#all those amazon boxes made into protest signs

[tattooed-alchemist]

Nov 8th, Seattle marches because #NoOneIsAboveTheLaw

My decision to make as-universal-a-protest-sign-as-I-could back in the spring continues to pay off.  

To the guy in the chicken mask: I’m having enough trouble in the dusk with new progressive lenses, I salute you.

Super kudos to the people who made masses of PB&J sandwiches and brought them to hand out. 

Something about all the quickly-made signs crafted from hunks of Amazon boxes makes me wonder what sort of protests Seattle has coming in the future.

[unfolded73]

Husbands: Two Years In (5/5) - schitt’s creek ff

Here it is, the final chapter!  There's nothing I can say that can get across how touched I've been by the comments on this fic. The number of people who have shared things about their own struggles with mental health -- I'm not worthy of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

While I'm including this fic as part of the "Labels" series, the preceding fics are not required reading. Previous fics in this series: Boyfriends; “I Love You”, Partners, Fiancés

Warning: This fic deals with depression as one of its major topics.

Rated Explicit, this chapter 4718 words. (ao3)

Thanks to @high-seas-swan for cheerleading and B13_MaybeThisTime for many valuable comments (and also cheerleading).

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5: Winter

“So how was your week?” Jessica asked.

Patrick always felt like he should plan before therapy what he was going to talk about, but he never remembered to do that.

“It was a little crazy. The holidays at the store always are, although it’s very lucrative. The money we make in December will carry us through at least half of the upcoming year,” he said, pinching the webbing on one hand between his thumb and forefinger of the other.

“And did you feel more equipped to handle that? The busy store, and all your responsibilities around that? Especially with Christmas a few days away?”

Patrick shrugged, feeling obstinate. “I don’t know.”

Jessica let a silence settle, waiting for him to talk. Patrick hated this part; it made him feel like he was failing at therapy when he didn’t know how to fill that silence. What the right answer was. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the sofa cushions, calling her bluff.

Finally, she relented and spoke, and Patrick felt like he’d won a round of whatever game they were playing. “You’ve never said much in here about your sexual orientation other than to talk about your husband and to say that things with your family are good. Was it always that way?”

Patrick tried not to roll his eyes. He knew this would be coming eventually. He’d been avoiding the subject of Rachel or his coming out process because he knew it would be something Jessica would fixate on. “I’m not depressed because of being gay, or… or anything to do with that. I love being gay.”

She smiled genuinely. “I’m glad. But humor me.”

“My parents always accepted me,” he said quickly, but that felt like a lie even though it was technically true.

“How old were you when you came out?” Jessica asked.

Patrick let out a frustrated sigh, seeing no way to avoid the truth now. “I was… I was in denial about being gay for a long time.” Might as well get it all out, he thought. “When I was twenty-nine I broke off an engagement to my high school sweetheart — who was a woman — and moved away from my hometown. Pretty soon after that, I realized I was gay.”

“That must’ve been hard,” Jessica said.

“Yeah, but once I got through it and… and got together with David, I’d never been happier.”

He couldn’t help but see the smile she gave him in response to that as patronizing. “New love can flood the body with so many good chemicals that it swamps out all of the bad ones.”

Patrick narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying I wasn’t happy?”

“No, I’m saying that the way you’ve framed things in some of our past sessions — that you were depressed before you moved here, and then you weren’t, and now for some reason you’re depressed again… that may not be the right way to frame it. Do you think perhaps it puts a lot of pressure on David as the source of your happiness?”

“I don’t put pressure on David,” Patrick protested.

“Is it possible that you put pressure on yourself, then? When it comes to your relationship with David and its importance in your life?” Jessica asked.

Patrick huffed and didn’t answer. Now she was contradicting herself from one sentence to the next.

“When did you come out to your family?” she asked.

“That isn’t why I’m depressed either,” he said.

Jessica sighed like he was finally challenging her constant state of serene acceptance. “Untangling the web of depression isn’t straightforward. It might be helpful to pull on different threads and see what they’re connected to. Okay?”

Patrick supposed that made sense. “Okay.” Then after another pause, he admitted, “It took me a while to come out to my parents.”

“Why is that?”

He stared at Jessica’s bookshelf for several seconds, his eyes running over the titles without reading them. “I worried that my parents wouldn’t be okay with it. They didn’t talk about gay people when I was a kid, really. Or when they did, they made it sound like a sad thing that we needed to tolerate because it wasn’t a choice. You know, that brand of ‘tolerance’ that is just that and nothing more.”

She shot him a sympathetic look. “It’s understandable why you were hesitant to come out to them.”

“But they were great about it. It wasn’t long after coming out to them that I asked David to marry me, and they were great. They love him, and all my worries were unfounded,” he said, trying to figure out why tears were threatening to spill over.

Jessica took a few seconds to rearrange herself, setting her ever-present portfolio aside and leaning forward on with her elbows on her knees. “I understand that, looked at a certain way, you’ve had a purely positive experience with coming into your sexuality. You had David, who from what you’ve said before is a very loving person. And based on what you’ve told me, you live in an accepting community. And then your parents stepped up and were there for you when you asked them to be. That’s all wonderful, and not to be discounted. But it doesn’t change the fact that for all of your formative years, when maybe on some subconscious level you did know that you were gay, or at least different in some fundamental way, you didn’t feel like your parents or the community you were living in would accept you. That kind of experience leaves a mark, even though everything turned out fine.”

She smirked, leaning backwards again. “Or not. Perhaps your serotonin is low due to simple physiology and I’m completely off the mark.”

Patrick felt strangely reassured by this honesty, this admission that she knew that she didn’t know everything. “So I need medication, then?”

“Maybe,” she said. “Medication might help. Or cognitive behavior therapy could help you. Or both together.”

His reassurance quickly dissolved, leaving Patrick wanting to scream at his therapist, fix me, goddammit! Instead he said, “That all sounds very nebulous.”

She grinned. “From what I know about you so far, I bet that’s driving you crazy, and I’m sorry about that. Can you bear with me for a little while, though? Work through the process?”

He sighed. “I’ll try.”

~*~

Patrick drove past the empty storefront on Elmdale’s main street as he was leaving his therapy appointment. He’d noticed every week that the ‘for lease’ sign was still in the window. After the second time he saw it, he’d texted Ray to ask if that was the space he’d mentioned to David. David hadn’t said anything about the second Rose Apothecary location in a while, but it didn’t take a genius to guess that he was still thinking about it, and probably wondering when Patrick would be ready to seriously entertain the idea again.

On impulse, he pulled into one of the parking spaces that lined the street and got out of the car, walking over to the empty storefront. The windows were covered in paper, but he could see enough through the gaps to make out that it had a scuffed up hardwood floor. It would need to be refinished, he thought, but it looked like it was in pretty good shape.

The smell of coffee attracted Patrick’s attention, and he looked over to see that there was a coffee shop next door. Grind House, the sign that hung under the awning said. Curious, Patrick went over and opened the door.

The barista looked up and waved. It being around two in the afternoon on a weekday, the place was mostly empty other than two people at a table in the corner who were huddled over laptop computers. The shop was decorated tastefully for Christmas, and he thought David would approve of the warmth and coziness of the space.

“Hey, what can I get you?” the barista — Taylor, her name tag read — asked him with a smile. Tattoos snaked out from under the sleeves of her t-shirt, black ink against dark brown skin.

“A small earl grey tea?” he asked.

“Sure thing. Is that it? We’ve got a few pastries left.”

His eyes strayed over to the pastry case. “Yeah, could I get a couple of those butter tarts to go? My husband is a real connoisseur.”

Taylor grinned at him. “Smart man.”

“Hey, what do you know about the empty space next door? Do you know if there’s been any interest in it?”

“Oh man, I’m still bummed about that. It used to be a comic book shop. I was afraid to go in there for the longest time — comic stores aren’t necessarily the most welcoming places to black queer women, you know? But the old guy that ran it was super nice. I remember he made a point of telling me when Ta-Nahisi Coates started writing Captain America.”

“What happened to the store?”

She shrugged. “Amazon drove him out of business, I guess. That’ll be $9.25,” she said ringing up his tea and butter tarts. As Patrick put his debit card in the reader, she added, “Why do you ask?”

“Oh.” He scratched his cheek. “My husband and I run a store in Schitt’s Creek. Rose Apothecary?”

“Holy shit, really? A friend gave me some of your lotion for my birthday. It’s great.”

Patrick swelled with pride. “Thanks. Anyway, we’re considering opening a second location in Elmdale.”

Taylor smirked, handing him his tea and a box with the tarts. “Sorry, I can’t allow you to have a store right next door to my coffee shop. I’ll spend all my profits there.”

Laughing, Patrick accepted his purchases. “Oh, well. Guess we’ll have to look for another place, then. Although David would return the favor, I’m sure.”

“What’s your name?” Taylor asked.

“It’s Patrick Brewer,” he said, setting the tea down again to shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Patrick. I’m Taylor. And I hope you guys get the space.”

“I… do too,” he said, surprised to find that he meant it.

The store was bustling when he got back to Schitt’s Creek, and David and Bethany were both busy with customers. Patrick put the box of butter tarts in the back room and went to work restocking Christmas decorations. Given how many decorations they sold every holiday season, Patrick had to assume that by now every Christmas tree in Elm County was fully outfitted in David Rose’s aesthetic.

As soon as David finished with the customers he was helping, Patrick went over and put a hand on his shoulder. “I got you something for your afternoon break,” he said. “There’s a white box on the table in the back.”

David’s eyes lit up, and he hurried into the back before he could be waylaid by another harried holiday shopper.

They didn’t have a chance to exchange any more conversation until Bethany finally flipped the sign on the door to Closed and locked up. Patrick felt dead on his feet, but he had to admit that the thought of all the money in the cash register made him feel pretty good. Bethany went to work cleaning the windows while David leaned against the center table.

“Oh my god, Patrick, where did you get those butter tarts? Those are the best ones I’ve had in years.”

Patrick walked over and put his arms around his husband, pulling him into a hug. “A little coffee shop in downtown Elmdale that happens to be next to an empty store that I believe Ray mentioned to you a couple of months ago.”

David pulled out of the hug, his eyes darting back and forth as he studied Patrick’s expression. “It’s still vacant?”

Nodding, Patrick leaned up and kissed David’s cheek. “We should call Ray after Christmas and go take a look at it.”

“Are you sure?”

Patrick shrugged. “No, I’m scared as hell. Among other things, I’m afraid I’m going to miss having days like this with you, working together in our store. But I want to go look.”

David kissed his lips gently. “Okay.”

~*~

Stevie stood shivering on their back porch, bundled up in her hat and puffy parka. “It’s way too cold for this,” she said.

Patrick exhaled pot smoke in a crystalline cloud of breath and handled the joint back to her. “Our families are getting here tomorrow and I don’t want the house to smell like weed.” He giggled. “It doesn’t match David’s holiday aesthetic.”

His phone chimed, and he took it out to look at it, expecting a complaint from David. Instead the text was from his cousin. There were no words, just a picture of Justin pressed cheek to cheek with another boy.

Patrick: Who’s this?

Justin 🌈: his name is Jonah

Patrick: Very cute. And closer to your age, I hope?

Justin 🌈: 🙄 you sound like my mom he’s 18

Patrick: Good. Merry Christmas, Justin.

Justin 🌈: thanks you too

Then a text arrived from David, just as Patrick expected. She’s got even more luggage than last year.

Patrick laughed. Maybe it’s a lot of presents for you, he texted back.

David: You give my sister entirely too much credit.

Patrick: See you soon.

“Why are you suddenly so fucking popular?” Stevie groused, her teeth chattering, handing him the joint back as he put away his phone.

“Sounds like Alexis’s flight got in on time,” he said. “And my cousin Justin has a new… boyfriend, I guess?” He took another hit.

“I can’t stand this anymore; I’m going inside,” Stevie said, taking the half-smoked joint from him and carefully extinguishing it, then putting it in a crumpled sandwich bag that she produced from her coat pocket. Patrick followed her back into the house. “Is this the cousin that you rescued a while ago?”

“How many gay cousins do you think I have?” he asked, pulling his coat off.

“I mean, statistically? Given how many cousins you have? More than one.” She flopped down on the sofa and stretched out on her back. “So are you liking your therapist any better?”

Patrick dropped into the overstuffed chair across from her. “I don’t know. As I predicted, she’s starting to fixate on my sexual orientation and…” He gestured airily in a very David way. “All that.”

Stevie turned her head and regarded him balefully. “The fact that you were in denial about being gay until you were thirty? And didn’t come out to your parents until you were ready to ask David to marry you? Is that what ‘all that’ is?”

“Fuck off,” Patrick grumbled.

“I’m just saying, there’s probably some stuff to unpack there.”

“Stevie, I’m completely comfortable with being gay,” he said.

“Didn’t say you weren’t. It’s not about you being gay, but maybe it’s about how you get so wrapped up in your obligations to other people that you lose track of yourself. Or that you’re so obsessed with not disappointing the people you care about that you have a hard time being truthful about who you are or what you need.”

Patrick blinked. “Wow. Maybe you should be my therapist.”

Stevie laughed. “The problem is, I need to be high to have these deep insights.”

They settled into comfortable silence for a few minutes. Finally Patrick admitted, “I don’t like the way it makes me feel cracked open.”

“What does?” Stevie asked, her mind clearly having wandered.

“Therapy.”

“Oh. Yeah, I don’t think I could deal with that either,” Stevie said.

“It’s like… you know how if you pick up a big rock in moist soil, there’ll be all these bugs underneath it?”

“Ew,” Stevie said in a perfect imitation of David, and the two of them burst into gales of laughter for a while. When Stevie finally got control of herself, she said, “Sorry, what about the bugs?”

He wiped away tears from his cheeks. “It was a metaphor for my brain. I’ve got a lifetime of practice not moving those rocks. I don’t know if I want to know what’s underneath them.”

“Yeah, I get that.” She stretched her toes out, brushing them against the arm of the sofa. “You know you’ll be okay though, right?”

Patrick felt a swell of love for Stevie and he would have hugged her, but it would probably be weird. Also he was comfortable in his chair. Maybe he’d hug her later.

When David arrived from retrieving Alexis at the airport, Patrick put his coat back on to help with the luggage. David opened a bottle of wine and turned the lamps in the living room off, leaving only the light from the Christmas tree to illuminate the four of them as they settled in to talk.

They told Alexis about the new location in Elmdale that they were considering leasing, and she made some marketing suggestions that were good enough that David went and retrieved his journal from the bedroom so that he could make some notes.

“One thing I’ve seen businesses do to get market penetration is sponsor relevant conferences,” Alexis said. “Like, professional association meetings. Then they get their business name and logo printed on everything for the conference — tote bags, lanyards, USB sticks, all that stuff.” Her free hand that wasn’t holding her wine glass flopped around to indicate all of the stuff.

“We don’t really have general store conferences,” Patrick said, bemused.

Alexis rolled her eyes. “But it works for other events too. Summer festivals, parades, whatever.”

“Elm Valley has a pumpkin festival every year,” Stevie said.

Patrick was starting to have a germ of an idea related to what Alexis had said. He sipped his wine and filed it away to mull over later, when he was sober.

Tomorrow, Johnny and Moira and his own parents would arrive and things would take a turn for the chaotic, but for right now, Patrick could enjoy the warmth of David’s hand on his shoulder as his husband bantered happily with his sister and his best friend. Leaning into the crook of David’s arm, Patrick smiled and tried to soak up all of the love in the room, an inoculation against the darkness that might lurk around the next bend in the road.

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” David murmured against his spine later in their bed. Their kisses had been drowsy and a little bit drunk as they decided that sex was happening tonight in spite of their houseguests. Alexis was in the guest bedroom and Stevie had zonked out on the living room sofa, David tucking an afghan around her shoulders before he and Patrick went to bed themselves.

“It’s not Christmas yet,” Patrick said with a chuckle, writhing, pressed against the sheets as David worked him up and up.

“I know it’s not technically Christmas, but tonight was so nice,” David murmured into Patrick’s shoulder, words alternating with kisses. “It filled me with holiday spirit.”

Patrick tried not to laugh, he really did, but it was a losing battle. He made an attempt to smother his giggles into his pillow.

“If you say something about me filling you with the holiday spirit, it’s over between us.” The things he was doing to Patrick with his fingers belied that statement.

Laughing again, Patrick pushed his hips back against David’s hand, and then his laughter turned into a moan, and then neither of them said anything coherent for a long time.

~*~

The first town council meeting of the new year came on a grey January afternoon, the threat of snow on the horizon. Everyone was subdued and low energy, even Roland, and Patrick felt drowsy, struggling a little bit to pay attention and type at the same time that they discussed several budgetary issues. A lot of the topics were the same every meeting, with tiny, incremental changes almost too small to detect. Or worse, they were recurring issues that indicated no progress had been made at all.

When they got to the bottom of the agenda, Ronnie asked if there was any new business, and Patrick almost didn’t say anything. The idea that had occurred to him during the holidays had seemed strong on a happier day. Today, he wasn’t sure he had the energy to argue for it. But then he thought about the things Ronnie had said to him about queer activism, and he thought about Taylor and her coffee shop, and he opened his mouth.

“Have we ever considered having something in Schitt’s Creek for Pride?” he asked.

