#anti angela lopez

[therookieconfessions]

[itsoneofthemuses]

Thank you for answering my ask and posting your thoughts! I can definitely provide some more questions. I was inspired by the response and I have lots more thoughts :D I wrote way too much so feel free to divide up the different sections and post it however you like and answer only what you want.

All those examples you wrote about are so great. I love to see characters who are sometimes led by their emotions and then they use their head afterwards. I think it also tells us a lot of what is important to Lucy and why she sometimes loses her cool a bit. And I love that Lucy can act immature at times, but that does not mean she is immature. That she can react with anger when people opposes her, but that does not mean she gets angry every time someone disagrees with her. This makes her a very relatable character who is interesting to follow.

I agree that Lucy seems to be all over the place in season 4. She agrees to be Tim’s aide and I know others have written about that as she needing stability after Jackson’s death and I can definitely understand that. It might also explain why her emotional state is less consistent and why she seems to be less connected to herself and a bit less engaged with the people around her. I think there was an opportunity here to show her grieving her friend and everything their friendship gave her. That could have been more of a storyline instead of just being subtext to her actions in that season. What would you have liked to see for Lucy in season 4? 

What do you think was the purpose of introducing Chris? Were they trying to give them a similar set-up as Angela and Wesley and flirt through disagreements? She is never really shown talking with Chris. Like you say there are conversations were they both state how they have completely different views on something and it is not resolved or brought up again. I am disappointed it seems like she did not care more about what it meant being a relationship with someone who she did not actually seem to care about. Especially after her last relationship ended because she did not appear to care enough about them.  If she stayed in the relationship because she did not want more conflict and hurt in her life (while grieving Jackson) why could not that have been an explanation instead of «Chris is so great»? 

What did you think of the choices made in the trial-prep episode? I guess they were trying to show Lucy healing through moving forward and leaving her trauma behind her. However, that is not how trauma works in my experience and I think it was a disservice to Lucy to make it so clean cut. 

Also what do you think of her professional development in season 4? I feel like in season 4 she does not seem to have the same curiosity for different types of policing (and no mention of undercover-work for her until 4.22). I think introspection is really what have been missing in the last seasons with a lot of the characters. It is almost like since that they are not rookies anymore, they do not have anything new to learn or do not make mistakes in their police work that can help them grow and be better. They also had some interesting discussions about things they would want to change so they could do their job better in the previous seasons. The last seasons have been very plot-driven and I understand that the show had to evolve and it is harder to include «learning lessons» when they are no longer students, but still. I want to see characters grown both personally and professionally. 

One more thing is that I feel a bit selfish voicing these concerns. So many people worked hard on this show and people spend their free time writing fics so we can get great entertainment. I do not want it to seem like I am diminishing their work. Sometimes I guess it helps voicing things to accept it and appreciate the things that are still great about the show :) Also I would love to hear peoples different opinions on this. I have not rewatched season 4 a lot either because it is not my favorite so people who know it better might have great examples to prove me wrong :) 

I am also ready to get into season 5 more, if you are up for more asks :)

Thank you for answering my ask and posting your thoughts! I can definitely provide some more questions. I was inspired by the response and I have lots more thoughts :D I wrote way too much so feel free to divide up the different sections and post it however you like and answer only what you want.

Well, shit, anon, you really let me have it!  I am not complaining, by the way.  You are forcing my to think and articulate my jumbled thoughts which is great…  But take pity on me, because I’m truly not sure how well I get my point across when given license to ramble about fictional characters that I care about far too much.

All those examples you wrote about are so great. I love to see characters who are sometimes led by their emotions and then they use their head afterwards. I think it also tells us a lot of what is important to Lucy and why she sometimes loses her cool a bit. And I love that Lucy can act immature at times, but that does not mean she is immature. That she can react with anger when people opposes her, but that does not mean she gets angry every time someone disagrees with her. This makes her a very relatable character who is interesting to follow. 

I am glad you found something worthwhile in the two previous ask/answer! I think Lucy is eminently relatable, especially in S1 and S2, where (as a rookie) we get to learn so much about her and see her in a new environment, at a new job, and beginning this big new part of her life - so many people can understand being new to a job, trying to juggle friends and romantic relationships, family problems, while navigating adulthood.  Angela, for all that she’s a bit of a mess, has been on the job for a decade.  I don’t think Talia ever got a fair shake in terms of storylines.  Tim is a great character in those early days, but I wouldn’t necessarily call him or Nolan relatable.  And Jackson (RIP, you were the MVP all along) might be less relatable just because he was finding his way as a nepo baby dude.

I agree that Lucy seems to be all over the place in season 4. She agrees to be Tim’s aide and I know others have written about that as she needing stability after Jackson’s death and I can definitely understand that. It might also explain why her emotional state is less consistent and why she seems to be less connected to herself and a bit less engaged with the people around her. I think there was an opportunity here to show her grieving her friend and everything their friendship gave her. That could have been more of a storyline instead of just being subtext to her actions in that season. What would you have liked to see for Lucy in season 4? 

Look, early on in S4, I was willing to cut the show a lot of slack.  They had abruptly and unexpectedly lost a main cast member, they were still filming under pandemic conditions, and at some point during that season, they got the news that they were going to try introducing a spinoff.  I was one of the people thinking that Lucy becoming Tim’s aide would be a soft reset and let them work together more like partners and deepen their bond while maintaining status quo until they could more calmly and clearly plan out the next arc.  By mid-season, it felt like that was a pipe dream I once had.  My problem with subtext in a show like The Rookie is that it is so open to interpretation that you may well be right - she’s subtly grieving, she’s isolated and withdrawn from friends (because, let’s face it, she has none in S4)...  But that’s rarely, if ever, made clear.  You could be right…  Or you could be totally wrong.  At some point, subtlety becomes ineffective if nobody understands what or why things are happening. 

