Brewed Fresh Daily

Need good happy hour specials for ladies in Cleveland? Check out http://www.ladiesnightcleveland.com (an @alisonedward11 RT)

Over the weekend, I flew to Xi’an, PRC to deal with a problem of corruption. For the past ten years or so, I have been a part of a team of entrepreneurs trying to bring clean mineral water to the people of Xi’an.

We have a small factory about 50 km outside Xi’an. We have a well, about 240 meters deep, that taps into an underground river and delivers very high quality mineral water.

Up until about a year ago, we were the fourth largest mineral water producer in Xi’an with over 3,000 customers and a network of retail shops throughout Xi’an.

Now all of that has been threatened by local corruption.

For the past year, we have been trying to resolve this problem, but matters have only gotten worse. Since the beginning of our venture, we have refused to pay bribes. And that is part of the problem.

Corruption kills economic development, and over the next week I’ll be giving BFD readers an insight into China’s corruption. The picture above shows you the police station in Lantian County that is at the core of an organized ring of corrupt officials.

The station sits around the corner from our factory, which is located in an industrial park in Lantian. This is a rural area about 50 km from the center of Xi’an. To orient you, Lantian County is adjacent to the tourist site of the terra cotta warriors. That’s one county over from here, about a forty minute drive away.

(You might be interested to know that access to my Twitter account is blocked, as I sit in our Xi’an office.)

Retweeting @georgenemeth: FYI Mayor Jackson has called for a special board meeting on W nite @ 6PM, which would preempt @meetthebloggers

RT @EricPurcell: RT @RobYoho: Ohio has 6 cities in the top 50 of money magazines “Best Places to live”! http://bit.ly/hzpkc

RT @EricPurcell: RT @RobYoho: Ohio has 6 cities in the top 50 of money magazines “Best Places to live”! http://bit.ly/hzpkc

Via YoungstownMoxie.

RT @valdiskrebs: Buying jobs in Cuyahoga County… would you pay $20K for a $65K/year county government job? http://is.gd/1IjVV

RT @LESIWC: Gordon Sparks, a sportscaster with the BBC, is here today visiting the Lake Erie Shores & Islands! Welcome http://sn.im/nsius

Professional performing and literary artists who make their home in Cuyahoga County have a new opportunity to further their careers through the second cycle of the Creative Workforce Fellowship (CWF) program.  The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) recently issued CWF 2^nd Cycle guidelines and application materials for dance, literary, music, theatre and interdisciplinary artists. Individuals who meet eligibility requirements can compete for one of up to 20 fellowships. Each CWF recipient will receive a $20,000 financial award; membership in the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) Arts Network; a full tuition waiver for CPAC’s Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute (AEI); and inclusion in a publication of Fellows’ work.

www.cpacbiz.org/business/CWF.shtml.