Ronnie raised her eyebrows. “What, like a parade?”

“No offense, but it might be kind of a sad little parade,” Roland said.

“No, not a parade. Like, a street festival. Tents with food and other vendors and LGBT educational booths. Opportunities for people to find out about meetings in the area. Maybe a stage with speeches and musical performances. And we don’t have to limit it to only Schitt’s Creek. I looked into it a little, and even Elmdale doesn’t have anything like it. We could draw vendors and patrons from all over Elm County.”

Ronnie crossed her arms. “Sounds like a way to line your own pockets. I assume Rose Apothecary would be one of the vendors?”

Patrick met her gaze. “I’m sure the rest of council could be counted on to keep us on a level playing field with everyone else. Come on, Ronnie. Can you honestly say it wouldn’t be a good thing for the community? And a good way to bring money into the town?”

She tilted her head in acquiescence. “Put together a formal proposal and we can vote on it at the next meeting.”

“I’m going to vote ‘yes,’” Bob stage-whispered to Patrick.

“Thanks, Bob.”

After the meeting had adjourned, Patrick went over to Ronnie. “I thought later this month I’d go to that Thornbridge LGBTQIA+ meeting you told me about. See what they’re doing and make some connections. Ask if they’d be interested in helping out with our Pride festival.”

Ronnie stared at him for a second. “Your festival idea hasn’t been approved yet,” she said.

“Assuming it’s approved,” he said, unable to keep himself from grinning. “Would you like to go with me?”

“You want me to spend hours in a car with you, driving to Thornbridge. Really.”

“Come on, Ronnie. Someday you and I are going to have to bury the hatchet for good.” He put on his most guileless expression, the one that caused David to accuse him of weaponizing his eyes. “Why not in service to the queer community, of which we are both pillars?”

She almost, for a split second, looked like she was going to crack a smile. Instead she sighed. “Fine. Let me know when it is. I’ll see if I’m available.”

~*~

They celebrated signing the lease for the new store with pizza at David’s favorite spot in Elmdale. There were paper hearts colored by children in the front window, and it reminded Patrick that he only had a few days to find a suitably tacky gift for David for Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t worth it if he couldn’t get David to threaten to divorce him on this, David’s most hated of holidays.

While they waited for their pizza, Patrick reached across the red and white checkered tablecloth and took David’s hand. “Thank you,” he said.

David had been fiddling with his phone, but at the sound of Patrick’s voice, he set it face-down on the table and gave Patrick his full attention. “What for?”

“For being there for me so many times this past year. For… for putting up with me at my worst.”

A crooked smile threatened to erupt on David’s face. “Patrick, you know your worst is still pretty good, right?”

“I hope you’re not still grading me on a Sebastien Raine curve, David.”

David rolled his eyes at that. “No, I’m just saying that maybe you don’t have the most objective perspective on what being married to you is like.” His eyes softened. “I’m as happy being your husband today as I was the first day. Okay?”

Patrick swallowed around a surprising lump in his throat. “Okay.”

“You’re nervous about the new store,” David surmised.

“I am, but it’s the right decision,” Patrick said with confidence.

“I’m nervous too,” David said. “Don’t mistake my outward confidence for anything other than a thin veneer over all of my anxieties.”

That statement automatically put Patrick into reassurance mode. “The marketing ideas from Alexis are going to be helpful. The customer base in Elmdale is huge and has more disposable income compared to what we’re used to at home. I’ve run some numbers, and I think the revenue from this location may outstrip our Schitt’s Creek location in a matter of months.”

David grimaced. “Well, that somehow makes me feel irrationally protective of our first store. It doesn’t deserve to be the under-achiever.”

Squeezing David’s hand, Patrick said, “Never. I fell in love with you there, and there’s nowhere in the world more important to me than that store.”

“We can make new memories at the new store,” David said softly.

Patrick knew, realistically, that he and David probably wouldn’t be spending that much time together at the new store after they got it open. They’d have to split time between the two locations, and there would be even more work to do out on the road, expanding their vendor base to support the increased demand.

David seemed to read his thoughts. “And when we spend our days apart, it will make being at home together in the evenings that much more precious.”

“Yeah,” Patrick managed to say, his voice raw. He averted his eyes from David’s piercing gaze, staring out the window between the gaps in the paper hearts. “Can you… can you talk to me more about that?”

David smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Well, imagine a day when I’m at the store here in Elmdale, and you’re at the store back at home.”

“Are you at the one in Elmdale because of Taylor’s pastries?”

“Shhh,” David said, reaching out with a finger like he was going to put it over Patrick’s lips. “I leave the store a little early, letting one of our trusted employees close up, and I bring home some wine and cheese from the store. Maybe some of Heather’s new triple cream.” He closed his eyes like he was having an erotic fantasy about Heather Warner’s cheese.

“Wine and cheese that you pay for,” Patrick said.

“Naturally. Oh, and fresh berries. It’s summer, and there are berries in season. So I set everything up on the kitchen table, just in time for you to arrive home from the other store. And we drink wine and eat cheese and we tell each other all about our days. The sun is setting, and the light is all golden,” David said.

“I like this story,” Patrick replied. “Then what happens?”

“Eventually we move to the sofa. Maybe watch some TV or listen to some music. We put our feet up and finish our wine and you remember something funny that you saw on the internet and you tell me about it. And then when we get tired, we go to bed.”

“What happens then?” Patrick asked as their server set their pizza in front of them and David grabbed a slice.

David’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile and he waggled his eyebrows. “The rest of the story is very interesting, but you’ll have to wait to get home to hear that part.”

“Hmm, okay.” Patrick reached for his own slice of pizza.

“Hey,” David said, drawing Patrick back to looking at him. “I love you. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings for us.”

Patrick smiled. He felt bolstered, lifted up by David’s support and for once, he allowed himself to feel good about it. “Me either, David.”

[callmestiletto]

once upon a time i watched both justice leagues back to back

strictly speaking, i watched zack snyder’s justice league on saturday and i just finished joss whedon’s.

A LIST OF ALL ADDITIONS/DIFFERENCES IN THE JOSS WHEDON JUSTICE LEAGUE. 

pray for me.

- terrible cgi mustache-less supes child iphone footage. have you ever fought a hippo?

- this batman intro with that guy from fight club to bait a parademon with fear? this whole concept that the parademons are just looking for scared people? not in the snyder movie.

- parademon explodes and leaves a mark of the three mother boxes (also completely new concept)

- the criminal is also the one who figures that superman being dead is the reason why they’re even here

- everybody knows segment about superman being dead, and everyone being fucking awful? racist guy, “i tried” homeless guy.

- wonder woman’s intro segment has been just obliterated. tiny snippets stitched together. and added that they’re doing this for alien reasons? had diana throw the bomb from the building.

- “i’m a believer” and then bracers smash. i feel like is a new line. and thats where the scene ends. no police, no checking people are okay, nothing else.

- bruce & arthur scene is also snippets stitched together. giving us a translation of the joke about bruce paying him. this whole added mural of arthur and the mother boxes is new as is pretty much the rest of the scene.

- alfred and bruce on the plane talking is new. mother boxes, barry allen knowledge and details about his dad and how hes in prison but barry says he’s innocent, what about diana? jokes about bruce being into diana. jokes about how she’s hot. victor is dead. one misses exploding wind up penguins.

- barry is signing in to see henry allen. barry uses his powers to be jokey and draws on an asshole guys face. sign in guard alerts bruce wayne and mocks the asshole guy.

- added in post dialogue from barry about how the investigation into his moms murder was botched.

- janitor at star labs apologizes “i never got to say, victor was a wonderful kid”

- this entire victor/silas scene is different. their story is completely changed. there is never any mention of victor’s mother. victor’s character is totally different. more aggressive and the whole thing is just. weird.

- 22 minutes in. themyscira finally appears. steppenwolf’s whole deal is more humanoid and like traditional human armor? obliterated into tiny snippets. only the few amazons who were in two pieces are shown. steppenwolf just easily breaks out of the cage and starts fighting the escaping amazons with his parademons.

- it seems like the amazons have no ability to fight them off. hippolyta does like zero fighting. added in lines about how when the unity happens they’ll all bow to steppenwolf and she will “love him. they all will.”

- lighting the warning fire, “listen to me diana” no explanation how she can shoot an arrow from themyscira to greece. jump cut to diana working to louvre. jump cut to “the fire at the shrine of the amazons.” “invasion.”

- aliens stole my husband “these aliens are going to ****ing probe him?!” segment

- lois at work, martha tells her she lost the farm, some guy asks lois for her source because he’s doing a story on the starlabs kidnapping thinks its political because those kids are always protesting, lois is doing fluff pieces about kitten grooming. martha says that clark said lois was going to bring home another pulitzer and she was the “thirstiest woman he ever met” …….”hungriest”

- victor is learning about his powers and has tapped into bruce’s cameras

- we’ve added in that some “noise” made the parademon “go crazy” when bruce was trying to catch it? he needs an edge against aliens so we’re trying to figure it out.

- this steppenwolf intro totally new, added that parademons are created by him? no mention of darkseid, bruce and diana walk and talk about mother boxes and steppenwolf. steppenwolf’s first retreat. swore that our alliances would crumble and the world would be covered by darkness and he’d return.

- bruce makes jokes. victor is just there. stalking them. like diana wouldn’t notice him 20 feet away from her.

- barry’s place we have added a… blackpink? music video? to the scene? why?

- barry makes more jokes. brunch. people are slow. even the same footage is cut differently. like super basic mid shots.

- this whole the computers get twitchy when they play footage of silas working on cyborg victor, new. talk to victor through the computer? new. diana is “old fashioned” and won’t talk to him if its not face to face. alfred says (off screen) “about time somebody did” after the line “it looks like you have a date”

- just realized that we’ve had cyborg in a hoodie and sweatpants this entire time. all of victor is once again, different. and just shitty. he’s angry and hates his powers.

- added alien shenanigans into the dumbass whose out on his fishing boat. aliens appear to have kryptonite? for….reasons? its now the aliens fault for this guy needing a rescue from aquaman. aquaman jokes.

- 44 minutes in, first thing about atlantis. steppenwolf just appears, whoops everyones ass including mera, who has not spoken. steppenwolf boom tubes out with the box. arthur checks in to make sure mera is alright because she “took a hell of a hit” the rest of their convo is snippets stitched together. arthur asks mera for “something” - the armor and ….5dent that willem dafoe gave him in the snyder version.

- whedon has added innocent “russians” who live in this chernobyl knockoff. parademons are flying everywhere. steppenwolf talks to the mother boxes and calls them Mother. we’re having our first look inside the reactor where he is placing the second mother box into that ya know. wall thing.

- “the kryptonian’s death has made everyone timid and they all stand alone” (men, amazons, atlanteans) all this steppenwolf dialogue is new and bad.

- we’ve added in that one of the witnesses to the kidnapped people is a little kid and they drew this batman looking thing. “world’s gone crazy, maybe he has too”

- victor is still in his hoodie combo and has come home to see that his dad is presumably kidnapped because his glasses are left

- the island where the kidnapped people are is “braxton island” and “gotham harbour” why these changes? i don’t know.

- did we do this camera shot of the tank coming in and everyone jumping off it onto the ground so we can see their asses? this feels distinctly whedon but i dont know.

- steppenwolf is just killing the kidnapped people if they dont tell him what he wants.

- added scene about barry being scared about things to bruce.

- we don’t go into this rescuing people with any plan at all. steppenwolf immediately recognizes that victor is made with a mother box. barry is just running people one at a time from the place they were just… out? victor is suddenly there (continuity error) added dialogue about steppenwolf’s axe being slick with the blood of diana’s sisters. they fight and he just knocks her down and tells his parademons to “finish her” bruce saves her with his tank thing and makes jokes. (RIDICULOUS)

bruce makes jokes.

- barry “saves diana” from falling debris (she would’ve been fine), and lands on her boobs, a classic joss whedon move. isn’t it funny.

- added steppenwolf dialogue about how the old gods died and therefore steppenwolf is better than diana. diana is a distraction, Mother is calling.

- more barry jokes. cyborg bails because the “change engine” is in danger. barry joke.

- added jokey scene with aquaman and batman.

- added scene about our “russian” family living in chernoybl. “who will come for them” daughter grabbed a can of raid.

- barry’s jokey entrance to the batcave. (i enjoy this scene) but it is still. whedon barry pretty different from snyder’s.

- hoodie cyborg gives the new history of man’s mother box (british found it in ww2, shelved it, brought to star labs after IT woke up when superman died, and THEN silas started dicking with it and used it on victor.) victor’s history is different. bruce is the one who comes up with raising superman. diana is against it. this whole scene is new and bad. diana calls him out on his guilt about being responsible for superman’s death. he turns around and says “what did steve trevor tell you that.” she pushes him and he calls her out with a very patronizing bullshit statement. this whole scene is new and on a badly done green screen.

- another new scene with bruce and alfred. energy gauntlet has been removed and its now a bluetooth speaker on a arm thing to make a warbly noise that scares the parademons.

- we detail bruce’s contingency plan. the team needs clark. yadda yadda.

- barry and cyborg’s conversation while digging up clark is totally different. cyborg is in his hoodie and an asshole who doesn’t care about anything. barry feels disrespectful about digging up clark. he tries to go for a fist bump which victor is not about and barry is like okay we’re not there yet….. “racially charged……” (WHY WHEDON WHY THIS)

- diana and bruce are on a crane? above star labs? for reasons? diana is only here for clark. and is pissed. we’re just walking into the ship in star labs. no concerns about anything else.

- we walk into the ship, the ship doesn’t have enough power to wake the box, barry is going to run fast and do it. we count down from five and thats it. clark is up in the skyline of the city and flies to the busted up monument. thats that entire ship scene.

- arthur freaks out that clark isn’t alright. barry jokes. cyborg’s armor is “stronger since the interface.” barry jokes.

- bruce shows up. he calls alfred for the “big gun” bad cgi clark speaks to bruce “i know you, you won’t let me live, you won’t let me die” “the world needs you” “but does it need you? tell me, do you bleed?”  lois gets out of the limo???? an unknown backseat with alfred and runs to clark. comedy moment with bruce “oh yeah something is definitely bleeding”

- arthur has a tantrum in the bat cave. diana sharpens her blade. arthur and victor snip at each other. barry jokes about his blood sugar. diana tells victor he can find the boxes because they’re made of the same thing. bruce asks arthur if he can talk to fish again. and see if he can find out where the boxes are using the water. yes. seriously.

- bruce is all banged up and is going to deal with that but DIANA is there and as a woman obviously she can care for him. this whole scene is about diana apologizing for being pissed at bruce and not stepping up to be a leader. this scene is stupid.

- added scene with bad cgi about lois asking clark why he won’t come in the house and what was it like coming back from the dead “itchy.” and how she wasn’t strong and he would be very disappointed in her because she wasn’t “lois lane, dedicated reporter.” its okay because he’s “the idiot who left and he’s back now and he’s going to make everything right.” we had to put it into text that she called his mom. and that she has to send him away to help bruce with his fate of the world shit. “no dying, and i get the exclusive” “yes ma’am” bad cgi.

- back to not russia and our chernboyl. things look completely different from the other version. we’re praising the unity. praise “to the mother of horrors” its look is very dragon age inquisition red lyrium emprise du lion.

- we’ve figured out where this is happening. we’ve got a few hours until the world is going to be changed. we’ve figured out there are people living in not chernobyl. victor will be able to make a ship break the laws of physics and get them to not chernobyl in time. because cyborg powers.

- victor is just going to pull the boxes apart because that will cause them to feed on each other and that’s it. arthur jokes and hits on diana. he’s sitting on the lasso and oversharing.

- not chernobyl. batman just shoots his way through the barrier and shoots the tower creating the shield dome down. easy peasy. he crashes his batplane and drives out of the wreckage with his batmobile and starts playing his parademon attracting whoop whoops. alfred jokes about how they might not have thought the whoop whoop noise through.

- diana is going to lead them in to find steppenwolf.

- the family living in not chernobyl is now fleeing their house as purple red lyrium tentacles whoosh at them (this is apparently the form the unity takes its terraforming….in this version) suddenly there are other people for once and they’re all running to their old american trucks to flee.

- jokes. they save batman. “no mr wayne, this is the team.” gotta have a jeremy irons presence in this final fight i guess? more jokes. i can’t explain how there are SO MANY JOKES? this final fight? there is no seriousness to it. every other moment is a joke or a bit.

- alfred tells batman that the red lyrium is spreading for miles, civilians are moving east and they’re not going to make it. batman tells barry to go run and help them.

- steppenwolf rips victor in half. because he’s not worth touching mother. “she is power and we’re all too weak to see the truth.”

- clark shows up “he’s a fan of truth. but he’s also a big fan of justice.” punch to steppenwolf. bad cgi mustache removal. clark is going to help with the civilians, also he’s better and faster than the flash. barry makes jokes. clark comes back to deal with steppenwolf because diana and arthur obviously can’t handle it.

- victor needs superman’s help to pull the boxes apart. he’s still got a poorly cgi removed mustache. the boxes blow up. clark and victor get blown to the ground. they both make some jokes that are alright. diana says she works with children.