In S4, honestly, I would’ve liked to see Lucy dealing with her grief and taking risks - not ones that are stupid, but dangerous nonetheless.  Angela is having a baby, so is Nyla (by the end), Nolan has ostensibly found love…  Let Lucy feel the weight of being alone and grapple with taking on UC work (which they introduced and then basically dropped for most of S4?) while she’s barely trained.  Let that same conversation that happened in S3 between Tim and Lucy and Nyla come up and let that be the conflict between Tim and Lucy in S3.  His feelings about UC are clearly related to Isabel but his concern for Lucy is two-fold: she’s barely out of long sleeves and she’s taken hit after hit and had to keep going.  Tim knows exactly what that’s like.  And it doesn’t have to be Tim being over-protective or senior officer, this is hard won knowledge, just like when he told Lucy her scars made her a survivor.

That’s just one of many routes.  I would have eliminated Chris and Ashley entirely, or used them very differently.  Not even as a shipper but I honestly think they contributed nothing to S4 - they weren’t used for jealousy, they didn’t cause conflict, neither couple had particular chemistry.  They were just…  There.

What do you think was the purpose of introducing Chris? Were they trying to give them a similar set-up as Angela and Wesley and flirt through disagreements? She is never really shown talking with Chris. Like you say there are conversations were they both state how they have completely different views on something and it is not resolved or brought up again. I am disappointed it seems like she did not care more about what it meant being a relationship with someone who she did not actually seem to care about. Especially after her last relationship ended because she did not appear to care enough about them.  If she stayed in the relationship because she did not want more conflict and hurt in her life (while grieving Jackson) why could not that have been an explanation instead of «Chris is so great»? 

You know, I’ve discussed to death with many people what the purpose of Chris was.  I haven’t actually come up with a good explanation because his introduction felt inorganic and, even worse, the set up of his relationship with Lucy was so poorly executed that I think they shot him in the foot right from the get-go.  I do think they were trying to sprinkle a little of the “Angela and Wesley” flavour, as if all lawyers are naturally argumentative about everything.  But, in my personal opinion, it didn’t work.  It’s definitely annoying that Lucy seems to get into relationships she doesn’t care about (but I am convinced that what happened with Emmett only happened because the actor became unavailable).

I have settled on the idea that Chris and Ashley were, essentially, introduced to explain why Lucy and Tim couldn’t be together.  “Of course they can’t date, they’re both in relationships, silly!”  I literally see no other purpose to them - neither illuminated anything new about Lucy or Tim, respectively, and neither ended up sticking around so 🤷🏽‍♀️

What did you think of the choices made in the trial-prep episode? I guess they were trying to show Lucy healing through moving forward and leaving her trauma behind her. However, that is not how trauma works in my experience and I think it was a disservice to Lucy to make it so clean cut. 

Oh, that was weird.  That whole episode.  Firstly, I have no idea why Tamara was there.  She is Lucy’s teenage orphaned roommate so of course, she is Lucy’s sole emotional support!  It was completely ridiculous and unprofessional that Chris would be working on Lucy’s prep and he should have recused himself.  Apparently everyone in the office has seen the video so like…  Why couldn’t one of the other junior ADAs have prepped her?  If, for some dumb reason, they absolutely did not want Tim being there even though he was personally involved, why not have Angela support her?  She suffered a similar trauma, she’s a woman, and she was there.  Was she still on mat leave?  No idea, I refuse to rewatch S4 so details are fuzzy.  Or have Nyla be her support - she has been hurt, she’s served in a mentor role for Lucy, she was there.

Let’s move on from that.  The episode actually starts off promisingly in some ways because we see Lucy struggling.  It’s confirmation that this is a trauma she continues to struggle with (in The Rookie’s fucked up timeline, it has been maybe a year since Caleb happened, I think?).  And then Chris hums the song, Lucy reacts strongly, Tamara is (as one might expect of a teenage roommate) locked out along with Chris the trauma-triggering boyfriend, and then Lucy emerges, on her own, and demands to see the video.  Chris, who got a verbal lashing from Lucy in his introductory episode and apparently lost all backbone immediately after, caves (although I tend to agree that this was her experience and she was entitled to see the video on her own terms) and then Lucy just shrugs it off and goes to Chris’ for dinner.

Sure, okay.  How does a day that starts out with Lucy appearing to experience disassociation, flashbacks, and PTSD symptoms end with her laughing with someone who triggered her again later in the day?  Look, I’m not suggesting that people can’t process trauma, mental health, or their emotions/triggers however they want.  In real life, people are complex and varied and resilient and unique.  On TV where there is less time and space to explore those nuances, it very much looked to me like Lucy was casual and carefree by the end of the episode rather than emotionally exhausted and repeatedly subjected to extreme stressors regarding her trauma.  But what do I know?  Maybe the “subtext” is that Lucy is extraordinarily strong and can walk it off no problem because that’s what heroes do.

(in ending, I did not think much of the choices in that episode)

Also what do you think of her professional development in season 4? I feel like in season 4 she does not seem to have the same curiosity for different types of policing (and no mention of undercover-work for her until 4.22). I think introspection is really what have been missing in the last seasons with a lot of the characters. It is almost like since that they are not rookies anymore, they do not have anything new to learn or do not make mistakes in their police work that can help them grow and be better. They also had some interesting discussions about things they would want to change so they could do their job better in the previous seasons. The last seasons have been very plot-driven and I understand that the show had to evolve and it is harder to include «learning lessons» when they are no longer students, but still. I want to see characters grown both personally and professionally. 

Woo, boy, did Lucy have professional development in S4?  I don’t think she did.  She was Tim’s aide and, as pointed out in the episode with Nyla’s wedding, she gets no credit for the arrests even if she played an instrumental role.  I’m not actually sure how being sergeant’s aide is such a big deal when that’s the case.  I would also like to point out that I’m not actually sure what Tim did as a sergeant.  He was supposed to respond to high risk calls and be available as a supervisor on scene but, and maybe I’m remembering wrong, for most of S4, him and Lucy respond to regular ol’ whatever calls when there wasn’t something huge and ridiculous already happening in the episode.

