and above athlete candidates take the cultural independent examination organized by the State Sports General Administration and reach the school's passing line, the list of candidates to be admitted will be determined from high to low according to the school's sports special test scores and position in each field. The total number of people to be admitted shall not exceed 20% of the school's high-level athlete enrollment plan. The admission procedures will be publicized in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Ministry of Education. After publicity, the admission procedures will be processed.
2. For high-level athletes who have participated in the national unified admissions examination for general colleges and universities and passed the school's special sports test, and who have reached the corresponding admission discount score for cultural courses after the college entrance examination and applied for our school as their first choice, our school will handle the admission procedures in accordance with relevant regulations after the candidates are registered in the province where the students are from. The preferential points for admission to cultural courses are divided into 2 levels:
Category I: Reach 65% of the admission control score for the first batch of liberal arts and science undergraduates (or the second batch of undergraduates) set by the province of origin. The number of such candidates shall not exceed 30% of the school's high-level athlete recruitment plan.
Category II: Meet the admission score for ordinary high-level athletes in the province of origin, generally not lower than the admission control score for the first batch of liberal arts and science undergraduates or the second batch of undergraduates set by the province of origin.
other
1. Candidates who participate in the high-level athlete test should register for the summer college entrance examination organized by the provincial education and admissions departments as required and obtain a candidate number. Candidates are solely responsible for any registration issues that may affect their exams and admissions.
2. Once the school discovers and verifies candidates who are found to have cheated in special sports tests or individual culture exams, as well as candidates who have provided false materials to obtain high-level athlete qualifications, their registration or admission qualifications for that year will be canceled and reported to the Provincial Education Admissions Examination Authority, which will record the cheating facts in the candidates’ college entrance examination integrity electronic files; those who have been admitted to the school will have their student status revoked.
3. After the newly admitted high-level athletes enter the school, the school will conduct a comprehensive review within three months and organize a special sports re-examination. If it is found that the admission conditions do not meet the admission conditions stipulated by the state, violate the admissions regulations, or commit fraud, their admission qualifications will be cancelled, and the source middle school or unit and the provincial education admissions examination bureau will be notified.
4. The Admissions Office of Shandong University of Finance and Economics is the school’s specially established general college entrance examination admissions agency. The school does not entrust any other organization or individual to handle matters related to the admissions of high-level sports teams. The school reserves the right to pursue responsibilities in accordance with the law for institutions or individuals who carry out illegal enrollment activities under the guise of the name of Shandong University of Finance and Economics. The school will not be held responsible for any consequences caused by candidates and parents credulously trusting the promises of other personnel.
5. The school's high-level sports team recruitment follows the principles of "fair competition, fair selection, openness and transparency, and merit-based admissions" and is subject to supervision by disciplinary inspection and supervision departments, candidates and parents, news media and all walks of life. Report hotline: 0531-88596235.
6. Admissions contact information
Admissions Office consultation hotline: 0531-81793666 Fax: 0531-81793555
Admissions special website:
http://zhaosheng.sdufe.edu.cn/
Sports College: 0531-82911131
(Qilu Evening News·Qilu One Point reporter Feng Peiran)
Finally, the new President of the United States, Trump, was officially sworn in.
In the past few weeks, Trump, who has not yet taken office, has become one of the focuses of the world's news media: threatening to seize Greenland and the Panama Canal by force, threatening to annex Canada, playing a perfect "block-and-rescue" double act with TikTok, and what is even more surprising is that on the eve of taking office, the new US president and his wife successively issued cryptocurrency in their own names.
Before the last news focus has passed, Trump has already launched the next sensational focus. As Steve Bannon, his adviser during his first presidential term, said, as long as you are covered in flaws, others (the news media) will not be able to catch your flaws. (Bannon’s original words are: The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.)
As early as the 2024 election, Trump frequently expressed his attitude towards the cryptocurrency field and "showed goodwill" to the currency circle, raising the expectations of virtual cryptocurrency investors for him.