- steppenwolf is still alive. supes freezes his axe, diana swords it to pieces. steppenwolf is now afraid? so the parademons are going to tear him apart and eat him? maybe? they’re all getting boom tube’d out of there. superman has a badly removed mustache. helmet falls to the ground.

- THE ONLY GOOD PART. CYBORG SAYS BOOYEAH. snyder should’ve kept that.

- the motherboxes somehow changed all their red lyrium into crazy alien plant growth somehow…..making the not chernobyl an acceptable place to live.

- bruce wayne bought the bank scene. added joke.

- barry got his job at the crime lab, added good word from “a friend.”

- lois is at work and doing voice over writing a monologue about darkness and light and hope.

- silas and victor are at star labs and working on his cyborg shit.

- arthur is swimming.

- barry is running.

- diana is sticking around after stopping armed robbery and leaving them tied up with her lasso so they just tell the cops all they want to know?

- same supes walk off and chest reveal only blue suit and then we actually show him flying off.

- changed the post credit scene - its now about lex telling slade that superman and co. are putting together their little “league” and shouldn’t we have “a league of our own?”

THE END.

guys. i know four hours is a long time. but its fucking worth it. the parts of these added things that are worth it? so little.

[bigyack-com]

When Department Stores Were Theater

After the hundreds of jobs going poof and the thus-far inadequate discounts, the saddest thing about the closure of Barneys New York is that its signature naughty window displays will recede even further in collective memory.A Hail Mary campaign earlier this year imploring shoppers to go inside even as the store declared bankruptcy (“STRUT STRUT STRUT STRUT STRUT STRUT”) was but a faint echo of the era when subversive tableaus of papier-mâché public figures, found objects, condoms on Christmas trees and the occasional scampering vermin mesmerized crowds, offended cardinals and even sold some clothes.But “we’re in a post-window-display world,” said Simon Doonan, the Barneys O.G. window dresser, in a telephone interview, noting the “impenetrable facade” of Dover Street Market, heir apparent to the luxury avant-garde. Its New York entrance has only small, high apertures above pedestrian eye level.“In the old days, window displays were the primary form of marketing — fashion was the same as butcher shops and fishmongers,” he said. “Now, if you’re waiting till someone walks past your store, you’ve lost the fight.”Indeed, the bustling new Nordstrom on 57th Street dispenses with traditional boxed-in display windows entirely, replacing them with a shallow, wavy facade that John Bailey, a spokesman, assured would be festooned with red and white lights come Black Friday. The facade is “an interactive viewing experience for customers walking by,” he wrote in an email, “connecting the shopping experience in store to the energy of the city.” (And the energy of customers’ phones.) A young employee at the central help desk said elliptically that “our windows are our customer service.”Gather ’round, children, and let Auntie Alexandra tell of when department stores, now mostly glassy, anodyne places you go to exchange online purchases, used to put on a show. Sometimes more entertaining than the theater.First, though, a quick gallop through what remains of New York’s holiday windows in 2019, and the hopeful cornucopias within.At the doomed Barneys flagship on 61st Street, there was of course bubkes, just signs reading: “Everything Must Be Sold! Goodbuys, then Goodbye.” Inside on the fifth floor, female customers were listlessly flipping shoes to glance at the soles and calculate the markdown, as if with muscle memory from the much-lamented warehouse sale. Four creaky flights up, the power lunch spot Fred’s, named for Fred Pressman, Barneys’ charismatic chairman who died in 1996, was full — even as a worker held a headless naked mannequin steady by her neck on a hand truck, waiting for the elevator to go down, down, down.A few blocks away preens Bergdorf Goodman, the beautiful princess whose holding company, Neiman Marcus, muscled recently into the Hudson Yards, like a watchful mother-in-law moving into the guest cottage. There are no old-school windows at the gleaming new Neiman, being that it’s high up off the dirty street in a mall (and incidentally charging kids $72 per head for breakfast with Santa). But at Bergdorf, David Hoey, the store’s senior director of visual presentation, and his team have gamely produced a concept called Bergdorf GoodTimes. Literally gamely. Like, filled with actual games.One window was captioned “Queen’s Gambit” (chess); another, “Jackpot!” (pinball); another, “Winner Take All” (casino — perhaps a dry subconscious commentary on the high-stakes state of retail). Around the corner, a life-size board game, “Up the Down Escalator,” was dotted with fictional gift cards, coin of the online-shopping realm.Mr. Hoey’s sophisticated, colorful creations did not seem intended for little ones — and anyway those were scampering around across the street, splashing in small pools and peering into mirror-glass “sky lenses” outside the Fifth Avenue Apple store. Paging Dr. Lacan!Further east on 59th and Lexington Avenue, dear old Bloomingdale’s was flagrantly violating several of the decorative precepts set out by Mr. Doonan in his seminal 1998 book, “Confessions of a Window Dresser: Tales From a Life in Fashion.” Specifically: “do remember that technology is boring” and “don’t incorporate sex.”If Bergdorf is rolling the dice on the future of the department store — eroded perhaps irrevocably by Amazon’s mighty, corrosive flow — Bloomie’s is searching the stars. Not the celebrities whose daffy effigies used to populate Mr. Doonan’s windows, mostly with enthusiastic cooperation (Madonna, Magic Johnson, Norman Mailer, Prince, Queen Elizabeth), but a lavish commingling of astronomy and astrology titled Out of This World.Robots were placing ornaments on a tree and sitting at a synthesizer ready to play the carol of your choice at the push of a button. Google Nest, a sponsor, was poised to turn on the tree, the lights; the fire. And astronauts were floating in a “3, 2, 1, Gift Off,” or was it a “GIF Off?” Female mannequins embodying various figures of the zodiac were outfitted like go-go dancers, all pearls and feathers and curvature: propped up against each other on a pedestal as a recording played of John Legend singing, incongruously, “Christmas in New Orleans.” Inside, on the main floor, one embodying Cancer the Crab hung upside down from the ceiling: eyes closed, suspended over a hoop, hand-claws splayed, rotating slowly. Her bared, inverted legs conjured less the #MeToo era than the infamous “meat grinder” photo of the June 1978 Hustler magazine that feminists used to protest on Manhattan sidewalks.

Razzle-Dazzle in the Mezzanine

Mr. Doonan had called from Los Angeles, where he was, among other activities, promoting a monograph to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Maxfield, the boutique there. This even though when he was in the window-dressing business, “I was very anti-anniversary and I vetoed all of them. They just made the company seem old and boring. It looks dusty.”Though I agree 100 percent and moreover think the ascription of significance to particular numbers is as ridiculous as astrology, it also happens to be the 40th anniversary of a seismic and undersung event in department-store history: when the performer Elaine Stritch was the M.C. of an elaborate fashion show at Liberty of London, the emporium known for its fine fabrics. (Many women in those years still sewed household clothes from patterns.)Arranged by Peter Tear, then Liberty’s head of marketing and publicity, and choreographed by Larry Fuller of “Evita,” the show somehow managed to cross-promote the low-tar Silk Cut cigarette with a silk congress happening in London. Concordes were deployed with top models on board. Cocktails were concocted by the Café Royal down the road. Fifty-odd designers contributed special outfits for the occasion, including Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Yves Saint Laurent.Another was David Emanuel, who, with his wife and partner, Elizabeth, would design the show’s bridal gown (and later Princess Diana’s).“People gasped,” he said, remembering the Liberty event on a crackly trans-Atlantic phone line. “They were aching for ‘larger than life.’” Mr. Emanuel described Stritch — subject of my recently published biography, “Still Here” (hey, it’s the selling season) — in a sequined tuxedo jacket, singing among other numbers “Falling in Love Again” à la Marlene Dietrich to the enraptured ladies who lunch who had paid five quid admission apiece for the show, which ran thrice daily over the course of a week. “It has more punch and pulchritude packed into its 51 minutes than most West End musicals twice as long,” one newspaper commented.Mr. Doonan theorized that Liberty, fighting a dainty, twin-set image, had taken inspiration from what the storied retailer Marvin Traub was doing then at Bloomingdale’s. “The whole thing was that the store was the stage — the razzle-dazzle of flash and pizazz and lo and behold, there’s a swimwear fashion show with Pat Cleveland coming down the escalator,” he said. “Every day was ‘curtain up!’ at Bloomingdale’s.”Truly, what could be more of an ultimate fantasy set than the department store of yore, with its infinite “costumes,” props and built-in risers, its endless potential for comedy, dance, drama and even horror? Florenz Ziegfeld’s pre-code movie “Glorifying the American Girl,” showcasing his Follies, starts in one. The heroic airman in “The Best Years of Our Lives” returned to work as a soda jerk in another; ennobled by the theater of war, he chafed at his diminishment in the feminine one of trade.Barbra Streisand gamboled through Bergdorf in 1965 for her TV special, trying on fur coats and hats, spritzing perfume and singing a Fanny Brice-ish medley of “Second Hand Rose” and “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” to funny and glamorous effect. James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim’s “Twilight Zone”-inflected broadcast musical, “Evening Primrose,” was set in a department store called Stern’s, and featured a poet played by Anthony Perkins remaining after-hours, giddy at the idea of the creativity that his solitude, enhanced by all the products he needs, will stimulate. At one point he stands on an escalator belting, “I’m here! I’m here!” foreshadowing the famous anthem in Goldman and Sondheim’s own “Follies” taken up late in life by Stritch. (Later a young woman he discovers there sings of remembering snow: “Soft as feathers/ Sharp as thumbtacks.” She had been left there, in Hats, as a child by her preoccupied mother, but now with climate change the lyric sounds like prescient ecological lament.)Even after the fiasco of Andrew McCarthy at Philadelphia’s Wanamaker’s (R.I.P.) in “Mannequin” 20 years later, and the slow creep of the suburban mall, there was yet another remake of “Miracle on 34th Street.”“Where did Auntie Mame go when she lost all her money?” Mr. Doonan reminded. “Selling roller skates at Macy’s.”It’s hard to imagine, though not impossible, that department stores will remain important sites of commerce and culture much longer. But the largest one in the city is not about to go quietly. At Macy’s, which takes up an entire block, there is a jumble of every sort of window.There are old-fashioned windows devoted to the story of Virginia O’Hanlon, the little girl who wrote to The New York Sun in 1897 asking if there was still a Santa Claus. Around the corner, there are high-tech windows giving voice to a little girl who wants to be Santa Claus. And around another corner: still other windows filled simply with giant Barbies. Being female in the early 21st century is nothing if not a series of mixed messages, but this attempt to empower seemed already antiquated; if Mr. Doonan were still working on windows, surely he would have gone straight for Mx. Claus?The ghost of Barneys yet to come is at Saks Fifth Avenue, which has licensed its former rival’s name, and where windows have been themed with glittering corporate efficiency to the international blockbuster “Frozen 2.” This may delight the tourists, but city dwellers remembering the craft and chance and silliness of the old holiday extravaganzas — when the designers and the famous people and the window dressers were all sticking pins in each other, and the audiences crowded four-deep on the pavement for the free sideshow — will probably be left cold. Source link Read the full article

[mariamermaid]

Daydream

Draco Malfoy X Gryffindor reader, kinda modern AU

Summary: The Halloween season in Hogwarts has begun and the yearly, secret party in the Room of Requirements is being planned. As a stubborn Gryffindor you would never miss such an opportunity, but this year you might have over done it with the alcohol…

Words: 3.1k

Warnings: drinking, swearing, vomiting

A/N: Inspired by the song “Daydream” by Ruelle

Halloween Masterlist

  I waited so long

For something sweet like this

It's where I belong

Beside you in blinding bliss

 “Oh come on Hermione! Ginny help me out here please?” You begged your friend as the curly head denied her invitation to the yearly Halloween Party in the Room of requirements. “Y/N the final exams are in only a couple of weeks, I´d rather spent my time studying.” You sighed at her comment and rolled your eyes. Ginny smiled at your gesture and leaned against Hermione, blinking with her eyes. Neither of you would ever give up unless she agreed to come with you. “Fine. But I won´t stay too late and I won´t drink.” You wanted to protest, well knowing that there was no other goal for you than to get drunk and have fun till the morning, but Ginny slammed her elbow in your side. You suppressed a groan. “Do whatever you want, Hermione. As long as you come with us.” She answered sweetly. Your conversation then turned into a hot debate about your planned costumes, but was then interrupted by loud yelling. You turned around to see the crowd of people in the inner yard, circling two people in particular. Quickly the three of you jumped off the bench and ran towards the crowd. The bad feeling that one of your friends would be involved was just too true. Ron´s red hair was hard to overlook and quickly you caught sight of Harry as well. Across from your two friends stood Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. An annoyed sigh escaped your lips. The Weasley twins who thought of this situation of just too funny even encouraged them to pull out their wands. Every other time you would have immediately stood to your friends, helping them against Malfoy, but at this autumnally time of the year, you didn´t risk anything, because if the teachers in any way would ever find out about the party, it would be over.

Which was why you shot angry glares at Fred and George, who then kept quiet.

From the girls you were the toughest, you always laughed with the boys about some jokes and in Defense against the Dark Arts you were the best fighter. Just like Harry you often battled Malfoy and exceptionless replied with the best comebacks at his sneaky remarks. Just like Hermione, you were a muggle-born and every time Draco even dared to open his mouth to speak badly about any family just because they weren´t pure blooded, you made him regret it. You often paid with detention for defending your family, but it was worth it. Many students looked up to you, which was why some recommend you as a Prefect, but you always denied the request, you could never see yourself in the role of a Prefect. And the fact that a certain blonde guy represented Slytherin, made you avoid this role even more. You encountered with Malfoy often enough on the Quidditch field, together with Ron you were a keeper and for some reason, you and Malfoy often had heated arguments on the field because his team would accuse you of “cheating”, which was obviously not true and they were simple angry because you held each Quaffle they fired at you.

“Boys! Stop!” You yelled at them angrily, everybody shut up and stared at you either afraid or surprised. But you had just caught sight of McGonagal walking down to check the crowd. “Pull yourself together!” You cautioned them and when they followed your eyes to McGonagal, who just stepped out on the yard, the crowd quickly disappeared. Harry, Ron, Draco, Grabbe, Goyle and you were left, and while McGonagal walked past you, you all held your breath. When she got out of reach, you all sighed. “Congratulations Potter, if your little friend wouldn´t have helped you, you would have ruined the party.” “Shut it, Malfoy!” You hissed. You pulled your friends by their arms and dragged them with you. “Wow Y/N you don´t even have to dress up for Halloween, do you?” Malfoy commented and Ron and Harry already wanted to spin back to punch the blonde, but you kept the grip around their arms steady. You were boiling as much as them, but unlike them, you could keep your temper under control.

 I'm living in a daydream

Nothing that could faze me now

I'm caught up in a daydream

Nothing that could wake me now

 “Omg they arrived!” You screamed giggling and Hermione and Ginny followed your screams to your room, which you shared with Hermione. In front of you laid three ginormous boxes with the “Amazon” sign on it. Hermione wasn´t too sure, she remained on her bed nervously watching you and Ginny rip open the boxes. “Calm done, I´ve ordered something off Amazon a thousand times before and by the way Caty´s dad works there.” You explained to your friend. “He is head of the wizard section.” Ginny added and finally Hermione loosened up a bit and slowly opened her box as well. Ginny had ordered a “Sally” Outfit from Nightmare before Christmas, which perfectly matched her already red hair. You talked Hermione into “Velma” from Scooby Doo, and for yourself you had purchased a pair of black skinny jeans and a black top with white bones on them. Over the top you wore you dark red Gryffindor leather jacket and you had ordered a silver wig and a red flower crown. With make up you painted the skull structures on your face. Now the three of you stood in front of the mirror checking your results happily. It bothered all of you that you still had to wait a few more days for the party, but after spinning one last time in the mirror, you were sure that the waiting would be worth it. Many students had rather lame costumes, given the fact that especially pure blooded Slytherins didn´t have the option of Amazon, many people took old clothes from their grandparents and did some Zombie make up, but this year you stepped your game up.

 What more could a girl want

What more could a girl want

 The unexpected turn of a last-minute test on Friday, made your time suddenly run. You all spent the last days of school hardcore studying and almost forgot the party by the end of the week, but when the last lesson ended on Friday, you all stormed out the class rooms with pure excitement.  Also, the fact that you had to help Ron and Harry pick up some very last-minute costumes for Halloween, stressed you even more. You later decided to let them wear suits and sunglasses and go as Men in Black and they were thrilled again. Exhausted you stumbled back into your own room, only to find a mess of clothes and make up on the floor. Your friends ran across the room adjusting and perfecting their costumes. “Y/N! Where have you been?! You´re late!” Ginny exclaimed. Her blue make-up let her red hair seem even more red and Hermione’s short bob framed her face. You sighed. “Yes I know, but I needed to help Harry and Ron pick their costumes.” You explained and Hermione stopped in the middle of the room to gasp. “Dear lord, can´t those boys just for once get their life together?” She cursed. You and Ginny giggled and Hermione rolled her eyes at you. “Come on Y/N! We´re gonna be totally late if you don´t hurry! And you know I hate being late!” She added and the last part made you and Ginny jump quickly.

 Faded it's gone

The darkness I once knew

What could go wrong?