I agree that none of the characters appear to have any self-awareness or display any particular insight or growth in S4.  Nolan’s college classes and the professor who taught about racism and policing basically disappeared without a mention and they just stop talking about issues in policing entirely.  The Rookie seemed to choose a cause, or whatever you want to call it, each season (racism in policing for S3) and they pivoted to…  Women’s fertility in S4?  Except their focus was egg freezing???  They talked about Black maternal health in a previous season and that was SO. MUCH. BETTER. I know a lot of people who have explored fertility options, mostly for the purpose of IVF admittedly, and it is an expensive, painful, and challenging choice to make.  They didn’t discuss any of that.  So overall, I would call it a fail, personally.  Nevermind that Lucy’s dusty eggs and her concern with her mother crossing boundaries was basically ignored forever after.

I get that not being rookies anymore changed the dynamics, direction, and plot structure of the show.  But I think there are ways to continue to grow and develop the characters and explore issues within policing that they did in previous seasons.  Angela talked endlessly in S4 (in fact, I think that was her whole arc) about breast milk and being a mom.  Why not encounter obstacles her rich husband couldn’t solve for her like the guilt of being a working mom?  The danger involved in being a police officer and a parent?  What about the discrimination around promotions when you’re a woman, of colour, and a mother (mat leave often means setbacks and missing opportunities)?  

One more thing is that I feel a bit selfish voicing these concerns. So many people worked hard on this show and people spend their free time writing fics so we can get great entertainment. I do not want it to seem like I am diminishing their work. Sometimes I guess it helps voicing things to accept it and appreciate the things that are still great about the show :) Also I would love to hear peoples different opinions on this. I have not rewatched season 4 a lot either because it is not my favorite so people who know it better might have great examples to prove me wrong :)

I don’t think it’s selfish to voice these concerns or to discuss ways the show didn’t work well and ways it could work better.  I don’t know, honestly, how things work behind the scenes on The Rookie.  I don’t know what their writer’s room looks like, I don’t know how or when they break the season, I don’t know who contributes ideas and writing and direction, I don’t know how much control the show runner exerts, etc., etc.  But there are a lot of things that, for me, didn’t work in S4.  I don’t @ the writers, show runners, actors, or anyone involved in the show (I believe in strong, firm, clear boundaries between fandom and the actual production) regarding fanfic, ideas, etc.  Occasionally, when I livetweet, I might tag someone in a positive comment, but that’s the extent of my involvement with the real people who are working on this show.  In fandom spaces, I think discussion, criticism, and honest, respectful engagement are signs of investment in the show and characters which is a pretty big compliment.

If I didn’t love this dumb show (or the first three seasons, anyway), I wouldn’t still be here after all.

[now-two-people-are-mad-at-me]

Nightmare time, the song

The groups of people grouped in the montage of "Nightmare Time" are meant to have a story in which they are the main characters. There is a part with Corey and Mariah, and a part with Angela and Joey. It probably isn't true, but it would mean that Jaime, Kim and Mariah would be the main characters of a story, and same for Jeff with James and James with Robert, so I want to believe in that.

Not related, but the three starkids singing the "Just Run Away if you can, if you dare" are Mariah, Kim and Jeff. According to me, the most wonderful hair.

Plus, I love to think somebody told them "Be the scariest you can be", so Jeff and Curt did light effects, I thought Mariah played a little like her interpretation of Regina George, Angela also played with her acting, Jaime grab a skull, Lauren, Joey and James put a sweater on, Corey thought "oh, something on the head is spooky? I'll take a Chapka!". And then, you got Dylan. Who literally went outside. Like, trees are the scariest thing he could think of.

[centinel2001]

Australian Conservatives Win by Thin Margin Armstrong Economics Blog/Australia & Oceania Re-Posted May 20, 2019 by Martin Armstrong Australia’s center-right government won a surprise victory over the left.

[ginnyweaslays]

80 Books White People Need to Read

Here’s my next list! All links are now for Barnes and Noble! If you are interested in finding Black-owned bookstores in your area, check out this website: https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php ; I also have additional resources regarding Black-owned bookstores on my Instagram (@books_n_cats) if you are interested! As always, please continue to add books to these lists! ((please circulate this one as much as the LGBT one, these books are incredibly important)).

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh

Killing Rage: Ending Racism by bell hooks

Where We Stand: Class Matters by bell hooks

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forget by Mikki Kendall

Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces by Radley Balko

Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People by Ben Crump

The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crime, Racism, and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement by Matthew Horace and Ron Harris

From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth Kai Hinton

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis

They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

A Promise And A Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism by Becky Thompson

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

Disrupting White Supremacy From Within edited by Jennifer Harvey, Karin Ac. Case and Robin Hawley Gorsline

How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel

Witnessing Whiteness by Shelly Tochluk

Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race by Derald Wing Sue

Towards the Other America: Anti-Racist Resources for White People Taking Action for Black Lives Matter by Chris Crass (be advised, this came out in 2015 and is not up to date with current events obviously)

Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race by Frances Kendall

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identify Politics by George Lipsitz

Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving

How I Shed My Skin: Unlearning the Racist Lessons of a Southern Childhood by Jim Grimsley

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise

Benign Bigotry: The Psychology of Subtle Prejudice by Kristin J. Anderson

America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We Say and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt

Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

The Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys by Eddie Moore Jr, Ali Michael, and Marguerite Penick-Parks

What White Children Need to Know About Race by Ali Michael

White By Law by Ian Haney Lopez

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

My Soul Is Rested: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South by Howell Raines

Race Matters by Cornel West

American Lynching by Ashraf H.A. Rushdy

Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-Create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy Roberts

White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism by Kevin Kruse

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad

Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit From Identity Politics by George Lipsitz

Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins

When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

Habits of Whiteness: A Pragmatist Reconstruction by Terrance MacMullan

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper

Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America by Melissa V. Harris-Perry

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz

Blueprint for Black Power: A Moral, Political, and Economic Imperative for the Twenty-First Century by Amos N. Wilson

The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood by Tommy J. Curry

Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis

Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde

Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist

The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, From Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation by Daina Ramey Berry

Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon

The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas J. Sugrue

From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy by Carol Anderson

Antiracism: An Introduction by Alex Zamalin

The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing by Anneliese A. Singh

Chokehold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler

Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie S. Glaude

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors

[newyorkbynightrp]

Full name: Brittany Susan Pierce

Birth date: March 11, 1st born

Age: 25

Sexuality: Pansexual

Occupation: Dancer for the Nolita Collective dance company

Alter ego: The Puppeteer

Ability: Shadow manipulation

Allegiance: Solitary hero

Bio: Growing up, Brittany had a terrible fear of the dark. There were many nights she needed her sister climb into bed with her and hold her until she was able to fall asleep. One night, Angela suggested that Brittany try doing the same thing with the shadows at night as she did with clouds during the day: find shapes in them that made her happy. Brittany concentrated with all her might and, to their astonishment, the animals she saw became almost solid, moving noiselessly around the room. The power made Angela frightened at first, but Brittany quickly proved that the beings she created matched her own emotions and personality. They were calm and gentle, harmless and innocent. Brittany could get them to obey her every whim with thoughts alone. The animals delighted Brittany so much that calling them forward became a nightly ritual, and she would not fall asleep until her bed was surrounded by her self-created friends.