For example, at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July 2024, Trump made a series of eye-catching promises:
Let the United States become the first country to list Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, allowing the federal government to retain the approximately 210,000 Bitcoins currently held; fire the current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who is considered hostile to the cryptocurrency industry; establish a Presidential Advisory Committee on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency, which will formulate U.S. cryptocurrency policy; encourage power plants to strengthen power supply for Bitcoin mining, and explore synergies between the encryption industry and the electric vehicle industry; etc.
A month later, on August 29, 2024, he said in a video: "This afternoon, I will announce my plan to ensure that the United States becomes the global capital of cryptocurrency."
At 21:00 local time on January 17, 2025, Trump announced on social media that he would release his own cryptocurrency $TRUMP (Trump Meme) on the Solana blockchain. According to public information, the number of $TRUMP tokens currently issued is 200 million, and an additional 800 million are planned to be issued in the next three years; 80% of the supply of this token is held by an entity called "Fight Fight Fight" jointly owned by Trump's company CIC Digital and CIC.
It is said that when Trump issued the currency this time, he was holding a reception party for cryptocurrency investors. With the help of this "right time and right place", the price of Trump's meme currency quickly skyrocketed dozens of times, causing his paper wealth to suddenly rise to the top of the world's richest list. Immediately afterwards, Trump’s wife Melania also issued her own official cryptocurrency $MELANIA, and there was even news that his youngest son also issued his own cryptocurrency.
According to bitcion.com News on the 20th, on January 20th, the value of Melania’s meme currency increased by nearly 40% in 24 hours. Data from Coingecko shows that the meme coin peaked at more than $13 before falling to about $10.60; trading volume surged from $1.33 billion on the 19th to $6.6 billion on the 20th. With a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, it ranks among the top 100 crypto assets.
In comparison, the Trump meme coin $TRUMP fell by more than 17% before his inauguration. However, its trading volume exceeded $47 billion, making it one of the most traded crypto assets on the 20th. On the same day, Trump Meme Coin broke into the top 20 crypto assets with a market capitalization of $11.1 billion.
The market capitalization and trading volume of Trump Meme Coin and Melania Meme Coin as of this writing. Digital currency trading platform Coinmarketcap
Although the author has analyzed Trump's possible preferential policies for the cryptocurrency industry, the act of a family personally issuing cryptocurrency is indeed beyond our poor imagination.
In particular, Trump had not officially taken office as president at the time of the issuance, and the domestic regulations on civil servants in the United States are likely not to apply to him; and other laws and regulations are not clear about the issuance of cryptocurrency by politicians who do not hold official positions. There is a high probability that Trump will successfully exploit the loopholes this time. Of course, Trump will basically control the legislative process in the United States in the next four years, and the share of cryptocurrency he controls (80%) can reportedly be unfrozen and sold in batches within three years. This timing design is probably not a coincidence.
So, what do Americans think of Trump issuing a personal cryptocurrency?
His opponents are naturally angry. On reddit forums on the left side of the political spectrum, comments such as "corruption", "fraud" and "cutting leeks" are everywhere. On the "True Social" social media platform where Trump supporters gather, in the comments under relevant posts, some supporters wanted to buy cryptocurrencies but were unable to do so due to various reasons. Some people lost money on Trump's social media company stocks and hoped that he could shift some of his attention to the stock prices of his social media companies.
On other Internet platforms (including the Chinese Internet), it is easy to search for various posts and screenshots about people who bought Trump’s personal cryptocurrency as soon as the market opened and became rich instantly. Coupled with the algorithm push mechanism of today’s platforms, it is easy for people to have a kind of anxiety that “the whole world has become rich, and I am the only one left behind.” A friend of the author also wanted to try to buy a few Trump meme coins over the weekend out of the mentality of being an internet celebrity. However, perhaps due to technical reasons, he was unable to complete the transaction. He could only miss out on the legendary overnight wealth.