My heart is safe with you

My heart is safe with you

 You still arrived late, but besides the overly dramatic speech of the people who organized the party, among them Fred and George, you didn´t miss much. Everybody was already there, so when the door to the room of requirements opened one last time, every one watched who was arriving. All eyes were on you, Ginny and Hermione. And to be honest, you looked freaking good.

A few boys in the back hollered at your entrance and even Hermione smirked confidently. Pansy, who was just passing the three of you, an annoyed expression on her face, because even the boys from her house gawked at you, had a cup in her hand and in the next second you had stolen said cup and raised in the air. “Let the party begin!” You yelled and a lot applause and screams were you answer. Ginny grabbed two further cups, gave on to Hermione and the three of you touched glasses. “To the holidays!” Ginny exclaimed. “To the spooky season!” Hermione added. “To us!” You laughed and you downed the cup in one. Immediately after it you heard a too familiar whistle. Fred and George appeared next to you, wrapping each an arm around you. “Oi Y/N! Don´t drink too much! Your date won´t be too happy” They warned you, but you only shook your head. “What do you mean my date?” Fred and George exchanged knowing smirks and then turned you and pointed towards a blonde guy. You almost rolled your eyes at the way Pansy threw herself at him, when you realized what Draco was wearing. A skeleton outfit including the make-up. Your jaw dropped open and the twins started giggling next to you. But you didn´t think of it as funny and anger started boiling inside of you. Huffing, you pressed the twins your cup in their hand and then pushed basically everybody who got in your way aside and encountered Malfoy with raging anger. “Malfoy!” You hissed. He turned to and… smiled?

“Nice costume, Y/n!” He commented and sounded almost polite. Pansy next to him gasped, he probably hadn´t commented her costume- a cheap looking leather outfit with smudged eyeliner- at all. You snorted and pulled him aside towards the table with the drinks and food on it and he seemed barely bothered. He rather enjoyed the situation a little too much for your taste. Lazily he grabbed a cup and filled it with punch. “Why the hell are you wearing this outfit?” He didn´t turn when answering. “Why not?” “Why not?! Don´t make me even more mad, we both know it couldn´t end well for you!” “Y/n calm down, nobody cares anyway.” He gave you the cup and filled another one.

“I just wanted to have a fun night without your humble self…” “EY Y/n matching with Malfoy? The new dream couple in Hogwarts?” Seamus interrupted you and angrily you spun around to run after him. 

“Finnigan you better start running ´cause when I get ahold of you, you won´t be able to run anymore!” You pushed through the crowd, but he quickly disappeared and already exhausted you leaned against a wall and took a sip.

A sip.

From the cup Draco had filled you.

Befuddled you stared at the cup in your hands. What the hell was happening?

 I'm living in a daydream

Nothing that could faze me now

I'm caught up in a daydream

Nothing that could wake me now

 After the cup Draco had given you, you drank another and another. And another.

It was already past midnight when you realized that you had lost count and the walls around even started spinning. The loud music began to fade into the background and you swung your hips in the rhythm of the beat, while holding a cup in one hand, in the other Ginny´s hand, you started to daze off into another dimension of drunkenness. Loudly you sang the lyrics only the muggle-born knew, you played beer pong with Fred and George and laughing you chatted with your friends. Since hours you had been on the dancefloor with Ginny and Hermione and even your curly friend started to loosen up with the alcohol. While you enjoyed the feeling of the bass in the course of moving your body in sync, you noticed Ginny giggling in Hermione’s ear and pointing behind you. A few tables away sat Malfoy with his gang and while Pansy tried to have an actual conversation with the blonde, all he could do was watch you. Every other time you would have been annoyed, or disgusted or angry, if he had watched you like this, but now… Now it felt good knowing you had all his attention. The last bit of your conscience was pushed down when you chugged your cup and threw it away. You twirled your head, letting your hair fly, while bending forward. You heard first hollers from Zabini and when you slightly shook you booty, the screams got louder. Quickly you unbent- the sudden urge of vomit rising- and turned to see the whole Slytherin gang watching you. You smirked but only made eye contact with Malfoy. Then, before giving him one last devilish smile, you danced away through the crowd.

 What more could a girl want

What more could a girl want

What more could a girl want

 You had lost sight of Ginny and Hermione, but you didn´t have the time to look for them, you already felt the vomit coming up. With your hand pressed over your mouth you ran out the room towards the girl´s bathrooms. Usually would first ask Fred and George since they had the Marauder´s map, but you could only hope that Filch wasn´t near. The room of requirements let you out on the second floor, close to the girl´s bathrooms and to the Gryffindor common room. You stumbled through the door and your knees hit the ground hard. Your hands hazily grabbed the toilet seat before you threw up.

 “Man! Y/N is so hot!” Blaise exclaimed and other boys agreed nodding. “You know if she was a Slytherin, I would…” A sudden punch from Draco stopped him. “Don´t talk about her like that!” He hissed. His friends had already noticed that Draco had been unusually quiet this evening, but that behavior was completely new for him. “What is up with you?” Zabini now asked pissed as well. Draco only rolled his eyes and then left the table. “Where are you going?” Zabini yelled after him. “Catch fresh air!”

The minute Draco stepped out of the room of requirements he lurked around the corners, making sure no teacher was near. When his eyes wandered through the sparsely lighted corridor, he stopped at the door to the girl´s bathroom. A second, he remained at his spot, then he sighed and entered.

I'm living in a daydream

Nothing that could faze me now, nothing that could faze me now

I'm caught up in a daydream, I'm caught up in a daydream

Nothing that could wake me now, nothing that could faze me now

 He already heard you gagging and his steps quickened. He only saw you dropping down to your knees and lunging out. Quickly he grabbed you around your waist, stopping you from hitting your head on the toilet. When you threw up and he was sure that you could somewhat sit alone, he held your hair back and took the flower crown out of your hair. Just when you were finished you realized someone holding your hair, just then you realized it was Malfoy. “What are you doing here, Malfoy? It´s the girl´s bathroom!” You reminded him, but he only chuckled. A silent fell between you. He leaned against the doorframe, watching you precisely and exhausted, you stared up to him. You coughed from the taste of the vomit and tired you pulled off your wig, you hair fell out.

To this day, Draco swore he had never seen something so beautiful, like you sitting on the bathroom floor with the smudged skull makeup and your natural hair voluminously falling down, gazing up to him with your stubborn look, but your eyes shimmering in the soft light that fell through the window from the full moon.

“Why do you hate me?” You broke the silence. Draco licked his lips, like he often used to do in potions class when trying to figure out the recipe. “I don´t.” “Yes, you do.” You replied pouting. “No, I don´t.” You rolled your eyes. “Fine! Then why do constantly bother me with you childish behavior and bad remarks?” He chuckled again. “Bothering you? You´re not so boring as well when you throw your comebacks at me!” You had to admit, he looked good. His light blonde hair in the soft light, his tall figure in the dark suit. The skull makeup perfectly highlighted his high cheekbones and his sharp jawline. His blue eyes piercing through the black and white. “Thanks.” You replied, slightly unsure if he even complimented you. You waited a few seconds before asking again.

“Why are you here?” “Oh, Blaise just…”

“No, why are you really here?” He waited, unsure what to say. Should he say the truth? Would you even remember it? “I was worried about you.” He expected you to be laughing, but you didn´t. You sat there, completely still, your big eyes watching him.

“You were worried about me.” You repeated his statement, he sighed and pushed his blazer back to pull out a single flower. “Why are you giving me this?” “Isn´t that what people do when they like someone?”

You turned the flower in your hand, eyeing it from all angles in it´s beauty. Then you looked back up to him. “You like me?” He huffed, slightly laughing and sat down as well, right next to you, your shoulders touching. “Is that bad?” You didn´t look at him, but slowly you shook your head. You felt his eyes laying on you and you looked back at him. You felt him coming closer, his eyes traveling down to your lips and when you were only inches apart, you could already feel his breath, you pulled back. Immediately Draco did the same. “Did I do something wrong?” You quickly shook your head. “No… No, I just… I just threw up, I don´t think you want to kiss me now.” He laughed and for the first time you realized what a beautiful laugh he had. He grabbed your hand, ready to pull you up, but you remained on the floor. “Let´s get you into bed.” “No!” You exclaimed, he looked at you surprised. You still held his hand and pulled him back next to you. “Let´s stay here, please.” He nodded and you laid your head on his shoulders. “I´m afraid this is all a dream and tomorrow I wake up and it´s over.” You admitted. His thumb brushed over the back of your hand. “Me too.”

“Let´s just stay here a little longer.”

 What more could a girl want

What more could a girl want

 @feelthefeelingsinsideyou @illuminateshawnm@imaginesforlotsofthings@suburbiasqueen  

[harryseyebrows]

I have so many ideas for high school hazoff but I can’t write them out fully. Jeff asking Harry for sex advice and Harry being extremely smug about it. Also Harry housesitting and asking Jeff to come over and Jeff is like 👀👀 but it turns out Harry has a bunch of people over and it’s not the one on one time Jeff was hoping for

omg... what kind of sex advice? like does jeff ask harry to go buy lube with him? and harry makes a face like, ‘you want to go out in public and buy it? just use amazon like everyone else, you weirdo’ but then jeff explains, ‘god i want to but my parents are nosy. i dont want them to get the box before i do and open it.’ and then that leads to some very awkward conversations in the car on their way over to walmart. 

ALSO, the homesitting idea im SCREAMING. jeff texts: do u need me to bring anything? and harry responds back: no just yourself (: 

jeff’s hands are shaking on the steering wheel as he drives the familiar route to harry’s parents’ house. he brought his pillow and a change of clothes. just in case harry wants him to stay the night. 

just in case.

he also spritzed on some cologne before he left, which was embarrassing enough on its own, but then his mom stopped him on his way out and asked him what the occasion was. 

he also may or may not have a condom and a packet of lube in his wallet. not that he’s expecting anything - he knows its a long shot, to say the least. but he wants to be prepared for anything. 

except, when he turns the corner onto harry’s street, there’s multiple cars in the driveway and some more parked out front, on the curb. 

jeff’s hackles raise without him meaning to. he just-- he thought that maybe tonight would be different. not different from the other nights they hang out, just the two of them, but different. 

that was a stupid way to think, apparently. 

still, he finds a spot to park his car, and drags his feet the entire walk up the front path. he doesn’t bother ringing the bell or knocking - just standing outside he can hear the steady thump of bass from whatever music is playing inside.

as soon as he steps in, it’s even louder. there’s people milling around, red solo cups in hand with god knows what in them. he makes his way through the house, internally cringing at the careless way people are lounging on harry’s mom’s furniture - the couch she barely sits on herself, her dining room table that she polishes religiously, now littered with water rings from abandoned drinks. 

he recognizes mostly everyone. kids he has class with, guys he knows from soccer, and girls that have dated some of his friends. they nod politely at him or offer an enthusiastic ‘hey!’ as he walks by. harry is nowhere to be found, though. it seems fitting that the man of the hour is MIA.

upstairs is quieter, but if anything, it makes jeff even more suspicious. thankfully, mr. and mrs. twist’s room is empty with no signs of unwanted visitors. the bathroom is empty, too.

jeff knocks on harry’s bedroom door and immediately hears shuffling from the other side of the wood. a few seconds later, harry calls, ‘come in!’

it’s with great effort that he turns the knob and pushes the door open, like it’s made of lead. 

harry’s in bed, because of course he is. and he isn’t alone. 

jeff opens his mouth to speak but shuts it quickly. 

they’ve pulled the covers up so jeff can’t see anything, but the implication is there, given harry’s rumpled hair and his bare shoulders. the person he’s with is laying down, most of their head obscured by pillows and the blanket. 

harry’s smile, when he sees who’s come in, should probably make jeff feel good. the way his green eyes light up and he shows off all of his pretty, straight teeth. but it only makes jeff feel more sour, his stomach sinking to somewhere on the first floor, maybe even the basement. 

‘oh. jeff. hi,” harry practically stutters. he gives jeff a dorky little wave, and half of the blanket drops to reveal his naked chest and belly. he grabs it quickly and tucks it almost up to his neck, his cheeks gone rosy. 

jeff drops his eyes to the floor. ‘hi. uh, sorry for-- im just gonna-- yeah.’

he doesn’t mean to but he slams the door behind him in his haste to get out of there. immediately, he winces. he debates reopening it to apologize, or even going back in to tell harry to be careful with... whoever that is. jeff has his suspicions but he doesn’t want to assume.

however, he does neither of those things. he goes back downstairs and gathers empty cups, doing his best to get a head start on cleaning. he knows where the trash bags are, so he grabs one from under the sink and gathers what he can, ignoring the protests from classmates who mutter things like ‘hey, i wasnt done with that’ and ‘don’t be such a mom, jeff. loosen up a little.’

he can’t is the problem. because he came over here thinking that he was going to have a quiet night in with his best friend and now he’s dealing with this. people he didn’t want to see, a house that isn’t even his own but one that he doesn’t want to see get trashed, and the knowledge that upstairs, the boy that he likes -- loves, even -- is with somebody else. 

half of him hates that he’s jealous. harry doesn’t owe him anything. harry probably doesn’t even know that jeff has these feelings. but that’s the thing, isn’t it? he has these feelings and he doesn’t know what the fuck to do with them. 

violently crushing plastic cups and soda cans seems to be an appropriate outlet for now, so that’s what he does. 

[anitabyars]

"Kennedy Ryan weaves prose like a magician (or voodoo priestess) without sacrificing heat or page-turning angst to create authentic, living, breathing characters you want to root for to the end. Hook Shot is simply beautiful." -- Emma Scott, Bestselling Author

Hook Shot, a deeply emotional standalone set in the worlds of professional basketball and high fashion from Kennedy Ryan, is available now and FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Enter the Release Giveaway for a $50 Gift Card +Signed HOOK SHOT Paperback here:

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Divorced. Single dad. Traded to a losing squad.

Cheated on, betrayed, exposed.

My perfect life blew up in my face and I'm still picking up the pieces.

The last thing I need is her.

A wildflower. A storm. A woman I can't resist.

Lotus DuPree is a kick to my gut and a wrench in my plans

from the moment our eyes meet.

I promised myself I wouldn't trust a woman again,

but I've never wanted anyone the way I want Lo.

She's not the plan I made, but she's the risk I have to take.

A warrior. A baller. The one they call Gladiator.

Kenan Ross charged into my life smelling all good, looking even better and snatching my breath from the moment we met.

The last thing I need is him.

I’m working on me. Facing my pain and conquering my demons.

I've seen what trusting a man gets you.

I. Don't. Have. Time. For. This.

But he just keeps coming for me.

Keeps knocking down my defenses and stealing my excuses

one by one.

He never gives up, and now...I'm not sure I want him to.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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EXCERPT

After talking to Kenan for the last few minutes, and looking under his hood, so to speak, I’ve found that he’s a classic. They don’t make them like him anymore, and if I don’t change the subject, change the course of this conversation, I’ll fool myself that we don’t have to keep things simple and that we could be more than just friends, not just for the summer, but for a long time to come. As long as I’d like.

​“Okay,” I say, switching gears without a clutch and pulling a tie off another of Amanda’s racks. “I think that shirt could work really well with this tie.”

​He doesn’t look at the tie I’m holding up, but keeps his eyes fastened on me. He’s not playing along. I’ve boxed myself into a corner with him. And the quarters are too tight. His scent. His warmth. His intelligence. His thoughtfulness. He is pressing in on me, overtaking my good intentions in all the ways I never thought a man could.

​“Try this on,” I say, blindly shoving the mint green shirt at him.

​When I look at him, he’s already peeled one shirt off and is reaching for the one I chose. I didn’t think this through. Didn’t forecast that Kenan changing from one shirt into another would mean his naked chest. I lose my train of thought and all my chill. Besides my mouth dropping open at the sight of the sculpted terrain of his chest and abs, I give no other indication that he affects me. Taut, bronze skin stretches across his broad shoulders like supple canvas pulled over a frame, the foundation of a masterpiece. He’s a big man. Not bulky, but instead chiseled to the specifications of a master sculptor: arms roped with muscles, biceps like rocks under skin glowing with health. The forearms Chase raved about are lined with veins and sinew. And I die for a great chest. I’ve never seen one more spectacular than Kenan’s.

​Two words.

​Male. Nipples.

​Jesus, my mouth is literally watering at the thought of tasting them, sucking them, licking them. And if that pectoral perfection weren’t enough, the two columns of muscles, four each, are stacked over his lean stomach arrowing down to a narrow waist and hips. I can’t look away. I lick my lips, imagining how he would feel under my mouth. How I’d lick around his nipples and drag my tongue down that shallow path bisecting his abdominal muscles. I’d slip that belt off and sink to my knees. Unzip those pants and take him out. God, hold him in my hands and then take him all the way to the back of my throat. I’d choke on him. A man this big . . . I’d be so tight around him.

​“Lotus,” Kenan says, jarring me from my torso trance. “Should I go ahead and put this shirt on? Or did you need a little more time?”

​I snap a glance up to his face, embarrassed to find him laughing at me. Oh, God. I’m as bad as Amanda. I turn to leave, but he catches my elbow with a gentle hand and turns me back around, walking us behind two of the racks. He bends until he’s almost eye level with me.

​“Don’t be embarrassed,” he says, searching my face intently. “I’m glad you like my body.”