Life as a Hero: Though she is infinitely patient in all other regards, if there is one thing that Brittany cannot tolerate, it’s bullying. She knows what it’s like to have her innocence taken advantage of, and she can’t bear seeing the same thing happen to someone else who can’t stand up for themselves. So, after dark, Brittany wanders the streets beneath the glow of the city lights and the distant stars, looking for the helpless and the unprotected. If anyone dares to target one of those poor souls, Brittany summons the shadows. Suddenly that would-be-criminal is face to face with a terrifying foe that cannot be killed, hurt, or even stopped until the villain finally turns tail and runs away into the night.

Relationships:

Angela Pierce -  Younger sister and roommate.

Brittany and Angela are very close. Angela is Brittany’s protector and Brittany sees the good in Angela in a way that sometimes her sister can’t even see in herself.

Charlie Puckerman - Dance partner.

Brittany and Charlie understand each other as artists and get along very well as people. Her sweetness and innocence make her easy for Charlie to trust, and Brittany appreciates Charlie’s acceptance of the aspects of herself that make her different from other people.

Lexi Fabray - Best friend.

Lexi and Britt have been friends ever since Lexi bumped into her on the way into their apartment complex. Brittany told her she was looking for fairies and that Lexi should help her because they like pretty people. Lexi had agreed to help and they’ve been hunting magic creatures together ever since.

Mike Chang - Friend.

They met in dance lessons in middle school and became really good friends straight away. They have fun making each other smile and making the whole world their stage, dancing any place the mood may strike. Sometimes Brittany visits Mike’s classes. She’s really proud to see him going from student to teacher.

Cameron Lopez - Friend.

Cameron and Brittany met through Charlie. Cameron saw right away why Brittany made such a good dance partner for her best friend; they possess the same gentleness of spirit. Any time Brittany visits for extra rehearsal, she and Cameron end up chatting on the couch after she has finished dancing with Charlie.

Alex Chang

Brittany knows of Alex because he is Mike’s brother and she saw him attending his brother’s recitals sometimes.

Trivia about this character:

Brittany believes that she will one day be the one to find and capture a Unicorn.

Is a big fan of Mercedes Jones’ music. Brittany knows all the words to every song and was sad when she heard Mercedes wouldn’t be releasing any more albums because she got dropped by her label.

OOC Info:

Ships: Brittany/Chemistry

Anti-ships: Brittany/Forced

Brittany is TAKEN [By Julie]

[newstfionline]

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Turning the page? Republicans acknowledge Biden’s victory (AP) More than a month after the election, top Republicans finally acknowledged Joe Biden as the next U.S. president on Tuesday, a collapse in GOP resistance to the millions of voters who decisively chose the Democrat. Foreign leaders joined the parade, too, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Speaking from the floor of the U.S. Senate where Biden spent 36 years of his career, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated his former colleague as president-elect. A similar shift unfolded in capitals across the world, where leaders including Russia’s Putin and Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador acknowledged Biden’s win. The growing acknowledgement of reality in Washington was triggered by the Electoral College formally voting on Monday to seal Biden’s win with 306 votes to Trump’s 232, the same margin that Trump pulled together four years ago.

Oops: An Associated Press correction (AP) In a story on December 15, 2020, about the Mexican and Brazilian presidents congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Biden’s first name is Jose. His name is Joe.

Got $1 Million to Spare? You Can Buy an Ambassadorship (NYT) Who wouldn’t want to be an American ambassador? Beyond the pomp and social cachet, you get a luxury residence, six-figure salary, and private school tuition for your children—a comfortable diplomatic lifestyle bankrolled by taxpayers. For decades, presidents from both parties have quietly distributed a portion of these cushy posts (often in the touristy capitals of Europe and the Caribbean) to some of their most generous campaign donors. Although the practice is technically prohibited by law, Congress has long acquiesced. “We’re the only country in the world that does business in this way,” says Dennis Jett, a retired ambassador, career foreign service officer and professor who wrote the book “American Ambassadors.” “Nobody else has an open market on ambassadorships. If we really believed in capitalism, we would list these postings on eBay.”

Time is money on Wall Street (WSJ) High-frequency traders are using an experimental type of cable to speed up their systems by billionths of a second, the latest move in a technological arms race to execute stock trades as quickly as possible. The cable, called hollow-core fiber, is a next-generation version of the fiber-optic cable used to deliver broadband internet to homes and businesses. Made of glass, such cables carry data encoded as beams of light. But instead of being solid, hollow-core fiber is empty inside, with dozens of parallel, air-filled channels narrower than a human hair. Because light travels nearly 50% faster through air than glass, it takes about one-third less time to send data through hollow-core fiber than through the same length of standard fiber.