But if we put aside speculative gossip such as the price fluctuations of Trump’s personal cryptocurrency, the Trump family’s issuance of cryptocurrency has indeed given cryptocurrency investors a clear signal of encouragement: In return for their election votes, many investors hope that Trump will give a green light to cryptocurrency in terms of U.S. laws and regulations soon after taking office, such as relaxing legal and regulatory restrictions on financial institutions’ purchase and holding of cryptocurrency, etc., to create greater investment market demand for cryptocurrency.
To some extent, the Trump phenomenon is a concrete manifestation of the confrontation between "new money" and "old money" in the United States. Just as the author once wrote an article analyzing U.S. government fiscal spending and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the "new money" in the United States will not only challenge the market share of traditional military industry "old money" in defense spending, but the cryptocurrency industry and financial technology companies will also challenge the control of U.S. dollar assets by traditional large banks and investment banks.
This battle between “new money” and “old money” will not be decided just because Trump is elected. On the contrary, everyone's brutal competition for "cake distribution" has just begun with Trump taking office. Trump’s issuance of a personal cryptocurrency was the first time that he took a big piece of the cake and put it into his own bowl. I am afraid it also set a clear “example” for many future American politicians and officials within his government.
U.S. President Trump posted a message on social media on the evening of the 13th, saying that the U.S. military had launched a "violent air strike" on military targets on Khark Island, Iran's oil export hub.
In a telephone interview with a reporter from Fox News Channel on the 13th, U.S. President Trump said that the U.S. military will launch a "violent air strike" on Iran next week. He declined to discuss whether the United States was seeking to seize the Iranian oil export hub of Khark Island.
In the interview, Trump once again emphasized that Iran's military power has suffered serious losses, saying that it will take years to rebuild. He said that the US military is currently focusing on destroying Iranian missiles and drones and is destroying Iranian drone manufacturing factories.
Trump also said that the United States does not need Ukraine’s anti-drone technology help in defending against Iranian drones.
According to a recent disclosure by the American Axios news website, as the military operation against Iran continues, the United States is considering seizing Iran's Khark Island. The island, located in the Persian Gulf, is Iran's largest crude oil export base and is responsible for processing 90% of Iran's oil exports. In an interview with Fox on the 13th, Trump refused to answer relevant questions.
U.S. President Trump said when talking about the U.S. Navy providing escort for oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, "It will happen very soon."
Trump also said that the United States and Israel may have slightly different goals in Iran and that "the war will continue as long as necessary."
U.S. officials say the United States is sending more Marines and warships to the Middle East
According to information disclosed by U.S. officials on the 13th local time, as Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon is dispatching more Marine Corps troops and warships to the Middle East.
Three U.S. officials disclosed that Defense Secretary Hegseth has approved a request from U.S. Central Command to dispatch an amphibious ready group and its attached Marine expeditionary force. The force usually consists of several warships and 5,000 Marines.
It is reported that the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship stationed in Japan and its marines are heading to the Middle East. It is unclear whether this is part of the additional troop deployment mentioned above.
These officials also said that the US Marine Corps has previously provided support in military operations against Iran.
Boeing has been awarded a $289 million contract to supply up to 5,000 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB I) to Israel through a Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) agreement. Under the contract, deliveries are expected to begin in about 36 months, reflecting the current production schedule for the precision-guided munition, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the deal.
The agreement provides new insights into the current unit price, production capabilities and international demand for the GBU-39/B platform, a widely used precision glide bomb designed for high-precision strikes and reduced collateral damage.
Contract Structure and Pricing
Unlike traditional U.S. government Foreign Military Sales (FMS), the deal is executed as a direct commercial sale between Boeing and Israel, allowing the manufacturer to negotiate directly with the customer.
According to the agreement, the unit price negotiated by Israel was approximately US$57,800 per bomb, and the total order value for 5,000 weapons was approximately US$289 million. The negotiated price was lower than the Air Force's estimated acquisition cost of approximately $67,000, illustrating the potential pricing differences between domestic procurement programs and direct commercial agreements.