​“I didn’t say I . . .” My words trail off at his knowing grin. “Okay. So you have a nice body. I work in fashion. Do you have any idea how many great bodies I see on a daily basis?”

​“I’m sure many,” he says, his smile still firmly in place. “I can’t speak for any of them, only for the way you looked at me.”

​“And how do you think I looked at you?” I ask defensively, forcing myself not to look away.

​In the quiet that follows, his smile fades, and heat replaces the humor in his eyes. “You looked at me the way I bet I’ve looked at you every time you walk into a room,” he says, the timbre of his voice rolling over my sensitive skin like a caress. “Like I would eat you if I could. Head to toe, everything in between.”

​“Kenan,” I protest, closing my eyes on a groan. “We said friends. We said simple. This is not how you start a simple friendship.”

​His large hand cups my jaw and lifts my chin. I open my eyes, blinking dazedly at him. I wasn’t prepared for how his touch makes me feel. How I instantly crave more of it; want to lean into the warmth; to turn and trace his lifeline with my tongue. Tell him all the things I could discover just from reading his palm and looking into his eyes.

​How can such a large hand feel so gentle, like it’s capable of treasuring, cherishing?

​“Okay, Lotus,” he says, regret and reluctance woven around my name. “Simple. Friendship.”

About Kennedy

A Top 25 Amazon Bestseller, Kennedy Ryan writes about women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts.

She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son. She has always leveraged her journalism background to write for charity and non-profit organizations, but enjoys writing to raise Autism awareness most. A contributor for Modern Mom Magazine and Frolic, Kennedy’s writings have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today and many others. The founder and executive director of a foundation serving Atlanta Autism families, she has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for families living with autism.

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My Review!

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Phenomenal! Kennedy Ryan never ceases to deliver something completely unique, unforgettable, thought provoking, completely addictive, and completely mind-blowing. I was utterly mesmerized, by the characters and this story that enraptured me with its emotion, anticipation, hunger, frustration, conviction, and vitality. Beautifully penned this book is a insta-must read, and one you wont be able to put down.

You do not want to miss this one. Obsessed. That’s how I felt while reading this book. Every page was better than the previous one. Just try to put this one down. I dare you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[orbemnews]

Corporations, Vocal About Racial Justice, Go Quiet on Voting Rights As Black Lives Matter protesters filled the streets last summer, many of the country’s largest corporations expressed solidarity and pledged support for racial justice. But now, with lawmakers around the country advancing restrictive voting rights bills that would have a disproportionate impact on Black voters, corporate America has gone quiet. Last week, as Georgia Republicans rushed to pass a sweeping law restricting voter access, Atlanta’s biggest corporations, including Delta, Coca-Cola and Home Depot, declined to weigh in, offering only broad support for voting rights. The muted response — coming from companies that last year promised to support social justice — infuriated activists, who are now calling for boycotts. “We are all frustrated with these companies that claim that they are standing with the Black community around racial justice and racial equality,” said LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter. “This shows that they lack a real commitment to racial equity. They are complicit in their silence.” On Thursday, hours after the Georgia voting restrictions were signed into law, Ms. Brown joined protesters at the Atlanta airport calling for a boycott of Delta, Georgia’s largest employer. In front of the Delta terminal, they lobbied for employees to pressure their employer and urged the airline’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, to use his clout to sway the debate. Delta is a major corporate supporter of the gay community, and was among the many major companies that last year said it stood with the Black community after the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police. At the time, Delta said it would look for ways to “make an impact and take a stand against racism and injustice, from programs to policy changes.” But last week, Delta declined to comment on the Georgia legislation specifically, instead issuing a statement about the need for broad voter participation and equal access to the polls. “It’s a double standard,” Ms. Brown said. Coca-Cola, another major Atlanta employer, faced similar pressure as the new law took shape. Last summer, Coca-Cola’s chief executive, James Quincey, said the company would “invest our resources to advance social justice causes” and “use the voices of our brands to weigh in on important social conversations.” But last week, rather than take a position on the then-pending legislation, Coca-Cola said it was aligned with local chambers of commerce, which were diplomatically calling on legislators to maximize voter participation while avoiding any pointed criticisms. That smacked of hypocrisy to Bishop Reginald Jackson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who spoke at a rally outside the Georgia Capitol on Thursday. Speaking into a bullhorn, Mr. Jackson quoted Mr. Quincey’s statements from last summer as a point of contrast to the company’s tepid engagement with the legislation. “We took him at his word,” Mr. Jackson said. “Now, when they try to pass this racist legislation, we can’t get him to say anything. And our position is, if you can’t stand with us now, you don’t need our money, you don’t need our support.” Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, a Black pastor who was elected in January, called out companies for their muted responses in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “I’ve seen these corporations falling over themselves every year around the time of the King holiday, celebrating Dr. King,” Senator Warnock said. “The way to celebrate Dr. King is to stand up for what he represented: voting rights.” Corporate America’s guarded approach to the partisan issue of voting rights stands in stark contrast to its engagement with other social and political issues in recent years. When legislatures advanced “bathroom bills” that would have discriminated against people who are transgender, many big companies threatened to pull out of states like Indiana, Georgia and Texas. And over the past four years, many big companies spoke out against President Donald J. Trump on issues including climate change, immigration and white supremacy. “It’s not as though corporations are unwilling to speak powerfully about social justice issues,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. “It seems to me perfectly legitimate for Black voters in Georgia to expect them to speak just as powerfully and directly about what is an unwarranted attack on the ability of Black voters to participate in the political process.” In recent weeks, only a few consistently progressive corporations publicly addressed the new laws head on. “A person’s right to cast their ballot is the foundation of our democracy,” Salesforce said on Twitter. Criticizing an early version of the Georgia bill, it added: “Georgia H.B. 531 would limit trustworthy, safe & equal access to voting by restricting early voting & eliminating provisional ballots. That’s why Salesforce opposes H.B. 531 as it stands.” Patagonia, which has worked to increase voter participation, condemned the new bills and called on other companies to get more involved. “Our democracy is under attack by a new wave of Jim Crow bills that seek to restrict the right to vote,” Ryan Gellert, the chief executive of Patagonia, said in a statement. “It is urgent that businesses across the country take a stand — and use their brands as a force for good in support of our democracy.” Those were the exceptions. For the most part, big companies declined to comment on the Georgia legislation as it came together. Even chief executives who have made names for themselves by championing diversity chose not to get involved. Tim Ryan, the senior partner at PwC and a founder of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, declined to comment for this article. “The voice of individual leaders is oddly muted,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management who regularly gathers chief executives to talk about controversial issues. “For the most part, they are not yet taking the same courageous stands they have taken on election ballot counting and the election results this fall, let alone on immigration, gun safety and the infamous bathroom bills.” After four years of responding to the often extreme policies of the Trump administration, many companies are seeking to stay out of political fights. And the voting bills are being driven by mainstream Republican lawmakers, rather than lesser-known right-wing figures. Companies that take a stand might have a harder time currying favor with those lawmakers on other issues down the line. “This is not the fringe members trying to push bathroom bills,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, the chief executive of Fair Fight, a voter-rights group founded by Stacey Abrams. “This is a priority for the party at the national level. For companies to speak out and work against these bills is very different.” Ms. Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund said there was another factor at play as well: race. “Why is it that corporations that could speak so powerfully and unequivocally in opposition to discrimination against the L.G.B.T.Q. community and immigrants are not speaking as clearly about the disenfranchisement of Black people?” she said. “It’s the same thing. This is a race issue.” Companies have effectively squashed bills at the state level before. In 2016, when lawmakers were advancing the bathroom bills, major corporations said they would move jobs out of states that adopted such measures. Responding to one such bill in Georgia in 2016, the Walt Disney Company said, “We will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law.” The tactic was effective. Many of those bills were tabled as lawmakers responded to the threats of lost business. This time around, however, the entertainment industry has taken a more guarded approach. When asked for comment, Disney, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment and ViacomCBS either said they had no public comment or did not respond to queries. The Motion Picture Association, Hollywood’s lobbying organization, declined to comment, as did Amazon Studios, which six months ago released “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” a documentary about efforts by Ms. Abrams and other activists to tear down voting barriers in Georgia and elsewhere. The fight in Georgia is likely a preview of things to come. Lawmakers in dozens of states have proposed similar voting bills, and activists are planning to ramp up the pressure on corporate America as the battle over voting rights goes national. Companies, meanwhile, are trying to maintain a delicate balancing act. Though the Georgia law passed Thursday was less stringent than initially proposed, it introduced more rigid voter identification requirements for absentee balloting, limited drop boxes and expanded the state legislature’s power over elections. After its passage, Delta and Coca-Cola appeared to take some credit for helping soften the bill’s restrictions. Delta said it had “engaged extensively with state elected officials” in recent weeks and that “the legislation signed this week improved considerably during the legislative process.” Coca-Cola issued a similar statement, saying it had “sought improvements” to the law and that it would “continue to identify opportunities for engagement and strive for improvements aimed at promoting and protecting the right to vote in our home state and elsewhere.” Those words were cold comfort to activists who had worked against the efforts to curb voter rights. “They have made soft statements rather than stepping out,” Ms. Groh-Wargo of Fair Fight said. “It’s ridiculous.” Brooks Barnes and Nicole Craine contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #Corporations #Justice #Quiet #Racial #Rights #vocal #Voting

[jobsearchtips02]

Gaps in Amazon’s Coronavirus Response Fuel Warehouse Workers’ Demands

Shifting sick-leave policy and communication issues are causing employees to assert themselves after they stayed on the job.

Credit…Doug Chayka

April 5, 2020Updated 3: 25 p.m. ET

SEATTLE — Jonathan Bailey, a 30-year-old Amazon warehouse employee in Queens, has a system for protecting himself from the coronavirus at work. He wears a medical mask with a bandanna tied over it. When he returns to the apartment he shares with his wife, he dumps his mask, work gloves, neon green Amazon safety vest and other clothes into a plastic trash bag.

He’s not certain it really works, but he figures it’s better than nothing. “We’re very careful,” Mr. Bailey said. “We’re in the epicenter of it all.”

As millions of Americans heed government orders to hunker down, ordering food and medicines and books and puzzle boards for home delivery, many of Amazon’s 400,000 warehouse workers have stayed on the job, fulfilling the crushing demands of a country suddenly working and learning from home. Orders for Amazon groceries, for example, have been as much as 50 times higher than normal, according to a person with direct knowledge of the business.

The challenge is keeping enough people on the job to fill those orders, according to more than 30 Amazon warehouse workers and current and former corporate employees who spoke with The New York Times. (Many requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly and feared losing their jobs.) For all of its high-tech sophistication, Amazon’s vast e-commerce business is dependent on an army of workers operating in warehouses they now fear are contaminated with the coronavirus.

“None of this works without our employees,” said Jay Carney, the company’s senior vice president for corporate affairs. And the employees have been motivated to remind Amazon of their importance.

The surge of orders is testing the limits of Amazon’s vaunted distribution system and forcing changes to the company’s relationship with its employees. While Amazon’s workers are not unionized, the crisis has given workplace organizers like Mr. Bailey unexpected leverage to demand better pay, better sick leave and more of a voice in how the company is run.

By mid-March, attendance at Amazon warehouses had fallen as much as 30 percent, according to one corporate employee involved in the response. This week, small groups of employees protested working conditions in Michigan and on Staten Island. New York State and New York City officials also said they were investigating whether Amazon improperly retaliated against a worker it fired who had been involved in the protest.

Amazon said that it did not fire employees for speaking out about their workplace conditions and that it had fired the worker because he was on paid quarantine and violated safety measures by going to the on-site protest. But in a leaked memo published Thursday by Vice, Amazon’s top lawyer called the fired worker inarticulate and discussed strategy for making him out to be the face of the worker movement.

David Zapolsky, the general counsel, said he had been frustrated by what he called a safety violation. “I let my emotions draft my words and get the better of me,” he said.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, both of New Jersey, recently wrote to Amazon’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos, to express concern about warehouse safety. The senators, all Democrats, condemned Mr. Zapolsky’s remarks in statements to The Times.

“It’s troubling, racist and has no place in our country,” Mr. Menendez said. “Amazon should do everything it can to protect its workers instead of disparaging them.”

Amazon said that at the time he made the comments, Mr. Zapolsky was not aware that the fired worker was black.

Amazon’s response to the pandemic has differed from warehouse to warehouse. Over the years, that sort of autonomy has allowed Amazon to nimbly adjust to local market conditions. Now it is leading to distrust, as workers see some facilities close for cleaning while others remain open.

Since the first worker in the Queens facility learned on March 18 that he had tested positive, the company has learned of cases in more than 50 other facilities, out of the more than 500 it operates across the county.

In recent weeks, Amazon has raised wages and added quarantine leave, and it is offering overtime at double pay. It said it had tripled its janitorial staff. And it has added space between many workstations. But in private groups, conversations with their managers and public protests, some workers have expressed alarm about their safety.

Mr. Carney said the company had been cautious about telling workers about cases out of privacy concerns and because one of its first likely cases, a corporate employee in Europe, turned out not to have the virus. He said Amazon was managing the needs of its workers and the public the best it could in a situation for which no company has a real playbook.

“We’re pushing out these new rules as we decide on them,” Mr. Carney said. But some warehouses acted more rapidly on the policies than others. “Compliance has been unbelievably good but not perfect,” he said. On Thursday, Amazon announced that it would audit warehouses’ compliance with the rules.

Warning signs from China and Italy

For Amazon, like many companies in America, the danger of the coronavirus started as a problem in its supply chain. The company was concerned about acquiring products that were made in China, and by mid-February, it was placing larger orders than normal to stockpile supplies.

But on Feb. 27, Amazon learned that an employee in Europe who had traveled to Milan had contracted the virus. It immediately halted all nonessential travel, including within the United States, making it the first known major company to suspend domestic travel.

In the first week of March, Amazon told its headquarters employees to work from home. Warehouse employees were later offered unlimited unpaid time off instead. Workers would normally be fired after missing too many shifts, so Mr. Carney said the message that executives hoped to convey with the new policy was: “You won’t lose your job, don’t worry.”

Many workers did stay home, just as panic buying set in — first for masks and hand sanitizer, then toilet paper and eventually webcams. Eric Heller, a former Amazon senior manager who advises major brands at Wunderman Thompson Commerce, said his clients saw canned meat sales rise 700 percent. Pet food went up 300 percent.

Companies began sending in products to restock Amazon’s warehouses. But with attendance down and more items coming in, workers could not replenish the supplies fast enough. Trucks backed up, waiting days to be unloaded. The company offered shift after extra shift, raised wages $2 an hour and paid double the hourly rate for overtime. It eventually announced that it would hire 100,000 new workers.

In mid-March, Amazon stopped accepting new shipments into its warehouses that were not for priority products, like health care and baby supplies.

On March 16, Jeysson Manrique, an employee of a delivery company that contracts with Amazon, woke up with a fever. His body ached. He called his supervisor to say he was sick. Mr. Manrique, 29, was asked to text a picture of his temperature on a thermometer. He couldn’t find one, so he went in for his shift at an Amazon facility in Queens. Amazon said it was investigating the situation with the contracting company because its policy requires employees stay home if they feel sick.

Two days later, Mr. Manrique’s father-in-law — they live together in a house with other members of the family — was sorting packages at the same facility when his doctor called to tell him that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. His father-in-law shared his test results with his supervisors and went home.

When the warehouse closed for cleaning, he was the first publicly known case inside Amazon’s vast warehouse operations in the United States. Mr. Manrique joined his father-in-law and other members of the household in quarantine without venturing out for a test.

On March 23, rumors circulated at the Queens facility that another employee had tested positive. Hours later, there were whispers of a third. The building was shut down March 24 and March 25 for deep cleaning. The company had also begun instructing warehouses to keep employees apart, staggering when they arrive and canceling group meetings at the start of shifts.

Some workers said they were still handling products that were helpful but hardly critical. One warehouse employee posted a picture on social media of moving large boxes, including a Power Wheels Jeep that a child can ride, with the hashtags #SoManyPingPongTables and #TreadmillsAreEssentialProductsApparently.

Ira Pollock, an employee in the Queens facility who has organized other workers, said having people show up to ship nonessential items endangered the community. “Amazon has to earn its right to call itself an essential service,” he said.

“The priorities are the priorities,” Mr. Carney said. “We’re not going to ship a prom dress or a Ping-Pong table if that’s going to slow down in any way the intake or outflow of essential items.”

A ‘particularly insufficient’ response

When Amazon announced unlimited unpaid leave, it also said it would pay two weeks of sick time for “all Amazon employees diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed into quarantine.” On Friday, a day after it received questions from The Times about the situation, Amazon said it had issued a check for Mr. Manrique’s father-in-law, who is ending his second week of quarantine.

Documents viewed by The Times show that workers around the country applied for leave without a formal diagnosis. The workers said they had compromised immune systems or had been ordered to stay home because of contact with someone who was sick, but did not have the paperwork required to qualify for paid time off.

In a number of cases, employees continued to work after showing symptoms but before their tests came back positive — when they would be eligible for paid leave. One person in New York started having symptoms on March 18 but did not stop working until March 25, when she went into quarantine, the documents show.

Amazon said workers could still use unlimited unpaid or regular paid sick time off, if they had accrued enough hours.

