Cannabis firm sues shipper
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Regulating power prices
Iran fires at attack drones 
World's largest election 
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Mostly, they like the sound it makes when they destroy it, piece by piece, which largely explains the appeal of Bubble Wrap, the stress reducer disguised as package cushioning that maintains an inexplicable hold on pop culture.
The product once envisioned as a new type of wallpaper turns 50 this month, and enthusiasts' obsession with it has spawned more than 250 Facebook pages devoted to Bubble Wrap.
Like many innovations, Bubble Wrap was conceived for an entirely different purpose. A New York City designer approached inventors Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding in the late 1950s with a proposal for creating textured wallpaper.
That idea stalled, but the product the two men had created in a small lab in New Jersey found its niche when, according to company lore, Fielding was flying into Newark Airport and noticed the fluffy clouds that seemed to cushion the plane's descent.
Fifty years later, Sealed Air has global revenues of more than $4 billion and legions of fans who have come up with myriad uses for Bubble Wrap (It's a wig! It's a mobile home! It's a sleeping bag! It's a flotation device!).
It seems like every day there's something new. Two apparently disparate forces conspired to shape Bubble Wrap's growth: the advent of the transistor — and later the personal computer with all its accessories — which made the shipping of delicate electronic components a multi-billion-dollar industry and the Internet, which provided a forum for fanatics to swap stories and cement Bubble Wrap as a cultural icon.
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Aquilini Investment Group’s unparalleled reputation is built on a long-time legacy of success and involvement throughout Vancouver. Respected for their commitment to growing neighbourhoods like King Edward Village and developing other premier presale Vancouver condominium residences, Aquilini Investment Group’s involvement in the community extends beyond development. As owners of the Vancouver Canucks, and an Official Sponsor of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Aquilini Investment Group has a deep stake in the well being of British Columbia.
The Team: The Aquilini Investment Group has brought together the industry’s best, providing Aquilini Development with over a century’s worth of experience. David Negrin, well known locally, has 31 years of real estate development and construction experience and is the former president of the Urban Development Institute of BC.
Most people know the family as the owners of the Vancouver Canucks and GM Place. They have a project for Kelowna’s downtown “24 Kelowna Condos”: At 24-storeys, Kelowna’s newest high-rise will certainly leave its mark with 201 homes gracing the skyline at Bernard and Pandosy. Modern finishing, large outdoor spaces and air conditioning will make 24 one of Kelowna’s most desirable real estate developments.
The team and stadium are a small part of the diverse business empire estimated to be worth billions of dollars that’s owned by Francesco Aquilini and his family.
Francessco Aquilini, his younger brothers Roberto and Paolo and his father Luigi own equal stakes in Aquilini Investment Group, but Francesco, as managing director, is the company’s public face.
The company also owns:
Pizza Hut expansion has also continued apace. Aquilini Investment Group has owned the B.C. rights to develop that Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE:YUM) pizza chain for about five years, and Aquilini expects to add about three new Pizza Hut restaurants per year for the foreseeable future.
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Half of Canadians (54 per cent) expect their pensions - whether a pension from an employer (29 per cent) or a government pension (25 per cent) - to be the single, largest source of income in retirement, followed by income from their investments (18 per cent), according to the 20th Annual RBC RRSP Poll. Yet, one-in-five (19 per cent) do not know what kind of pension plan they have.
Canadians expect part-time or occasional work (26 per cent) and income from their own investments (24 per cent) to be supplementary sources of income during retirement. Thirty per cent of Canadians aged 35-54 expect to be working in retirement, suggesting the concept of a traditional retirement is disappearing.
“It’s important for Canadians to understand and be aware of all available retirement income sources in order to make informed decisions about financing their retirement,” said Lee Anne Davies, head, Retirement Strategies, RBC Royal Bank. “Having a financial plan ensures you are not relying too much on any particular source of income and are aware of all of your options.”
Having enough money for a comfortable retirement (68 per cent) is the most important consideration in deciding when to retire. However, half of Canadians (53 per cent) who have established financial goals feel they are somewhat short or nowhere close to where they think they should be to ensure a comfortable retirement, up from 36 per cent in 2007.
On average, retirees have a goal of nearly $270,000 as the amount of money required for a comfortable retirement, down from nearly $450,000 in 2007. People not yet retired think they will need nearly two and half times that amount, or almost $660,000, down from almost $900,000 in 2007.
These are some of the findings from the RBC 20th Annual RBC Poll conducted by Ipsos Reid between For this survey, a national sample of 1,457 adults from Ipsos’ Canadian online panel were interviewed online.