The 36-month lead time associated with the Israeli order is broadly consistent with the Air Force's current procurement timeline for the system.
GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb Overview
The GBU-39/B, also known as the Small Diameter Bomb Increment I (SDB I), is a 250-pound precision-guided glide bomb designed to provide long-range strike capabilities while enabling the aircraft to carry more munitions per sortie.
The weapon uses Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance combined with an Inertial Navigation System (INS) to maintain accuracy during flight. Its design enables the aircraft to engage targets at a distance of more than 70 kilometers, depending on the release altitude and speed.
One of the system's key features is compatibility with the BRU-61/A pylon, which allows four SDBs to be installed in the space originally occupied by a 2,000-pound bomb. This configuration significantly increases the number of targets the aircraft can attack on a single mission.
The munition is designed for day and night all-weather operations and uses a low-yield penetrating warhead designed to limit collateral damage compared to larger conventional bombs.
Integration with Israeli aircraft
Israel has previously integrated the GBU-39/B onto several aircraft in its inventory. The munition is known to be compatible with Israeli Air Force F-15I, F-16I and F-35I fighter jets and is capable of precision strike missions against a wide range of targets.
The purchase represents at least the third confirmed Israeli purchase of the weapons system. Foreign military sales approved in 2008 included 1,000, with additional quantities delivered through U.S. military assistance programs in subsequent years.
The newly reported contract is separate from other recent U.S. military assistance or foreign military sales notifications involving other munitions.
Production Capacity and Manufacturing Expansion
The GBU-39/B production line has historically been sustained by international orders and foreign military sales, which has helped maintain continued manufacturing even during periods of lower internal U.S. procurement.
Prior to the recent increase in demand, the production line operated at a minimum sustainment rate (MSR) of approximately 750 bombs per year.
Boeing is now increasing production to at least 2,500 bombs per year to meet growing orders from the United States and international partners.
Despite the increase, the production rate of 2,500 pieces represents only about 25% of the production line's total capacity, indicating that there is still room for significant further expansion if future demand requires it.
U.S. Air Force Procurement Project
The recent surge in demand for small-diameter bombs is closely tied to large U.S. Air Force procurement programs.
In September 2024, the Air Force awarded Lot 20, a 10-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract worth $6.9 billion covering the production and maintenance of SDB munitions.
While the contract was initially structured to exclude foreign participation, subsequent delivery orders incorporated Foreign Military Sales quotas for Bulgaria, Japan and Ukraine.
The Lot 21 production award, expected to be finalized in March 2026, is expected to include a 12-month lead time for initial deliveries to U.S. forces.
Industry tracking suggests that Lot 21 may also include thousands of additional bombs for international customers, possibly including Canada, Norway and South Korea.
Global use and purchasing
The GBU-39/B has been adopted by an increasing number of allied air forces as part of precision strike modernization programs.
In addition to the United States and Israel, operating countries or procurement partners include Saudi Arabia, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and several NATO countries.
According to USAF program documents, total U.S. procurement volume for the SDB I Series program has historically exceeded 24,000 units, with continued support, modernization and international sales supporting the program.
delivery schedule
Specific details regarding delivery schedules, integration support or additional equipment related to the Israeli procurement have not been publicly disclosed.
The agreement's 36-month lead time reflects current production backlogs as Boeing expands production to meet growing demand from U.S. military programs and international customers.
The contract is separate from ongoing military operations or other U.S. support programs, according to people familiar with the deal.
What is BRC
BRC is the abbreviation of British Retail Consortium. BRC has specially developed a set of quality system audit standards for food suppliers. This set of standards includes assessment requirements for food suppliers' quality, safety and hygiene assurance capabilities. BRC's audit standards have been widely recognized by European food retailers, and are used by many European food retailers and purchasing groups as a threshold for supplier access. Therefore, passing the BRC audit has become an important condition for food manufacturers to sell their products into the European market. Since the BRC system was proposed in the 1990s, it has been continuously revised and improved and has now reached its seventh edition.