“Paid leave is important,” said Dr. David Michaels, a former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration who teaches at George Washington University, “because you need to do everything you can to ensure that potentially sick workers stay home in order not to infect co-workers and others in the public.”

On March 25, the attorneys general in 14 states and Washington, D.C., wrote a letter to Amazon saying the requirement for testing or a formal quarantine was “particularly insufficient given the realities of the public health crisis, where the lack of access to Covid-19 testing has been widely reported.” Two days later, Amazon expanded its policy.

Mr. Carney said the leave policy had been developed at a time when Amazon expected testing to be widely available.

“When it became clear that the complete scarcity of tests was an obstacle to people finding out whether or not they had Covid, we made it clear that the additional paid time off applied to people who had suspected they had Covid,” he said.

But the message has not reached everyone. The internal website for warehouse employees has not been updated, and on Monday, a warehouse employee in the South asked for paid leave after her child tested positive. In an email viewed by The Times, the employee was told to take unpaid time off “as you wait for test results.”

While Amazon said it could not confirm the situation, it added that that response did not reflect its policy and that any employee caring for someone with a doctor-diagnosed case of Covid-19 should receive up to two weeks of pay.

Karen Weise reported from Seattle, and Kate Conger from Oakland, Calif. Frances Robles contributed reporting from Key West, Fla.

Updated April 4, 2020

Should I wear a mask?

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

How do I get tested?

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

How does coronavirus spread?

It seems to spread very easily from person to person, especially in homes, hospitals and other confined spaces. The pathogen can be carried on tiny respiratory droplets that fall as they are coughed or sneezed out. It may also be transmitted when we touch a contaminated surface and then touch our face.

Is there a vaccine yet?

No. The first testing in humans of an experimental vaccine began in mid-March. Such rapid development of a potential vaccine is unprecedented, but even if it is proved safe and effective, it probably will not be available for 12 to18 months.

What makes this outbreak so different?

Unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and little is known about this particular virus so far. It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions — not just those with respiratory diseases — particularly hard.

What if somebody in my family gets sick?

If the family member doesn’t need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, according to guidelines issued by the C.D.C. If there’s space, the sick family member should stay in a separate room and use a separate bathroom. If masks are available, both the sick person and the caregiver should wear them when the caregiver enters the room. Make sure not to share any dishes or other household items and to regularly clean surfaces like counters, doorknobs, toilets and tables. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently.

Should I stock up on groceries?

Plan two weeks of meals if possible. But people should not hoard food or supplies. Despite the empty shelves, the supply chain remains strong. And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home.

Can I go to the park?

Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.

Should I pull my money from the markets?

That’s not a good idea. Even if you’re retired, having a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds so that your money keeps up with inflation, or even grows, makes sense. But retirees may want to think about having enough cash set aside for a year’s worth of living expenses and big payments needed over the next five years.

What should I do with my 401(k)?

Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions — don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”

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from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/gaps-in-amazons-coronavirus-response-fuel-warehouse-workers-demands/

[tak4hir0]

And back to the UK, it’s cold here! In brief, I admit I had a blast at Dreamforce this year! It was great to: 1) Showcase HIVE and the teams that I’m doing quite a bit of work with, at the developer keynote. Which had a whole chapter as part of the technology announcements for the year, which I was working with to get it ready with the product and evangelist teams before the event. One of which was Alba Rivas from the dreamOle team that has recently moved on to the Salesforce Evangelist team, it was so nice when I got a whatsapp from her early on in the prep for the keynote Although it really is great to see oneself on the big screen like this I wanted to showcase the team, so I managed to sneak in a little sign. I wonder if Wade thought for a second… oh dear another protester!    2) Laura Walker (who I also work with) opened the Admin keynote, high five-ing Parker Harris on to the stage! And Michael Kolodner, who by the way I had the pleasure to discover is such a gamer! We may be on to something about board games at Dreamforce…   3) Recording the day before Dreamforce a Pluralsight course with Don Robins, Agile for Salesforce coming up in couple months for the #SFPlayByPlay series. It’s a pre #Df19 wrap! Last batch of 2019 #SfPlayByPlay in the can: @Inescapinezka on Agile with #Salesforce and @jan_vdv demystifying #CPQ. Browse all in the PxP gallery https://t.co/xFIYkLxh5J & follow me on @Pluralsight to get notifications https://t.co/ANtDQdrMB9 pic.twitter.com/3uvYV5b5A7 — Don Robins (@donrobins) November 19, 2019   4) Having my crazy cards selling out at the DreamStore. And it’s OFFICIAL: #Dreamforce is going to be epic! My recently released #GAME https://t.co/Tpaf59M8ZY IS @ the #Dreamstore @ #DF19. For #agile teams to selfasses, improve & have fun! Thankyou to make this happen #Agile & #trailblazercommunity. #BNT adventures. I’m over the moon! pic.twitter.com/WAz6hrn1dL — Ines Garcia (@Inescapinezka) November 17, 2019   5) Also sharing some content about Release Readiness, Appexchange and digital nomads, Building applications in the Salesforce platform workshop and a Lightning roundtable. … enough bragging. But seriously it was awesome! Now, I thought to ping some product highlights and share knowledge on what’s coming: Firstly, it was a breath of fresh air during the main keynote to openly acknowledge that one uses more things than just Salesforce. (That statement includes AWS Trailhead modules available now and Amazon Connect as a strategic partnership). Salesforce Economy update is that it keeps growing and growing, so let’s bring people in! So we all can be ready to fill those opportunities with willing, capable and prepared professionals. The little device running Einstein Voice (I think this is Amazon under-the-hood and with connection to Service Cloud, you can build skills to power apps too) made it to the big stage as the announcement of the year, even managed to have a section in every single keynote. The @Salesforce and @AWScloud strategic alliance is expanding to include ways to achieve customer service, learn skills, and make Einstein Voice Builder compatible with @alexa99 and other voice assistants. See everything else announced at #DF19 https://t.co/8rixQcqbYT pic.twitter.com/JO7JQjkg3s — Dreamforce (@Dreamforce) November 25, 2019   Tableau was part of the main keynote, but in my opinion with a very poor showcase and demo. Throughout the conference I had many confused conversations on where does this sit, including from Salesforce Employees. So impatiently watching the space to find out more. More and more on Customer 360 Truth Which connects data from across sales, service, marketing, commerce etc. to create a single, universal Salesforce ID for each customer. Revamp of the Salesforce mobile app, and one of which in my mind must be related to the ‘Trailhead Go‘ a separate app to do modules on the go… ahem this is for questions tick-box not actually doing hands-on exercises. But it’s a starter! There was the announcement that Marketing Cloud will run on Microsoft Azure, so hopefully this will enable other things like: as customer you could find your own logs, be less clunky and have sandboxes? Those are my hopes but not quick ones to deliver. From Marketing Cloud side of things there was another good product release in my mind: the embedded forms within emails I think is pretty cool (maybe an outcome from previous acquisition, I think). Watch the dev keynote! but few quick notes: announcement of Evergreen (serverless functions and elastic compute), Lightning Full sandboxes within minutes!, Data policies and Masking across environments, local development (beta), Open sourcing Lightning base Components… BOOM! Permission set groups another layer for separation of concerns, I think we may need to do some migration from profiles to at least permission set at some point soon. (Conspiracy theory disclaimer: that page layouts will go away) With the announcement of Dynamic Forms for record pages, you can go as granular level of 1 field, that is not only display area but dynamic visibility on user and other value within the record. But is not all ‘happy clappy’, the True to the Core session was good too. It felt to me a bit too short as a big part was to explain the announcement of the IdeaExchange, which is basically a revamp where not all points count the same, so when voting for new features you would do it as ‘a product manager’ with 100 coins to distribute on and how things are important to you. Check it out it’s live already: https://ideas.salesforce.com/s/prioritization There was a really honest session on ‘open conversation of DX’ I leave here a snapshot on what the product team is aware they need to sort out:   On top of all of this, I had some incredible conversations with people, some deep and even some non-Salesforce related (!), certainly quality over quantity. Which with Dreamforce madness this can easily be a challenge. So a big thank you for being part of this Dreamforce to remember! I certainly missed my peeps Chris & Mike throughout, I kept sending them silly stuff… sigh!

[karatecave36-blog]

These are the top 10 global consumer trends in 2019

Market Research Firm Euromonitor has published a report outlining the top 10 consumers trends to be expected in 2019 around the world. FashionUnited summarizes them below.

Everybody’s an expert

Consumers are becoming wiser and wiser. While back in the day they could only rely on a limited number of sources to get shopping inspiration and information about products they were interested in buying, now there’s a plethora of sources to educate oneself. Perhaps even too many. Reviews, forums, tutorials, social media... As a result, the power dynamics between retailers and consumers is changing, requiring companies to “constantly innovate, drive prices down and streamline and aestheticize their offerings” to stay relevant and entice shoppers, in the words of Euromonitor. The sayings “the customer is always right” and “there’s no better advertising than word of mouth” have never been truer, as people are turning more and more to their peers to make purchasing decisions.

Self-sufficiency

When information about anything is just a few clicks away, consumers cannot help but feel like they don’t have to consult a professional to make decisions regarding their wardrobes, diets, fitness regimes, interior design and so on. In short, they’re cutting out the middle person. In this process of looking after oneself, many people feel that mass market offerings are not the best solution for them, turning therefore to apps and personalization services to create a unique product that suits their preferences. This way, they don’t have to constantly engage with brand marketing -- something they’re actually getting tired of, as shown by the popularity of ad blocking services.

Stitch Fix is an example of a fashion company following this trend. It sends clients a box of clothing and accessories especially selected for them by a combination of human stylists and algorithms. FashionUnited recently spoke to Stitch Fix’s Chief Algorithm Officer to learn more about its business model. Read the interview in full here.

Canadian suits label Indochino, which sells made-to-measure suits online, is another good example. Shoppers must take their own measurements before ordering and they can choose from a range of lapel, vent, pocket, lining and button color options. “Each of the 500,000 garments we’ll ship this year are unique”, Indochino’s CEO Drew Green told FashionUnited. The full interview is here.

Immediacy

Young consumers are often accused of being impatient and having short attention spans. However, according to Euromonitor’s report, there’s more to the “I want it now” attitude than just the seek of instant gratification. In this day and age, everybody’s busy and time is a luxury. That’s why so many consumers are looking for “frictionless experiences that mesh with their lifestyles, allowing them to dedicate more time to their professional or social lives”.

As a result, speed has become a crucial factor for a retailer’s success. A recent study pointed out online fashion shops which constantly add more products to their offering perform better than those which are perceived to be more stylish in comparison. Speed of delivery is equally important: a research published last month by eMarketer with over 1,500 US consumers revealed a 59 percent increase in shoppers expecting retailers to offer same or next-day delivery, compared to 2017. Brick and mortar retailers are expected to be efficient too, which explains why Amazon has launched cashier-less physical stores called Amazon Go.

Another example of fashion brands catering for consumers’ increasing need for speed are the “see now, buy now” runway shows: consumers no longer need to wait months to get a hold of an item they saw during fashion week.

Last but not least, look at all the fashion startups whose core business is to offer trending apparel and accessories as soon as they rise on social media: Fashion Nova, Choosy and Polette are just three examples of promising young companies offering an impressive amount of new styles each week.

Back to basics for status

With so many options to choose from, many consumers are going through a materialism hangover. They want to “simplify”, “detox” and “declutter” their lives. The success of Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo, author of worldwide bestseller “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” and a Netflix series under the same name, is perhaps one of the biggest signs of this trend. Kondo advises people to only keep items which “sparkle their joy”. In such a context, products positioned as “minimalist”, “craft” or “back to basics” become the new status symbols, the new way to show the world you’re sophisticated and unique. Just think of the rise of craft beers, “old school” barbershops, natural cosmetics, and restaurants and supermarkets offering fresh, organic, hyperlocal food.

Things are no different in fashion. Last year we saw a number of luxury brands change their logos, including Burberry, Balmain and Celine. Their choice for minimalist fonts and straight lines was not for nothing: the new luxury is simple, less is more. H&M’s decision to expand its “minimalist”, “seasonless” brands COS and Arket is no coincidence, either.

Bye bye, plastics

Euromonitor predicts consumers will increasingly use their wallets to protest against the excessive use of plastic. Single-use plastic packaging is frowned upon more and more, as are disposable plastic cutlery and plastic microbeads in cosmetics. Currently, 63 percent of the world’s packaging is made from plastic, which shows companies will need to take significant steps to keep their customers.

The fashion industry has seen many initiatives to reduce plastic waste in recent times. A number of apparel collections made from recycled plastic bottles are available in the market, from brands like Everlane, Patagonia, C&A and H&M. Additionally, over 290 companies representing 20 percent of all plastic packaging produced globally have signed a global commitment to end plastic waste and pollution at the source last year, including fashion retailers and brands such as H&M, Walmart, Burberry, Target and Marks & Spencer.

Conscious consumers

But it’s not just plastics consumers are worried about. Welcome to the age of the #woke consumer, when companies are evaluated by their treatment of animals and working conditions across the supply chain. While the vegan lifestyle is on the rise, Euromonitor predicts even non-vegan consumers to adopt more animal-friendly behavior. That explains why massive e-tailer Asos stopped selling silk, cashmere and mohair last year.

JOMO: joy of missing out

You’ve probably heard the acronym FOMO, meaning “fear of missing out”. Well, it looks like consumers don’t care so much anymore. Attesting once more that people are growing tired of being constantly bombarded with new information, as well as of the blurred boundaries between work and personal life, a new acronym is coming to prominence: JOMO, “joy of missing out”. “The fear of being left out is giving place to the re-appropriation of self-time”, says Euromonitor. Consumers are looking to protect their mental health being by being more selective in their activities. An increasing number of people are reducing their time online, leaving social networks, disconnecting from the Internet completely for certain periods of time or changing their smartphones for vintage flip phones.

Businesses are already catching up with the trend: just think of all the cafés which refuse to give customers their WiFi password, encouraging them to “talk to each other” instead. Spas and wellness centers are prospering, as are books and websites preaching “slow cooking”, “slow travel”, “slow fashion” etc. Speaking of fashion, the growth of athleisure and outdoor clothing may be connected to this trend.

Digitally together

Over the last decade, online communication has evolved immensely. Text and video chatting, real-time document collaboration, virtual meetings with participants across the globe… As more and more people have access to high-speed Internet, the range of things we can do together digitally is forecasted to grow even more, and we can also expect those interactions to become even more life-like. Brands will react to this active sharing behavior by coming up with products and services based on artificial intelligence, virtual reality and predictive analytics.

Loner living

Even though technology helps us to interact even with people who live miles apart, we’ve never been more alone. The number of single-person households is forecasted to outpace the growth of all other household sizes, according to a recent study by Pew Research Center. While baby boomers are known for the high divorce rates, young people are rejecting marriage and cohabitation altogether. It is estimated that the number of single-person households will increase by about 120 million by 2030, up about 30 percent on 2018. In addition, by the time today’s US young adults turn 50, 25 percent of them will have been single their whole life.

What does that mean? Less kids, more disposable income. Couple that with the joy of missing out and you’ll get an increasing number of adults using their spare time to travel, study and have fun. One can also expect a significant number of people to prefer living in denser, urban settings, instead of moving to the suburbs at a certain age. Another thing retailers should take into account is that people living alone prioritize convenience and affordability, as they bear the full cost of housing and utilities. Clothes that dry fast and don’t require ironing, for example, are likely to gain their preference.

Age agnostics

Age is just a number, right? No other generation believes that more than baby boomers (1946-1964), according to Euromonitor. Especially in wealthier countries, where people have access to good healthcare and living conditions, older generations feel, behave and want to be treated as younger. Bear in mind the population is aging everywhere, not just in Western countries: in Japan, for example, by 2025 half of the population will be over 50 years old .Therefore, products that are designed to be universally accepted, rather than having a specific generation in mind, are likely to rise in popularity -- after all, different generations have much more in common than traditional advertising would lead us to think.

Picture credits: Pixabay, Choosy Facebook, FashionUnited, Courtesy of Recess, Courtesy of The Kooples + PETA, REI Facebook, Pixabay

Source: https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/these-are-the-top-10-global-consumer-trends-in-2019/2019011625631

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Virus prompts temperature checks, extra cleaning at airports (AP) Many countries are checking the temperatures of arriving airline passengers and adopting precautionary quarantine procedures in response to a new virus that has sickened nearly 300 people and killed six in China. India, Nigeria, Japan and the United States are some of the countries where airport screening procedures were in place. The outbreak is believed to have originated in the city of Wuhan in central China. So far, the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Thailand have confirmed additional cases. Widening public health measures are intended to prevent a repeat of the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, which started in China and killed nearly 800 people.

Trump could expand travel ban (Foreign Policy) The Trump administration soon plans to add seven countries--Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania--to its travel ban list, Politico reports. While the list isn’t final and it isn’t clear whether the restrictions would apply to all citizens of those countries, the announcement will likely strain relations between the United States and the affected countries. Trump signed the original travel ban, which included seven Muslim-majority countries, shortly after taking office in Jan. 2017. It has been modified after court challenges.