Mexico lashes out at U.S. with law expected to harm cooperation on drug fight (Washington Post) The Mexican Congress passed a law Tuesday that is expected to sharply limit cooperation with the United States in the fight against illicit drugs, as outrage over the detention of Mexico’s former defense minister escalated into a bilateral crisis just weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The Chamber of Deputies voted 329 to 98 in favor of the measure, which had been approved by the Senate. The legislation was promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is expected to sign it. The measure has generated alarm in the U.S. government. It would require any Mexican federal, state or local official to get permission from a high-level security panel before meeting with “foreign agents” and to send a report to the Foreign and Public Security ministries on what was discussed. That would probably choke off the sharing of sensitive law enforcement information because it would be distributed widely and run a high risk of being compromised, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Big Fines and Strict Rules Unveiled Against ‘Big Tech’ in Europe (NYT) Authorities in the European Union and Britain built momentum on Tuesday for tougher oversight of the technology industry, as they introduced new regulations to pressure the world’s biggest tech companies to take down harmful content and open themselves up to more competition. In Brussels, European Union leaders unveiled proposals to crimp the power of “gatekeeper” platforms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, which policymakers argue deserve more oversight given their outsize influence. The proposed E.U. laws would require the companies to do more to prevent the spread of hate speech and sale of counterfeit merchandise, and disclose more information about how services like targeted advertising work. The string of announcements helped reinforce Europe as home to some the world’s toughest policies toward the technology industry.

Facebook calls out French activity (Foreign Policy) Facebook has removed dozens of accounts affiliated with the French military after it found instances of fake accounts or so-called sock puppets being used to parrot French talking points to African networks. It’s the first time Facebook has called out a Western government-affiliated entity for this kind of activity. The accounts posed as Africans voicing support for French military action while also discussing politics in West and Central Africa. Additionally, Facebook found that the French accounts had engaged in arguments with Russian accounts also posing as Africans.

Protesters keep pressure on Belarus’ dictator, and pay the price (CBS News) Anti-government protests continued on Monday in the capital of Belarus for the 128th day. Scores of demonstrators hit the streets of Minsk calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to resign, despite hundreds of people being detained for doing the same thing just hours earlier, and tens of thousands over the past few months. The mass-protests on Sundays have become a staple of Belarus’ beleaguered pro-democracy movement. Every week, despite frigid temperatures, they continue to gather to denounce the country’s long-time authoritarian leader, who claimed victory in a disputed August presidential election and assumed his sixth term in office. Every week, hundreds more are arrested for doing so. Thousands are believed to have come out again this past Sunday, but in a bid to complicate the security forces’ efforts to silence them, they tried a new tactic. Instead of one major rally in the center of Minsk, smaller protests were scattered across dozens of locations around the capital. Police officials said more than 300 people were detained during the Sunday protests.

Climate change and Russia (NYT) A great transformation is underway in the eastern half of Russia. For centuries the vast majority of the land has been impossible to farm; only the southernmost stretches along the Chinese and Mongolian borders, including around Dimitrovo, have been temperate enough to offer workable soil. But as the climate has begun to warm, the land—and the prospect for cultivating it—has begun to improve. Twenty years ago, the spring thaw came in May, but now the ground is bare by April; rainstorms now come stronger and wetter. Across Eastern Russia, wild forests, swamps and grasslands are slowly being transformed into orderly grids of soybeans, corn and wheat. It’s a process that is likely to accelerate: Russia hopes to seize on the warming temperatures and longer growing seasons brought by climate change to refashion itself as one of the planet’s largest producers of food. Around the world, climate change is becoming an epochal crisis, a nightmare of drought, desertification, flooding and unbearable heat, threatening to make vast regions less habitable and drive the greatest migration of refugees in history. But for a few nations, climate change will present an unparalleled opportunity, as the planet’s coldest regions become more temperate. And no country may be better positioned to capitalize on climate change than Russia. Russia has the largest land mass by far of any northern nation. Like Canada, Russia is rich in resources and land, with room to grow. Its crop production is expected to be boosted by warming temperatures over the coming decades even as farm yields in the United States, Europe and India are all forecast to decrease. And the steps its leaders have steadily taken—planting flags in the Arctic and propping up domestic grain production among them—have increasingly positioned Russia to regain its superpower mantle in a warmer world.

King of Thailand Allegedly Ruling His Nation From German Ski Resort (Daily Beast) The king of Thailand, one of the world’s richest men with an estimated fortune of $40 billion, has been accused of breaking international law by governing his country from a luxury German ski resort, where he’s said to be seeing out the coronavirus pandemic in the company of a retinue of concubines. Thailand insists King Rama, otherwise known as Maha Vajiralongkorn, is visiting the country in a private capacity. But WDR, a German public broadcaster, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper have published evidence that he’s using Germany as a base to conduct state affairs. Over the past 18 months, he has sent nearly 100 letters to heads of state, most of them from his Bavarian retreat, according to an account of the investigation from The Times of London. He allegedly congratulated the Greek president on his appointment, named several new generals, and banned his sister from standing in Thai elections—all from the comfort of the luxury resort. German leader Angela Merkel has been urged by the Thai opposition to expel him, and Heiko Maas, Germany’s foreign minister, has warned the king that he’ll face “immediate consequences” if he’s found to be unlawfully carrying out government business on German soil. German consciences have been pricked by reports of increasingly heavy-handed repression of a Thai protest movement against the excesses of the monarchy. Reports of the king’s sex life, eccentric practices such as appointing a poodle as a courtier, and photos of him at a German shopping center wearing a tiny crop top haven’t helped matters. Thailand’s economy, which is heavily reliant on tourism, has been battered by the pandemic, sharpening grievances against the king’s indulgent lifestyle.

Delivery Workers in South Korea Say They’re Dying of ‘Overwork’ (NYT) At a logistics depot the size of an airplane hangar in southern Seoul, couriers recently held a ritual at the start of another grueling work day: They stood for a moment of silence to remember more than a dozen fellow couriers who they say died this year from overwork. The delivery workers say they feel lucky to have jobs amid growing unemployment, and that they are proud to play an essential role in keeping the country’s Covid-19 cases down by delivering record numbers of packages to customers who prefer to stay safe at home. But they are also paying a price. There have been 15 deaths among couriers so far, including some who died after complaining of unbearable workloads that kept them on the clock from dawn until past midnight. The delivery workers say they’re dying of “gwarosa,” or death by overwork. “The workload has become just too much,” one said. “Since the coronavirus came, going home early enough to have dinner with my children has become a distant dream.”

Fiji braces as category five Cyclone Yasa bares down (Reuters) Fiji closed schools and urged people to stock up on emergency supplies on Wednesday as a potentially devastating cyclone was due to hit the island nation within days. Cyclone Yasa, a category five storm—the highest category—is expected to bring high-speed winds and torrential rain across Fiji’s two largest islands when it makes landfall on Friday. Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office has said about 600,000 people lie directly in the cyclone’s projected path.