The BRC food safety system is also making great strides internationally. The International Confederation of Food Retailers (CIES), which has more than 200 supermarket groups around the world as members, launched GFSI - the "Global Food Safety Action Plan" last year. GFSI has recognized BRC as the standard recommended by the organization to its members. This certification, like the securities industry, evaluates the company's food safety and quality management system and determines the grade. For food companies, according to the inspection list, the number of problems found is determined, and the grade is obtained. Currently, there are grades of AA, A, B, C, and D.
BRC FOOD standard advantages
1. Standard operability, 2. Reasonable factory rating system, 3. Giving consumers confidence.
Encouraging enterprises to participate in surprise inspections "unannounced inspections" is a strong guarantee for testing the operational quality of an enterprise's food safety system. As human beings, we all have the root of laziness. We usually don’t work hard and just improvise. The same is true for companies' external inspections, which are usually relatively lax. Paying attention to hygiene before the inspection is back to Chairman Mao's famous saying: "It is easy for a person to do good deeds once in a while, but it is difficult to do good deeds all his life." Foreigners use the power of external inspection to solve this kind of inertia. You don’t know when you will be inspected, so you can only perform according to the standards honestly every day. However, as long as the factory can handle the surprise inspection, it generally has hard power in implementing standards, and in turn will convey confidence in its product safety to the outside world and win greater trust.
So, what does the factory produce? How many nonconformities are there and the factory is compliant? How to read a BRC report and learn information about a company thousands of miles away? Let's start with how to read the BRC report. The BRC report is divided into 3 parts:
1. Basic information of the factory This part
Just like a company's credit report, because it reflects the basic situation of the company at a specific point in time: name, address, contact person, production scope, company profile, audit level, etc., it tells you the framework and foundation of the company's food safety and quality management system. For this part of the content, the following three points should be noted:
First of all, we are concerned about the scope of factory certification and the level audit mode. Generally speaking, primary agricultural products require further processing and are less risky; ready-to-eat products are easy to spoil and are more risky. Of course, the higher the level, the better, that is, A is better than B, and surprise inspections are better than regular inspections.
Secondly, when did this company start to certify BRC food? Generally speaking, old companies are struggling in the market economy, and they always have some foundations in quality. Small companies have just grown up, and all aspects of regulations are imperfect. If the company written on the report has started BRC certification for a long time, such as more than three times, the product quality of this company is still guaranteed; if it is a new company and has just started certification, we cannot unilaterally think that the product quality of this company is not good. The specific content depends on the content at the end of the report, but in general, companies that have certified BRC for many years will be able to directly convey the reliability of some product quality than newly certified companies.
Finally, to see who the auditor is, consumers can request relevant information from the certification agency. Young auditors who have just started auditing are not so flexible in their grasp of standards. Although these auditors have experienced strict training and inspections by the BRC organization and audit institutions, they still have a long way to go. They need a period of tempering in product knowledge and factory categories. How to treat the reports of old auditors and new auditors? I have a mantra: There are old auditors and bold auditors at work, but there are no bold old auditors. For new auditors, the audit agency will have a strict control process. When consumers get the report written by the new auditor, they should trust him as a reference. However, it is still recommended that customers read their reports more. After all, no matter how strict the control is, there will inevitably be flaws. For experienced auditors, because they have seen many factories and written many reports, their risk assessment of factory products is more in line with the actual situation. Generally, they do not need to spend too much energy to read the reports they write, and just pay more attention to the results.
2. Check the non-conformities and their rectification status
This section tells us that the company issued several non-conformities regarding on-site documents, records, hardware, and personal hygiene within two days of the audit. The content in this section is not a snapshot of a precise point in time like the basic information about the factory. It reflects on-site findings during an audit period. For example, you are at a crime scene and notice someone stealing something. But in court, there is no physical evidence, only the testimony of witnesses. Of course, if you use your mobile phone to film the process of stealing something, you will have physical evidence. However, there is a due diligence requirement for reviewing this work, and you must keep the client confidential. Therefore, taking photos is not normally allowed during the audit process, so the auditor needs to be accompanied by someone during the audit process.