UN experts: Jeff Bezos phone hack shows link to Saudi prince (AP) The phone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was hacked after receiving a file sent from an account used by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, United Nations experts said Wednesday. The two experts called for an “immediate investigation” by the United States into information that suggests that Bezos’ phone was likely hacked after he received an MP4 video file sent from the Saudi prince’s WhatsApp account in May 2018, after the two exchanged phone numbers at a dinner in California.

The Pentagon’s accounting problems (Bloomberg) The Pentagon made $35 trillion in accounting adjustments last year alone. That’s larger than the entire U.S. economy, and underscores the Defense Department’s continuing difficulty in balancing its books.

Paraguay’s President Abdo contracts dengue fever amid outbreak (Reuters) A dengue fever outbreak that has affected thousands of Paraguayans in recent weeks has reached as far as the presidential palace, with the country’s leader Mario Abdo confirmed as having been struck by the disease.

Thousands on Greek islands protest against migrant camps (AFP) Thousands of residents on Greek islands hosting large migrant camps on Wednesday kicked off a day of protests, demanding the immediate removal of asylum-seekers. The islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios staged a general strike, shutting down shops and public services and rallying in central squares, many protesters waving Greek flags. “We want our islands back, we want our lives back,” was the main slogan.

Travel Suspended From Wuhan as Lunar New Year Kicks Off (Foreign Policy) Wuhan, China’s seventh-largest city, will be under effective quarantine from 10 a.m. Chinese time on Thursday, the government has announced. The move is an attempt to contain the Wuhan coronavirus, which causes pneumonia and has spread with worrying speed. Buses, train, and flights out of the city will be canceled, and the city’s 11 million people have been told not to travel without special reason. The quarantine goes into effect as the Lunar New Year travel season kicks off, raising fears of contagion.

Pajama problems (Foreign Policy) Officials in Suzhou, China, used facial recognition software to publicly shame seven people wearing pajamas in public on Monday, sparking rare public outrage over widespread surveillance techniques. (The authorities were given facial recognition tools to monitor “uncivilized behavior.”) Wearing pajamas in public is common in China, though local authorities have tried to ban the practice before.

Court to Rule in Case Accusing Myanmar of Rohingya Genocide (AP) The United Nations’ highest court is set to rule Thursday on whether to order Myanmar to halt what has been described as a genocidal campaign against the country’s Rohingya Muslims.

Three Die After Crash of Australian Aircraft Fighting Bushfires (Reuters) Three people have been killed after an air tanker crashed in a fireball on Thursday while fighting bushfires in Australia’s alpine region, said Shane Fitzsimmons, the Rural Fire Services Commissioner for New South Wales state.

Black boxes in Tehran (Foreign Policy) Iran and Canada are at odds over the flight recorders from the Ukrainian plane mistakenly shot down near Tehran, killing 176 people--including 57 Canadians. On Tuesday, Iranian officials said they had asked for the technology to download information from the black boxes rather than send them to Ukraine, as they had previously stated. The delay is likely to increase international pressure on Iran.

[preciousmetals0]

Cyber Monday Sell-Off: Made in China

Cyber Monday Sell-Off: Made in China:

Manufacturing a Crisis

After logging their biggest monthly gains since June, the markets showed a bit of fatigue today.

Maybe it’s tired traders returning from the long holiday weekend. Maybe it was all the turkey. I know I’m still feeling overstuffed after the Thanksgiving break.

It would be nice if these were today’s main market drivers. Alas, these mundane issues are not the cause of today’s market dip.

The main culprit remains U.S. trade disputes. Yes, disputes … plural.

You see, over the weekend, President Trump added Brazil and Argentina to the tariff party. Citing “massive devaluation of their currencies,” Trump reinstated tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from the countries. That’s a 25% steel tariff and a 10% aluminum tariff.

What’s more, the move comes as U.S.-China trade talks have stalled once again. Reports indicate that China is dragging its heels following Trump’s signing of the Hong Kong Act. The act, which supports Hong Kong protesters, has prompted China to warn of “strong countermeasures.”

The market attempted to ignore both reports this morning — much like we all try to ignore Uncle Rob when he goes on political rants during the holidays. However, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) November manufacturing index made that all but impossible.

According to the ISM, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the second month in a row in November. The manufacturing index fell unexpectedly to 48.1 from a reading of 48.3 in October. Economists were expecting a rebound to 49.4. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

It was all too much for Wall Street to bear.

The Takeaway: 

There was another important piece of information that dropped alongside the tariff and ISM manufacturing data. It was a survey on trade war contingency plans of more than 260 businesses, conducted by German logistics company DHL.

According to the survey, 25% of respondents said they had no contingency plans if the U.S.-China trade war dragged on longer than expected. Only about 20% had plans for about six months, while 34% said they were prepared for 6 to 18 months.

With the situation in Hong Kong now worming its way into trade negotiations, a resolution — even a “phase one” agreement — is looking increasingly out of reach over the short term. Six to 18 months is looking generous now, and many businesses apparently simply aren’t prepared.

Which brings us to today’s Great Stuff Trade War Cycle chart update:

As you can see, the needle has moved considerably over the holiday break. Whether Trump wanted it or not, the signing of the Hong Kong Act was a “get tough on China” move — at least from China’s perspective.

Look for the White House to enter damage-control mode this week and attempt to hint at a solution — possibly by touting this month’s trade meetings with China to work on a phase one deal.

The key takeaway here is that you need to be prepared — unlike the businesses responding to the DHL survey.

One way to do that is to secure yourself a solid source of income, one that can pay out on a regular basis. My colleague and Banyan Hill expert Chad Shoop has just the solution you’re looking for.

In the past year, Chad’s 1-Minute Windfall strategy could have let you collect 27 unique cash payments, including payments of $4,100 on June 11, $1,300 on June 18, $4,800 on December 3 … etc., etc.

The list goes on.

Now, these results represent larger-than-normal positions. If you’re an average investor taking smaller positions, you would have collected less.

But the bottom line is that 1-Minute Windfalls is simple … and it works!

Don’t get caught unprepared.

Click here to find out more now!

Good: Cyber Monday

Do you wanna know the odd thing about all the market negativity, trade war tariffs and declining manufacturing activity? They haven’t affected consumer spending much at all.

Black Friday shoppers dropped $7.4 billion this year. That’s a 43% increase over last year, and the largest Black Friday ever … especially for online sales. What’s more, Adobe Analytics projects Cyber Monday sales of $9.4 billion today.

All hail the American consumer … right?

This is wonderful news for the big boys of retail, such as Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and even Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY).

Speaking of Best Buy … I did a little prework online shopping this morning. If you’re looking for a laptop deal, Best Buy has Amazon beat on prices and features for many laptops today — unless you’re in the market for a Chromebook, that is.

Do people still buy those?

Better: Don’t Let It Go

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is about to have yet another billion-dollar blockbuster movie on its hands.

Frozen 2 set a Thanksgiving box office record, raking in $85.2 million on November 28 and $123.7 million over the five-day holiday weekend.

What’s more, Frozen 2 brought in $350 million at the global box office, putting the movie just shy of the $1 billion mark for total ticket sales.

JPMorgan Chase was so excited by the news, the prospects that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker could also join the $1 billion club — and the massive amounts of merchandise for both films — that it issued a bullish note on DIS this morning.

The ratings firm cited strong demand in Asian markets, as well as the opening of a Frozen-themed area in Hong Kong Disneyland in 2021 as reasons to be excited for Disney.

And they didn’t even touch on Disney+.  Did you know that the Disney+ app was downloaded more than 15 million times between November 12 and November 24?

That’s about 1.2 million per day … and the growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

Today’s 1% dip in Disney shares is a blessing for anyone looking to get in on the stock at a discount.

Best: Stream the Dip

OK, you know the drill.

Another shortsighted analyst has come out and downgraded Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU). This time, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne downgraded Roku to underweight from equal weight — though he did lift his price target to $110. Look at Ben trying to have it both ways. Classic Ben…

According to Swinburne, the “risks to growth expectations are not reflected in current valuation levels. Specifically, we think revenue and gross-profit growth slow meaningfully in ’20, and the multiple compresses.”

Specifically, Swinburne points out that Roku’s sales multiple is triple that of Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) — an apples-to-oranges comparison if I’ve ever heard one — and double that of software-as-a-service companies.

Here’s the thing … this analysis works if you just look at Roku’s hardware sales. Gross margin is falling on Roku hardware as the company strives to remain the low-cost leader in streaming devices. This was to be expected. It happens for every hardware manufacturer.

However, most analysts (Swinburne included, it seems) miss the fact that Roku’s ad revenue is quickly becoming its biggest income source. The gross margin on ad services and The Roku Channel came in at 63% last quarter.

Ad revenue is Roku’s future. The more subscribers who buy Roku devices to easily stream Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc. … the more ad revenue grows.

Once again, this dive in Roku stock is a buying opportunity. Expect the holiday sales quarter to be big, and next year’s ad-revenue gains to follow suit as a result.

Many of you might remember the massive sell-off we had in December 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped more than 9% in this month last year. With tariffs, a delayed U.S.-China trade deal and slowing manufacturing activity, there’s certainly reason enough to worry about a repeat performance.

However, Cramer says he’s seeing “green shoots” of an economic recovery in Europe. Indeed, European auto sales rose 8.6% in October. But Europe is not the global economy. In fact, global auto sales are facing their steepest decline since 2008. And you can bet with the new aluminum and steel tariffs on Brazil and Argentina that the domestic auto market isn’t looking too festive.

Now, to be clear, I’m not calling for a repeat performance of 2018. I am, however, calling bunk on Cramer’s “green shoots” reasoning. It’ll take more than an economic recovery in Europe to provide more lift for markets.

In anticipation of a strong finish to the year for the market, Cramer also said, “I’m looking for more reasons for it to go higher.”

All I have to say is: Aren’t we all, Jim. Aren’t we all.

Great Stuff: Help Your Friends Make Billions!

Are you hoarding all this Great Stuff for yourself?

I don’t blame you. If I had a financial e-zine with a trading chart that could help me make billions, I’d keep it quiet too.

But no … no! Shame on you for not sharing!

Where’s your holiday spirit?

Sharing is caring, and Great Stuff cares.

So, if you have a friend who still gets their daily financial news in that dry, Waspy old format from the major financial publications, forward them today’s copy of Great Stuff.

Liven up their day. Help them make billions too!

They’ll thank you for it.

Finally, don’t forget to like and follow Great Stuff on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[goldira01]

Manufacturing a Crisis

After logging their biggest monthly gains since June, the markets showed a bit of fatigue today.

Maybe it’s tired traders returning from the long holiday weekend. Maybe it was all the turkey. I know I’m still feeling overstuffed after the Thanksgiving break.

It would be nice if these were today’s main market drivers. Alas, these mundane issues are not the cause of today’s market dip.

The main culprit remains U.S. trade disputes. Yes, disputes … plural.

You see, over the weekend, President Trump added Brazil and Argentina to the tariff party. Citing “massive devaluation of their currencies,” Trump reinstated tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from the countries. That’s a 25% steel tariff and a 10% aluminum tariff.

What’s more, the move comes as U.S.-China trade talks have stalled once again. Reports indicate that China is dragging its heels following Trump’s signing of the Hong Kong Act. The act, which supports Hong Kong protesters, has prompted China to warn of “strong countermeasures.”

The market attempted to ignore both reports this morning — much like we all try to ignore Uncle Rob when he goes on political rants during the holidays. However, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) November manufacturing index made that all but impossible.

According to the ISM, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the second month in a row in November. The manufacturing index fell unexpectedly to 48.1 from a reading of 48.3 in October. Economists were expecting a rebound to 49.4. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

It was all too much for Wall Street to bear.

The Takeaway: 

There was another important piece of information that dropped alongside the tariff and ISM manufacturing data. It was a survey on trade war contingency plans of more than 260 businesses, conducted by German logistics company DHL.

According to the survey, 25% of respondents said they had no contingency plans if the U.S.-China trade war dragged on longer than expected. Only about 20% had plans for about six months, while 34% said they were prepared for 6 to 18 months.

With the situation in Hong Kong now worming its way into trade negotiations, a resolution — even a “phase one” agreement — is looking increasingly out of reach over the short term. Six to 18 months is looking generous now, and many businesses apparently simply aren’t prepared.

Which brings us to today’s Great Stuff Trade War Cycle chart update:

As you can see, the needle has moved considerably over the holiday break. Whether Trump wanted it or not, the signing of the Hong Kong Act was a “get tough on China” move — at least from China’s perspective.

Look for the White House to enter damage-control mode this week and attempt to hint at a solution — possibly by touting this month’s trade meetings with China to work on a phase one deal.

The key takeaway here is that you need to be prepared — unlike the businesses responding to the DHL survey.

One way to do that is to secure yourself a solid source of income, one that can pay out on a regular basis. My colleague and Banyan Hill expert Chad Shoop has just the solution you’re looking for.

In the past year, Chad’s 1-Minute Windfall strategy could have let you collect 27 unique cash payments, including payments of $4,100 on June 11, $1,300 on June 18, $4,800 on December 3 … etc., etc.

The list goes on.

Now, these results represent larger-than-normal positions. If you’re an average investor taking smaller positions, you would have collected less.

But the bottom line is that 1-Minute Windfalls is simple … and it works!

Don’t get caught unprepared.

Click here to find out more now!

Good: Cyber Monday

Do you wanna know the odd thing about all the market negativity, trade war tariffs and declining manufacturing activity? They haven’t affected consumer spending much at all.

Black Friday shoppers dropped $7.4 billion this year. That’s a 43% increase over last year, and the largest Black Friday ever … especially for online sales. What’s more, Adobe Analytics projects Cyber Monday sales of $9.4 billion today.

All hail the American consumer … right?

This is wonderful news for the big boys of retail, such as Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and even Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY).

Speaking of Best Buy … I did a little prework online shopping this morning. If you’re looking for a laptop deal, Best Buy has Amazon beat on prices and features for many laptops today — unless you’re in the market for a Chromebook, that is.

Do people still buy those?

Better: Don’t Let It Go

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is about to have yet another billion-dollar blockbuster movie on its hands.

Frozen 2 set a Thanksgiving box office record, raking in $85.2 million on November 28 and $123.7 million over the five-day holiday weekend.

What’s more, Frozen 2 brought in $350 million at the global box office, putting the movie just shy of the $1 billion mark for total ticket sales.

JPMorgan Chase was so excited by the news, the prospects that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker could also join the $1 billion club — and the massive amounts of merchandise for both films — that it issued a bullish note on DIS this morning.

The ratings firm cited strong demand in Asian markets, as well as the opening of a Frozen-themed area in Hong Kong Disneyland in 2021 as reasons to be excited for Disney.

And they didn’t even touch on Disney+.  Did you know that the Disney+ app was downloaded more than 15 million times between November 12 and November 24?

That’s about 1.2 million per day … and the growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

Today’s 1% dip in Disney shares is a blessing for anyone looking to get in on the stock at a discount.

Best: Stream the Dip

OK, you know the drill.

Another shortsighted analyst has come out and downgraded Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU). This time, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne downgraded Roku to underweight from equal weight — though he did lift his price target to $110. Look at Ben trying to have it both ways. Classic Ben…

According to Swinburne, the “risks to growth expectations are not reflected in current valuation levels. Specifically, we think revenue and gross-profit growth slow meaningfully in ’20, and the multiple compresses.”

Specifically, Swinburne points out that Roku’s sales multiple is triple that of Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) — an apples-to-oranges comparison if I’ve ever heard one — and double that of software-as-a-service companies.

Here’s the thing … this analysis works if you just look at Roku’s hardware sales. Gross margin is falling on Roku hardware as the company strives to remain the low-cost leader in streaming devices. This was to be expected. It happens for every hardware manufacturer.

However, most analysts (Swinburne included, it seems) miss the fact that Roku’s ad revenue is quickly becoming its biggest income source. The gross margin on ad services and The Roku Channel came in at 63% last quarter.

Ad revenue is Roku’s future. The more subscribers who buy Roku devices to easily stream Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc. … the more ad revenue grows.

Once again, this dive in Roku stock is a buying opportunity. Expect the holiday sales quarter to be big, and next year’s ad-revenue gains to follow suit as a result.

Many of you might remember the massive sell-off we had in December 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped more than 9% in this month last year. With tariffs, a delayed U.S.-China trade deal and slowing manufacturing activity, there’s certainly reason enough to worry about a repeat performance.

However, Cramer says he’s seeing “green shoots” of an economic recovery in Europe. Indeed, European auto sales rose 8.6% in October. But Europe is not the global economy. In fact, global auto sales are facing their steepest decline since 2008. And you can bet with the new aluminum and steel tariffs on Brazil and Argentina that the domestic auto market isn’t looking too festive.

Now, to be clear, I’m not calling for a repeat performance of 2018. I am, however, calling bunk on Cramer’s “green shoots” reasoning. It’ll take more than an economic recovery in Europe to provide more lift for markets.

In anticipation of a strong finish to the year for the market, Cramer also said, “I’m looking for more reasons for it to go higher.”

All I have to say is: Aren’t we all, Jim. Aren’t we all.

Great Stuff: Help Your Friends Make Billions!

Are you hoarding all this Great Stuff for yourself?

I don’t blame you. If I had a financial e-zine with a trading chart that could help me make billions, I’d keep it quiet too.

But no … no! Shame on you for not sharing!