More than 300 boys (Washington Post) Boko Haram claimed responsibility Tuesday for abducting more than 300 boys from a secondary school in northwest Nigeria, marking a striking leap from the extremist group’s usual area of operation and a chilling expansion of Islamist militancy in West Africa. Hundreds of gunmen surrounded the boarding school in Katsina state on Friday and opened fire in a community that had never known such violence, witnesses said, before dragging the students deep into the woods. The mass kidnapping shocked the continent’s most populous country as deaths from a multifront conflict in the region soar. West Africa is home to the fastest-growing Islamist insurgencies in the world, conflict researchers say, with unrest from disparate forces gripping Nigeria and three of its regional neighbors: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Boko Haram has killed at least 36,000 people and displaced millions over the past decade, but the campaign of terrorism has rarely stretched far from its stronghold in the Lake Chad Basin. The assault in the town of Kankara, however, signaled the fighters’ murderous reach has shifted nearly 500 miles west, endangering peace in new territory.

[24hourchampagnediet-blog1]

How over-50 stars stay sexy

New Post has been published on https://bestrawfoodrecipes.com/how-over-50-stars-stay-sexy/

How over-50 stars stay sexy

On Wednesday, superstar Jennifer Lopez will add another considerable accomplishment to her list: the actor-singer-dancer is turning 50.

But to look at her “Jenny From the Block”-era abs and baby-smooth skin, you’d scarcely believe that the mother-of-two has been alive for half a century.

So what’s her secret?

“Here’s the thing,” the “Hustlers” star’s trainer, David Kirsch, tells The Post. “She’s a goddess, but she works it. Nobody gave her anything.”

Some of today’s biggest stars are blazing past major milestone birthdays looking even better than they did when they got famous in their 20s and 30s. Fresh-faced women of a certain age — such as Lopez, Julianne Moore and Halle Berry — appear to have cracked the code on aging, flaunting enviably toned physiques and youthful visages.

But as their teams of doctors, nutritionists, facialists and trainers reveal, it takes work to stay in role-winning shape.

Lopez, for instance, commits herself to a highly restricted diet — she consumes neither sugar nor dairy products — as well as a rigorous workout routine that involves daily circuit training.

“Our body responds to exercise differently when we age,” says Kirsch, who warns that fifty-somethings might need to dig a little deeper as they get older. “Hormones and biomechanics change… so what worked at 25 or 30 doesn’t necessarily work now.”

The same goes for skin care.

“It is unrealistic and unnatural-looking to get rid of wrinkles completely in patients over 50,” says Paul Jarrod Frank, a celebrity dermatologist who developed a skin-care line with his star patient Madonna. Instead of a total surgical overhaul, he recommends a series of cutting-edge in-office “tweakments,” such as skin-brightening lasers and injectables, to his high-profile clients.

Read on to learn more about how to age like Hollywood royalty.

Work it like J.Lo

Patrick McMullan via Getty Image

Lopez is out-of-this-world gorgeous, but the rules for normal, earthly women still apply.

“As you get older, you have to step up the intensity of your workouts,” says Kirsch. “You’ve also got to hydrate, eat well, get good rest, because the body’s ability to recover diminishes with age.”

For women over 50, Kirsch suggests adding weights in the form of 5- to 20-pound dumbbells to build muscle, and focusing on moves that target the abs and back, such as a series of planks: traditional hands-under-shoulders version, side planks, planks with dumbbell rows, etc.

The core, says Kirsch, is the “one body part that’s the barometer of the body’s overall fitness, and that’s where Jennifer gets an A-plus.”

And rather than relying on a treadmill or spin bike for cardio, Kirsch likes having older clients repeat a series of weight-based exercises in quick succession to raise their heart rates, since the moves tone the muscles as well.

Fast like Halle Berry

WireImage

You won’t find 52-year-old Berry snacking on fruit for breakfast.

The actress adheres to a strict ketogenic diet, which involves limiting carbohydrate intake and fasting before noon to remain in a fat-burning state of ketosis.

She told followers of her #FitnessFriday Instagram series that she went keto a few years ago to help manage her type-2 diabetes, but believes that the diet has “been largely responsible for slowing down [her] aging process.”

She’s also a big fan of Bulletproof Coffee, which Berry combines with butter and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil and sips on an empty stomach.

The MCT coconut oil is “a really nice fat burner when you’re consuming it on a regular basis,” her trainer, Peter Lee Thomas, explained in one of Berry’s recent Instagram Stories. (Some studies back this up, although research is far from conclusive.)

Glow like Julianne Moore

Dave Benett/Getty Images

For dewy, porcelain skin like Julianne Moore’s, the actress’s go-to facialist Joanna Vargas suggests a morning application of anti-oxidant-rich vitamin-C serum paired with a nightly retinol. She also provides high-tech in-office treatments like microcurrent facials, which tighten skin, and microneedling, which can fade scarring, every few months.

Vargas also swears by LED therapy, which uses certain wavelengths of light to heal and firm aging skin through a process known as photobiomodulation — perfect for 58-year-old Moore, who told Red magazine she shuns fillers and Botox.

“For somebody who is in their 50s or 60s, collagen production starts to slow down to almost a complete stop,” says Vargas. “LED light has been shown to build collagen…which translates to better elasticity.”

Vargas has clients relax in her NYC studio’s custom-made LED bed, which pumps red light over the entire body.

Can’t swing the $150 price tag for 20 minutes? Many aestheticians can now tack a short LED session onto the end of an appointment, and some beauty brands sell light-emitting masks for regular use.

Hydrate like Angela Bassett

Getty Images

Angela Bassett loads up on moisturizer — a move that wins Vargas’ approval.

“It’s harder to maintain hydration levels in the skin as we age,” says the facialist, who recommends oil-based serums for aging skin.

Bassett, now 60, even launched her own line of skin-care products in 2016, teaming up with Dr. Barbara Sturm to engineer cleansers, creams and a serum for women with darker skin tones.