How to deal with these non-conformities? Some non-conformities are independent of the system, such as "senior management did not sign the quality manual", such as "the factory did not conduct a supplier traceability system investigation", etc. Although these non-conformities may be more problematic, they are an independent action and have little correlation with other content in the system. For these non-compliance items, readers can regard them as a point with little serial connection in the system. Its occurrence has little impact on other aspects of the system and does not have the upper-lower connection of the "iceberg model". However, some non-conformance items are systemic, such as "rat poop was found." This non-conformance item looks like a point, but it is actually a failure of the pest control system. If rat poop is found, it means that the control measures have not achieved results, which further shows that the limited analysis of the pest system does not meet the requirements. This further infers that the entire factory has insufficient training and insufficient attention to pest control, and then deduces whether other pest control measures have similar problems? More attention should be paid to such systematic non-conformities.
3. Detailed checklist section
TA records all aspects of the company's food safety and quality management system in detail, including the good and bad parts. The checklist ties the contents of Parts 1 and 2 together.
What are the basic contents of BRC’s audit standards?
1. Management commitment 2. HACCP system 3. Quality management system 4. Factory environmental standards 5. Product control 6. Process control 7. Personnel management and others.
This part is the bulk of the entire report and the most error-prone part. Due to the imperfect information recorded by the auditor during the pre- and post-inspection process, which we also call "audit bias", inconsistencies may occur. If readers read this part after getting this report, it is recommended that they read it in the order of the report, but what should they focus on? Pay attention to information such as time, numbers, frequency, etc. This information is the most prone to errors. If these areas are completely consistent and the derivation is consistent, this report will be an excellent report. But generally speaking, for companies, products from old and big brands are safer. Of course, a good audit report does not necessarily mean that the company produces good products, but learning to read the BRC FOOD audit report will make you more confident in a certain brand of food, such as milk and bread.
After Trump won the election, the cryptocurrency market experienced a wave of strong growth.
Different from the Biden administration's suppression of crypto assets, Trump frequently expressed his support during the campaign in favor of listing Bitcoin as a U.S. strategic reserve asset and vowed to make the United States a "cryptocurrency capital."
Trump's election has ignited speculation in the entire cryptocurrency market. How will his second term affect the development of the cryptocurrency industry? How long can the currency circle’s “Trump carnival” last?
Currency frenzy
At the end of November, Bitcoin once reached a high of $99,000, setting a new historical record. As of December 3, the price of Bitcoin remained at around US$95,000, an increase of 116% during the year, with a total market value of approximately US$2 trillion, once again surpassing silver and becoming the eighth largest asset in the world.
Ethereum is the largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Ethereum prices have risen significantly since Trump’s victory, outperforming even Bitcoin, but have yet to reach new highs. Currently, Ethereum is trading around $3,750.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, in the past November, the monthly net inflows of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs both hit records, reaching US$6.5 billion and US$1.1 billion respectively. Last Friday (November 29), the subscription volume of the Ethereum ETF also hit a single-day record high.
Not only did Bitcoin and Ethereum perform brilliantly, but the entire cryptocurrency market related to them also ushered in a wave of enthusiasm. The market value of Ripple has increased significantly from less than US$30 billion in early November to more than US$137 billion, becoming the third largest cryptocurrency; Dogecoin, supported by Trump ally Elon Musk, has soared by more than 150%.
Data from CoinGecko shows that since Trump won the election, the cryptocurrency market value has increased by approximately $1.2 trillion and has now exceeded the $3.2 trillion mark.
“There is a trend in the cryptocurrency market: initially the price of Bitcoin rises, but other tokens will also rise.” Caroline Bowler, CEO of digital asset exchange BTC Markets, said that based on the inflow of investor funds into digital asset exchanges, cryptocurrency trading activities have not yet peaked.