Where’s your holiday spirit?

Sharing is caring, and Great Stuff cares.

So, if you have a friend who still gets their daily financial news in that dry, Waspy old format from the major financial publications, forward them today’s copy of Great Stuff.

Liven up their day. Help them make billions too!

They’ll thank you for it.

Finally, don’t forget to like and follow Great Stuff on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[biofunmy]

Black Friday 2019: What You Need to Know

In the age of e-commerce, Black Friday can feel like an anachronism. But don’t be fooled. The Friday after Thanksgiving remains enormously important — at least symbolically — to the retail industry. And millions of shoppers will still be out in stores, working off that turkey and stuffing by racing to find the best deals.

Many others will simply stay at home, content to cruise the internet to do their shopping. Whether it’s in stores or online, our reporters will be covering it here, with a little help from our friends at The Wirecutter.

Shopping has become easier, and more fun

It’s hard to think of a better time to be a shopper. There’s one-day delivery, online purchases with in-store pick up, even $17 cocktails served while you shop for shoes.

Retailers are trying to be all things to all shoppers, but it is proving to be a tough and, some say, unsustainable way to run their business. The more money retailers invest in new initiatives to boost sales, the more their profit margins seem to shrink.

Amazon is driving a lot of this pain, as old-school retailers try to catch up with the online giant, which sets the standard for speed and convenience.

— Michael Corkery

Online sales start strong. ‘Frozen 2’ toys, L.O.L. Surprise dolls and laptops are hits.

Let’s get real: Black Friday shopping, online and in stores, really starts on Thanksgiving and lasts all weekend. So it will be awhile before we know how the retail sector did this year. But one early indicator was positive: Shoppers spent $4.2 billion on Thursday, about 14.5 percent more than on Thanksgiving 2018, according to Adobe Analytics.

Adobe, which tracks purchases made on thousands of websites, said the top-selling items online were toys and products affiliated with the movie “Frozen 2,” L.O.L. Surprise dolls and toys, Amazon Fire TV products and Apple laptops.

Separately, the software company Salesforce projected that online sales would reach $7.4 billion in the United States on Friday alone, about 16 percent more than last year, and $40 billion globally, about a 24 percent increase.

The company found that more people had started their Black Friday shopping early by looking for deals online on Thanksgiving, and 60 percent of those digital orders were placed on mobile phones.

At Costco, the website was slow so the store extended one-day online deals intended for Thanksgiving into Friday. “The website is currently experiencing longer than normal response times,” Costco wrote in a banner across its home page. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”

— Jacey Fortin

Hoping for Gucci in the bargain bin? You’ll have to wait a bit longer.

When Barneys, the iconic Manhattan department store, was sold for pieces last month, it marked the end of an era in New York retailing. It also set the hearts of consumers racing, as talk of an unprecedented liquidation sale swirled. What sorts of deals could be had on cashmere? Would Gucci be in the bargain bin?

Alas, consumers have since been disappointed. Barneys’ liquidators — led by B. Riley Financial’s Great American Group — have largely limited the discounts to just 5 percent or 10 percent off the chain’s luxury wares. Twitter has been rife with incredulous shoppers. “I just checked out Barneys New York closing down sale and socks are $97,” one user wrote. Another remarked that they needed more than 10 percent off, noting, “This is like a rich folks sale.”

This week, however, B. Riley said it would deepen discounts at Barneys beginning on Wednesday, for an average of 30 percent to 35 percent off items throughout the weekend. It promised additional promotions for in-store shoppers. There’s a chance that will spur sales — though shoppers may continue to wait for even bigger discounts during December, as the liquidators will have to offload all of the inventory at some point.

— Sapna Maheshwari

Some shoppers are done already

People who get an early jump on their holiday shopping inspire both envy and awe, and there has been even more early shopping this year.

During the first week of November, consumers had completed 24 percent of their holiday shopping, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. It was the highest level in the history of the trade group’s survey, and up 16 percent from a decade ago.

For the retail industry, it means that the all-important holiday shopping season is getting longer, and Black Friday’s importance is increasingly fading.

— Michael Corkery

How to not get fooled by bad tech deals

Black Friday offers an avalanche of tech sales, and many aren’t worth your time, either because of the quality of the item or a discount that isn’t very exciting.

TV doorbusters, for example, are usually filled with low-quality, off-brand products, or even stripped-down models from top brands that are only available for the holidays. But that doesn’t mean all TV deals are bad deals. The Wirecutter Deals team has found large high-end models from last year at a bargain. We’ve also seen nice discounts on well-regarded midrange sets for everyday viewing or gaming.

While many people are hoping to snag Apple products for a steal, only select product lines are exceptionally priced. Surprisingly, some of the newest models are being discounted, though the reductions are meager. The best deals we’ve seen have been on older model watches. In general, you’re more likely to see discounts on Apple tablets and accessories from big box stores, but if you see a too-good-to-be-true price from a third-party site, it’s likely a refurbished unit with a shorter warranty and no quality guarantee.

In the world of gaming, consoles, controllers and subscription plans have seen strong discounts, as have tech accessories like wireless mice and keyboards. But before you get swept up in the hype and marketing language, we always suggest comparison shopping to ensure you’re getting the best deal on the best products.

— Nathan Burrow

Black Friday in France: Sales and a backlash

Thanksgiving is just another Thursday in Europe, but Black Friday is a bone of contention: embraced by some and rejected by others as an alarming invasion of American consumerism.

Black Friday sales can be found in many countries, from small stationers to major chains to car dealers. In Britain, many retailers, like John Lewis & Partners, a source of appliances and furniture, started offering Black Friday discounts days ago. Curry’s PC World, an electronics retailer, has a “black tag” event claiming savings of up to 50 percent.

On the rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais district of central Paris, nearly every boutique within a one-block stretch is plastered with signs promoting “Black Friday” in English. While France has been slower than other European countries to join the trend, retailers forecast 6 billion euros in sales this year around the event.

In some cases, something is lost in translation. In Germany, the “Friday” is often dropped in signs promoting a “Black Sale” or “Black Week.”

But a backlash has been gaining steam. In France, lawmakers this week proposed to ban some Black Friday promotions starting next year, citing misleading pricing tactics and the rising environmental cost from the delivery of millions of packages.

Élisabeth Borne, the French environment minister, warned of “a frenzy of consumption” in which people are encouraged to buy products they don’t need.

“We need to consume better, not more,” she added.

Parisian authorities also asked the government to allow cities to slap a so-called eco-tax on Amazon and other delivery platforms to make e-commerce players pay for pollution and rising delivery traffic.

Protesters from the Extinction Rebellion movement and other environmental groups held “Block Friday” demonstrations throughout France. Many of the events were aimed at Amazon, with some banners saying “No to Amazon and its world.”

— Liz Alderman and Stanley Reed

Is a short holiday season ‘the fright before Christmas’?

How did the week of Thanksgiving become so entwined in consumerism?

It may have started with Franklin D. Roosevelt. The 32nd president of The United States was so eager to jump-start the economy in 1938 that he moved the holiday’s official date up a week in order to create more shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It was a bold move — and unpopular. The nation had been celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November ever since Abraham Lincoln declared the day a federal holiday following the battle of Gettysburg.

Roosevelt reversed course in 1941 and returned Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of the month, where it remains.

The holiday’s late arrival this year is worrying retailers since it means there are 26 shopping days before Christmas, six fewer than last year.

The abbreviated shopping period is one of reason Morgan Stanley analysts labeled their 2019 holiday retail outlook “The fright before Christmas” and are expecting a less than stellar shopping season.

— Michael Corkery

Santa’s list is packed with everyday items

Black Friday may be known as the raucous kickoff to gift-giving season (especially this year, as Christmas and Hanukkah overlap), but some people aren’t actually shopping for loved ones.

Instead, Wirecutter readers’ lists seem squarely rooted in everyday products. Some of the items our readers have asked us to look out for deals on: baby gates, electric toothbrushes and a garage door opener. And the retailers know this. The Wirecutter Deals team has found excellent pricing on everything from shower curtains to fly traps to computer cables that don’t exactly scream gift. Though, perhaps, nothing says “I love you” like a dongle.

— Annemarie Conte

Sahred From Source link Fashion and Style

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2ryQ08p via IFTTT

[itsredminote5review-blog]

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Review

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 full review If you're looking for a sub-£200 Android phone with a decent-size screen, good battery life and usable all-round performance and features, this could be it. Very similar to the Mi Max 3, but with a smaller 5.99in display, the Redmi Note 5 is a worthy upgrade over the Note 4 with improved performance, photography and design.

Since we originally wrote this review Xiaomi has entered the UK smartphone market, making it much easier to obtain its smartphones here. The Redmi Note 5 is now available from the likes of Amazon for £229.

A special Cyber Monday deal knocks a further £69 off the price, with the Redmi Note 5 available for just £159.99. (See more Cyber Monday deals.)

Previously we've had to import review samples from China, and this Redmi Note 5 was supplied by GearBest, where current pricing is £182.39. When there's no Cyber Monday sale on at Amazon this makes it the cheaper deal, but know that when importing from China to the UK you are liable for import duty, charged at 20 percent of the value printed on the shipping paperwork.

This is the Global version of the Redmi Note 5, which comes with all Google services preinstalled along with MIUI 9. It supports all 4G LTE bands used in the UK, too, which can be a problem with some Chinese handsets.

Also see: Best Xiaomi Deals

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Also see: Best budget phones and Best budget Chinese phones

When is a Redmi Note 5 not a Redmi Note 5? Xiaomi's phone naming scheme can be incredibly confusing if you're not familiar with it, but we think more so with the Redmi Note 5 than any other. That's because the Redmi Note 5 that launched in China and is sold globally is not the same phone as the Redmi Note 5 that launched in India.

The Redmi Note 5 available in India has a single-lens camera at the rear and some lower-spec hardware, including the Snapdragon 625 processor. It has the new 18:9 5.99in display, but in other respects is not a huge departure from the Redmi Note 4. And that explains why some reviews of the Redmi Note 5 are less complimentary than others.

Also available in India is the Redmi Note 5 Pro, and that's (almost) the phone you see here rebranded as the Redmi Note 5. It has a dual-lens camera at the rear and runs the Snapdragon 636.

But in India the Pro also has a 20Mp selfie camera and up to 6GB of RAM, while this Global version's front camera is rated at 13Mp and has either 3- or 4GB of memory.

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If you're worried about purchasing the wrong version of the phone then fear not - we couldn't even find the Indian models for sale in the UK. But we'd recommend double-checking the spec before you buy. Better yet, just click this link.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 What's new in Redmi Note 5? There are some key design changes in the Redmi Note 5 over its predecessor, but also a return to the Redmi Note 3's part plastic build - the antenna lines at the rear of the Note 4 have been replaced with plastic end caps - and 4000mAh battery, which is still pretty generous, but 100mAh down on Redmi Note 4.

More impressive is the new 5.99in Full-HD+ IPS display, not only larger than the 5.5in previous example but also taller, adopting the 18:9 aspect ratio that has become fashionable in today's market. It helps the phone look more on-trend, and also allows for a larger screen without infringing on usability - the Note 5 is only 7mm taller than its predecessor, and fractionally narrower and slimmer.

The phone's chin has also been reduced, with navigational buttons now appearing onscreen. And an update to MIUI 10 is available, which gives you the option to use swipe gestures to go home or back, removing these buttons from the display.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Sponsored Links Central And Western District: New WiFi Booster Stops Expensive Internet Central And Western District: New WiFi Booster Stops Expensive Internet Next Tech Running out of options, Hong Kong protesters dig in Running out of options, Hong Kong protesters dig in Nikkei Asian Review Find the best wines offered by regions listed here Find the best wines offered by regions listed here Shop Vivino Wine Recommended by Also see: Best Xiaomi phones

There are some tweaks found along the edges, too. While the Redmi Note 5 still features a mono speaker, it no longer attempts to hide this fact with a set of drilled holes lying either side of its Micro-USB port. Instead you'll find just one, and on the other side the headphone jack has moved down from its previous position at the top of the device.

The rear-mounted fingerprint sensor has not moved, but where the single-lens camera previously sat above it Xiaomi has now added a second lens and moved this to a new position at top-left. It did lie flush; now it juts out a tad.

And naturally there have been hardware changes, which result in a boost to performance. Gone is the deca-core Helio X20 chip with Mali T880 graphics, and in comes the Snapdragon 636 with Adreno 509. There's a new 4GB RAM, 64GB storage model, too (that's what we're reviewing here).

Redmi Note 5 Design & Build Despite the aforementioned sprinkling of plastic parts, Redmi Note 5 is a very good-looking phone at this price. Moreover, it feels sturdy, and very well-made.

The new screen and taller aspect ratio is a blessing for usability, and though it's still a bit of a stretch for your thumb to reach the top corner it is operable in a single hand - especially when you take advantage of one-handed mode, which shrinks the display area.

It's an IPS panel, which bodes well for quality, with realistic colours and good viewing angles. We can't find any official reference to the Note 5 using Gorilla Glass protection, but thanks to a metal rear it is only the one side of this smartphone you need to keep safe. You'll also find a silicone case in the box, which is handy.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 We measured the maximum screen brightness at 427cd/m2, which is very good for a sub-£200 phone. Being able to ramp up the brightness so high also makes the screen easier to see outdoors.

The display has a full-HD+ resolution of 2160x1080, which results in a pixel density of 403ppi. It's sufficiently clear, and also no higher in resolution than even Xiaomi's flagship phones.

We're disappointed to see an old Micro-USB port at the bottom, especially given that it won't charge any faster than at 10W. There is a charger supplied in the box, but it has a two-pin EU plug, so if you're purchasing this phone in the UK you'll need to supply your own adaptor.

Naturally at this price there's no support for wireless charging, which has so far been seen only on the Mi Mix 2S.

On the up side, Xiaomi has retained the IR blaster on the Note 5's top edge. It's incredibly rare to find such a feature in phones these days.

There's also the fingerprint scanner at the rear, which works well - but if you're interested in mobile payments be aware there's no support for NFC.

Connectivity is otherwise pretty good, with dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and GLONASS, and a hybrid SIM slot that can either accept a single SIM and a microSD card for storage expansion or two SIMs that work in dual-standby mode.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Redmi Note 5 Hardware & Performance Powering the show here is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chip clocked at 1.8GHz, with integrated Adreno 509 graphics. It's paired with 4GB of memory.

That's the same setup as in the Mi Max 3, and as you'll see in our chart below performance is on par.

As we said for that phone, the Redmi Note 5 is not a speed demon. However, it offers usable performance for most users for daily tasks, and we didn't spot any sign of lag when navigating the interface and launching apps.

You can play casual games and watch movies, provided you don't throw anything too intensive at it.

Battery life is very good, and you'll easily get at least a full day's life from the 4000mAh cell - maybe more, depending on your usage.

In Geekbench 4's battery test it scored 5390 points, and kept churning through its task list for 8 hours 59 minutes.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Redmi Note 5 Cameras & Photography It might sound like a similar setup as found on the Mi Max 3, but the Redmi Note 5's camera is inferior with no AI mode. It also maxes out at 1080p video recording.

Still, it's an improvement on the Redmi Note 4's 13Mp rear camera and 5Mp selfie camera. This new model has a 12Mp + 5Mp dual-lens camera at the rear, with dual phase-detection dual-focus and 1.4um pixels. At the front is a 13Mp selfie camera.

Aside from the missing AI button at the top, the camera app looks the same as on any other Xiaomi phone, with options to turn on/off/auto the flash and HDR mode, and to select real-time filters. At the bottom you swipe between video (and short video), photo, portrait, square, panorama and manual shooting modes.

Portrait mode is what's used to create those funky blurred background shots that help your subject to stand out, aided by the second camera lens.

Overall we were very impressed with the quality of our test shots (below in Auto and HDR modes). Those pictured below appear a little dark, though it was an overcast day when they were shot. They show plenty of detail but are perhaps a little over-sharpened.

Redmi Note 5 Auto

Redmi Note 5 HDR In low-light the Redmi Note 5 did a fantastic job. There is some noise but overall blacks are well rendered, text is largely fuzz-free, and the scene is adequately lit without requiring aid from the flash.

Redmi Note 5 Low Light

Redmi Note 5 Software The Redmi Note 5 runs MIUI 9 out of the box but an upgrade is available to MIUI 10. This is still based on Android Oreo rather than the more recent Android Pie (which will be coming in time), but includes some nice new features such as full-display gesture support, a redesigned quick access panel and volume controls, plus the addition of Picture in Picture and Autofill.

It won't be immediately recognisable as Android if you've not picked up a Xiaomi phone before, and the lack of an app tray means the shortcuts all spill out over the home screens (but can be tidied into folders). The Settings menu also looks completely different, and there are some Xiaomi-specific apps here too.

Because this is the Global ROM version of the Redmi Note 5 it is preinstalled with Google services; were you to buy the Chinese ROM version you would need to install these yourself from the Mi App Store. That's because Google services are not used in China.

Other things we like about MIUI include the aforementioned One-handed mode, plus Second Space and Dual Apps.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

Redmi Note 5 Verdict It's not infallible, but the Redmi Note 5 is a great all-rounder and will be hard to beat under £200. It benefits from a very good and well-sized screen, and has a decent camera and usable performance.