The line targets hyperpigmentation as well as breakouts and skin sensitivities, with which Bassett reportedly struggled.

The “Black Panther” star even moisturizes her eyelashes: “I use GrandeLash in the morning and Dr. Lancer’s lash serum at night; they’ve really helped my lashes grow,” she said in an interview with beauty brand Violet Grey.

Cover up like Nicole Kidman

Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images

For glowing skin like Kidman’s, slather on the SPF.

“Sunscreen is the key to anti-aging,” says Vargas. “Cell mutation and sun damage accumulate in the skin over time, so… people in their 40s and up see the effects of the sun more than younger people.”

Kidman’s love affair with sunscreen began as an attempt to avoid freckles during her childhood in ozone-poor Australia.

Now, the 52-year-old swears by SPF 100 to keep her skin fresh and free from cancer — a move that’s paid off over the years: The “Big Little Lies” star’s skin is age-spot-free with hardly a wrinkle. (Kidman told a German magazine in 2011 that she tried Botox once but hated the way it froze her face.)

Too late to avoid dark spots and other sun damage? Dermatologist Frank suggests the Fraxel resurfacing laser, a roughly $2,000 procedure that clears pigmentation and boosts collagen production in a one-two (only moderately painful) punch.

“The downtime is makeup-coverable for a few days, so even celebrities can fit it into their schedules,” he says.

Source link Keto Diet and Exercise

[fuckyeahtattoogirls-blog1]

How over-50 stars stay sexy

New Post has been published on https://bestrawfoodrecipes.com/how-over-50-stars-stay-sexy/

How over-50 stars stay sexy

On Wednesday, superstar Jennifer Lopez will add another considerable accomplishment to her list: the actor-singer-dancer is turning 50.

But to look at her “Jenny From the Block”-era abs and baby-smooth skin, you’d scarcely believe that the mother-of-two has been alive for half a century.

So what’s her secret?

“Here’s the thing,” the “Hustlers” star’s trainer, David Kirsch, tells The Post. “She’s a goddess, but she works it. Nobody gave her anything.”

Some of today’s biggest stars are blazing past major milestone birthdays looking even better than they did when they got famous in their 20s and 30s. Fresh-faced women of a certain age — such as Lopez, Julianne Moore and Halle Berry — appear to have cracked the code on aging, flaunting enviably toned physiques and youthful visages.

But as their teams of doctors, nutritionists, facialists and trainers reveal, it takes work to stay in role-winning shape.

Lopez, for instance, commits herself to a highly restricted diet — she consumes neither sugar nor dairy products — as well as a rigorous workout routine that involves daily circuit training.

“Our body responds to exercise differently when we age,” says Kirsch, who warns that fifty-somethings might need to dig a little deeper as they get older. “Hormones and biomechanics change… so what worked at 25 or 30 doesn’t necessarily work now.”

The same goes for skin care.

“It is unrealistic and unnatural-looking to get rid of wrinkles completely in patients over 50,” says Paul Jarrod Frank, a celebrity dermatologist who developed a skin-care line with his star patient Madonna. Instead of a total surgical overhaul, he recommends a series of cutting-edge in-office “tweakments,” such as skin-brightening lasers and injectables, to his high-profile clients.

Read on to learn more about how to age like Hollywood royalty.

Work it like J.Lo

Patrick McMullan via Getty Image

Lopez is out-of-this-world gorgeous, but the rules for normal, earthly women still apply.

“As you get older, you have to step up the intensity of your workouts,” says Kirsch. “You’ve also got to hydrate, eat well, get good rest, because the body’s ability to recover diminishes with age.”

For women over 50, Kirsch suggests adding weights in the form of 5- to 20-pound dumbbells to build muscle, and focusing on moves that target the abs and back, such as a series of planks: traditional hands-under-shoulders version, side planks, planks with dumbbell rows, etc.

The core, says Kirsch, is the “one body part that’s the barometer of the body’s overall fitness, and that’s where Jennifer gets an A-plus.”

And rather than relying on a treadmill or spin bike for cardio, Kirsch likes having older clients repeat a series of weight-based exercises in quick succession to raise their heart rates, since the moves tone the muscles as well.

Fast like Halle Berry

WireImage

You won’t find 52-year-old Berry snacking on fruit for breakfast.

The actress adheres to a strict ketogenic diet, which involves limiting carbohydrate intake and fasting before noon to remain in a fat-burning state of ketosis.

She told followers of her #FitnessFriday Instagram series that she went keto a few years ago to help manage her type-2 diabetes, but believes that the diet has “been largely responsible for slowing down [her] aging process.”

She’s also a big fan of Bulletproof Coffee, which Berry combines with butter and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil and sips on an empty stomach.

The MCT coconut oil is “a really nice fat burner when you’re consuming it on a regular basis,” her trainer, Peter Lee Thomas, explained in one of Berry’s recent Instagram Stories. (Some studies back this up, although research is far from conclusive.)

Glow like Julianne Moore

Dave Benett/Getty Images

For dewy, porcelain skin like Julianne Moore’s, the actress’s go-to facialist Joanna Vargas suggests a morning application of anti-oxidant-rich vitamin-C serum paired with a nightly retinol. She also provides high-tech in-office treatments like microcurrent facials, which tighten skin, and microneedling, which can fade scarring, every few months.

Vargas also swears by LED therapy, which uses certain wavelengths of light to heal and firm aging skin through a process known as photobiomodulation — perfect for 58-year-old Moore, who told Red magazine she shuns fillers and Botox.

“For somebody who is in their 50s or 60s, collagen production starts to slow down to almost a complete stop,” says Vargas. “LED light has been shown to build collagen…which translates to better elasticity.”

Vargas has clients relax in her NYC studio’s custom-made LED bed, which pumps red light over the entire body.

Can’t swing the $150 price tag for 20 minutes? Many aestheticians can now tack a short LED session onto the end of an appointment, and some beauty brands sell light-emitting masks for regular use.

Hydrate like Angela Bassett

Getty Images

Angela Bassett loads up on moisturizer — a move that wins Vargas’ approval.

“It’s harder to maintain hydration levels in the skin as we age,” says the facialist, who recommends oil-based serums for aging skin.