Government endorsement?
The craze in the currency circle in the past month is inseparable from Trump's positive stance on cryptocurrencies during the campaign and his own involvement in cryptocurrency trading.
At the end of September, Trump and his three sons announced their latest entrepreneurial project, World Liberty Financial. The new venture, dubbed a decentralized finance (DeFi) money market platform, has launched a proprietary cryptocurrency called WLFI.
However, Trump’s rapid expansion into the cryptocurrency field has raised concerns about conflicts of interest. Forbes pointed out that as a presidential candidate, Trump’s behavior of launching a personal encryption platform may be inconsistent with his policy-making responsibilities. In addition, WLFI’s governance tokens (note: governance tokens give holders voting rights for issues governing the development and operation of blockchain projects) are only open to qualified investors with net assets exceeding US$1 million or annual income exceeding US$200,000, which runs counter to the original intention of Bitcoin’s equality.
Trump was once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, but during this year's campaign he embraced cryptocurrencies, a shift largely driven by massive political donations from the cryptocurrency industry and sustained lobbying by industry figures.
Data from the U.S. Federal Election Commission shows that cryptocurrency industry-related political action committees (PACs) and other organizations supporting the industry raised more than $245 million in the 2024 election. Cryptocurrencies accounted for nearly half of all election funding, and no other industry came close, according to a report by nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen.
The cryptocurrency industry’s financial investment goes beyond simple donations and has helped shape the most crypto-friendly Congress in U.S. history. According to the latest tracking by the Stand With Crypto Alliance, nearly 300 pro-cryptocurrency lawmakers will take office in the House and Senate.
Trump has promised on multiple occasions that if he is re-elected as president, he will wholeheartedly embrace cryptocurrency and plans to build the United States into a "bitcoin superpower" and the "global cryptocurrency capital." He even boldly proposed that the US’s rising US$34 trillion national debt could be reduced through Bitcoin. At a campaign rally, Trump half-jokingly said: “We’ll solve our debt problem by giving them a little bit of Bitcoin.”
In July this year, Trump delivered a speech at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference, the largest annual conference in the cryptocurrency industry, saying that he would list Bitcoin as a U.S. strategic reserve asset by using the Bitcoin currently held by the government to build this reserve plan. The estimated number of these Bitcoins is about 200,000, with a value of about $18 billion, most of which were seized in the fight against criminal activity.
Senator Cynthia Ramis has been a major supporter of the plan. She introduced the Bitcoin Act in July this year, proposing the establishment of a decentralized Bitcoin vault network managed by the U.S. Treasury Department. The bill outlines the government’s plan to acquire up to 200,000 Bitcoins per year over the next five years, with the cumulative total expected to reach 1 million Bitcoins, accounting for approximately 5% of the total Bitcoin supply.
Arash Aloushe, assistant professor of finance and fintech at Dublin City University in Ireland, said, "The concept of a 'strategic Bitcoin reserve' in the United States is groundbreaking, but under current conditions, it is extremely unlikely to become a reality. The establishment of such a reserve means that the US government officially supports Bitcoin, may put public funds into Bitcoin, and recognize it as a national asset, which is inconsistent with the government's cautious stance on cryptocurrencies to date."
Regulatory changes
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that Trump’s return to the White House means that cryptocurrency will enter a new era with fewer government regulatory obstacles.
Trump plans to nominate a number of pro-cryptocurrency officials to financial regulators and has promised to fire U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, who has always had a strict regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies.
The SEC is one of the major regulatory agencies in the U.S. cryptocurrency field. During Gensler's tenure, the SEC tightened its attitude towards the encryption industry and launched a series of high-profile lawsuits against cryptocurrency-related companies. 2023 is the climax year of SEC enforcement actions. Data shows that in fiscal year 2023, the SEC filed a total of 784 enforcement actions and prosecuted multiple unregistered crypto asset issuances, platforms and intermediaries.
Gensler believes that most cryptocurrencies are securities and has sought to enforce compliance through enforcement actions. He has also directly pointed out in public many times that cryptocurrency is "riddled with fraud, scams, bankruptcies and money laundering."
Last month, Gensler announced that he would step down on Trump's inauguration day, January 20 next year. His term was originally set to end in June 2026.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the next U.S. SEC chairman is likely to provide favorable solutions for cryptocurrency exchanges. Lawyers seen as Gensler's successors have emerged as critics of Gensler's lawsuit.
One potential candidate, former US SEC chief counsel Robert Stebbins, said the SEC should suspend most cryptocurrency lawsuits while clearing a path for companies to do business without the burden of litigation. Stebbins said, "As long as there are no fraudulent claims involved, the SEC will likely drop these cases in the future."
On December 2, CNBC reported that Coinbase’s senior policy director expected that once Trump becomes president, the U.S. Congress will quickly pass regulatory legislation on the cryptocurrency industry.
Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said that Trump has previously clearly supported cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the Republicans also gained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which should make the process of Congressional approval of cryptocurrency-related laws smoother.
“We have the most pro-crypto Congress in history and a very pro-crypto president coming in,” Shirzad said. “This combination should finally allow the 50 million Americans who own cryptocurrencies to have their interests and voice heard in policy.”
Currently, the U.S. Congress is considering passing two key pieces of cryptocurrency-related legislation. One is the Republican-sponsored "21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act", which aims to establish a legal framework for digital assets and was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year; the other is the "Payment Stablecoin Clarity Act", which aims to establish a regulatory system to provide licenses to issuers of stablecoins (tokens linked to the value of fiat currencies such as the US dollar). It has not yet passed the House of Representatives.
In addition, the Trump team is also considering whether to create a new position in the White House dedicated to cryptocurrency policy. The holder of this position will lead a small team and serve as a liaison between Congress, the White House and various cryptocurrency regulatory agencies.
Be alert to risks
The cryptocurrency industry has seen huge price fluctuations in recent years. At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the price of Bitcoin was just over $5,000. Less than two years later, climbing to nearly $69,000 in November 2021, Bitcoin prices plummeted amid a subsequent series of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation. In 2022, the world's famous cryptocurrency exchange FTX encountered a liquidity crisis and eventually collapsed, seriously weakening investors' overall confidence in cryptocurrency.
Since the beginning of this year, Bitcoin has surged by more than 100%, but violent fluctuations in the short term have once again exposed the fragility and high risks of the cryptocurrency market. From the evening of November 25th to the early morning of November 26th, the price of Bitcoin experienced violent fluctuations, rising to around US$99,000 and then suddenly plummeting. In just a few hours, the price dropped by more than 6%, falling below US$93,000, causing more than 170,000 people to liquidate their positions, with the total liquidation amount reaching US$547 million. Other cryptocurrencies also experienced varying degrees of decline. Among them, Dogecoin, Adacoin, etc. all fell by more than 9%.
Susannah Streeter, head of funds and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said recently: "Investors should only get involved in cryptocurrencies with funds that they are prepared to lose, because we have seen such violent fluctuations in the past."
Vanessa Lyon of the Boston Consulting Group said: "While Trump's support may bring short-term benefits, improper regulation may lead to greater market risks."
GoUpSec analyst FunnyG believes that as the price of Bitcoin continues to hit new highs, the number of cybercriminal activities closely related to the cryptocurrency market and the scale of losses caused will increase significantly. In recent years, cryptocurrencies have gradually become a core tool for cybercrime, used in activities such as money laundering, ransomware payments, and cyber and telecommunications fraud. According to the latest report from Chainalysis, the amount of illegal transactions related to cryptocurrency has exceeded 20 billion US dollars in 2023, setting a record high. It can be said that the “cybercrime bull market” of cryptocurrency has already started before the market.
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