Bassett, now 60, even launched her own line of skin-care products in 2016, teaming up with Dr. Barbara Sturm to engineer cleansers, creams and a serum for women with darker skin tones.

The line targets hyperpigmentation as well as breakouts and skin sensitivities, with which Bassett reportedly struggled.

The “Black Panther” star even moisturizes her eyelashes: “I use GrandeLash in the morning and Dr. Lancer’s lash serum at night; they’ve really helped my lashes grow,” she said in an interview with beauty brand Violet Grey.

Cover up like Nicole Kidman

Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images

For glowing skin like Kidman’s, slather on the SPF.

“Sunscreen is the key to anti-aging,” says Vargas. “Cell mutation and sun damage accumulate in the skin over time, so… people in their 40s and up see the effects of the sun more than younger people.”

Kidman’s love affair with sunscreen began as an attempt to avoid freckles during her childhood in ozone-poor Australia.

Now, the 52-year-old swears by SPF 100 to keep her skin fresh and free from cancer — a move that’s paid off over the years: The “Big Little Lies” star’s skin is age-spot-free with hardly a wrinkle. (Kidman told a German magazine in 2011 that she tried Botox once but hated the way it froze her face.)

Too late to avoid dark spots and other sun damage? Dermatologist Frank suggests the Fraxel resurfacing laser, a roughly $2,000 procedure that clears pigmentation and boosts collagen production in a one-two (only moderately painful) punch.

“The downtime is makeup-coverable for a few days, so even celebrities can fit it into their schedules,” he says.

Source link Keto Diet and Exercise

[therookieconfessions]

[poop4u]

CBD Oil for Dogs

#poop4u #dogs

The post CBD Oil for Dogs by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

CBD dispensaries have popped up in many states all over the country in people’s hunt for wellness. But CBD oil can also be used to help dogs with anxiety and other issues. What is CBD and how does it work? And, will it give your dog the munchies? First, let’s define some of the terms that can be confusing.

“Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is a cannabinoid — a naturally occurring compound found in both hemp and cannabis (cannabis is also referred to as marijuana),” says Jodi Ziskin, director of communications with Treatibles in Petaluma, California.

Hemp and marijuana are “Both members of the Cannabis sativa plant and share similarities but have very distinct differences due to each plant’s biological structure,” says Jon Neveloff, partner with King Kanine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Consider that a rice cake and rice pudding are from the same plant but quite different.

“CBD is one of hundreds of compounds found in cannabis. It is the most prevalent compound in hemp, a special strain of cannabis that has only trace amounts of THC, the substance in medical and recreational strains of hemp that is associated with psychoactive effects,” says Joey DiFrancesco, CEO and founder of LolaHemp in New York City. This is crucial because THC can be toxic to pets. (For more THC specifics, see “Why the Farm Bill Matters” on page 38.) “CBD is non-psychoactive,” Joey adds. It won’t get your dog high in any way.

Hemp Oil vs CBD Oil

Both CBD oil and hemp oil come from the same plant, but CBD oil comes from the flowers, leaves and stalk of the hemp plant, while hemp oil comes from the seeds of industrialized hemp plant.

Hemp oil is a nutritional supplement full of nutrients that can be used in cooking and for moisturizing — like in soaps or lotions. It has a variety of other manufacturing uses, such as making plastic and as a bio-diesel fuel.

CBD oil is a supplement used for medicinal purposes, like treating various conditions, such as inflammation and anxiety, among others.

Help for anxiety

Many owners report benefits to using CBD oil for dogs, and CBD oil has been recommended to assist with many ailments that plague our furry friends, including anxiety.

“The most common conditions that relate to anxiety include location and separation anxiety, as well as noise phobias,” says Annie Chrysler, CBD specialist and product manager with SpaRoom based in Cleveland, Ohio. “For example, CBD oil can provide noticeable relief to dogs who demonstrate car ride anxiety or who experience anxiety when visiting the veterinarian’s office. CBD oil can also provide noticeable relief for dogs who have noise sensitivities such as fireworks and thunderstorms.”

Amanda Howland, co-founder and CTO of ElleVet Sciences in Portland, Maine, explains further. “Pain and anxiety are so interrelated in dogs that we wanted to have both a profound anti-anxiety effect and an extremely effective pain management effect, to help the pet feel better in every way.”

Angie Krause, DVM, with Boulder Holistic Vet in Boulder, Colorado, says in her experience CBD is consistently effective for treating dogs with mild to moderate anxiety. “For severe generalized anxiety, I have more success with drugs like Prozac,” she adds.

So how does it work? It’s based on science; the same science that explains how CBD works with man and man’s best friend, who have some biology in common. That’s because all mammals have an endocannabinoid system (ECS.)

CBD can help keep your dog calm around other animals. Photography by: ©chendongshan | Getty Images

Jillian Dutson, marketing and advertising manager with Pet Releaf, based in Littleton, Colorado, explains. “When your dog consumes CBD, his ECS is activated. The ECS works as a two-way communication system with various systems in the body such as the immune, nervous and digestive systems just to name a few. This two-way communication allows these parts of the body to speak to one another to help them function at optimal levels of health.”

And there’s more to it: “Although further studies are needed, initial findings show that CBD binds to a number of endocannabinoid receptors,” says Lauren Brychell, marketing coordinator with cbdMD in Charlotte, North Carolina. “These receptors regulate everything from inflammation to pain perception, and CBD has shown the ability to potentially raise dopamine levels and improve mood while reducing symptoms of anxiety.”

Speaking of studies, “Most of the research done on cannabidiol, indeed cannabis writ large, has taken place outside of veterinary research, which is not uncommon, as vet research typically lags behind human medicine,” Joey says.

More benefits and dosage

There are many common uses for CBD oil in dogs, other than anxiety. “I use CBD for dogs with seizures, arthritis, cancer, pain, chronic inflammation and allergies,” Dr. Krause says.

Joey, too, cites success in using CBD for the Big C. It can “Shrink tumors in several types of cancer both because it appears to have antitumorigenic properties of its own and because it appears to enhance the effectiveness of some chemotherapy agents.”

CBD oil has also been used to treat the following ailments:

Sleep issues

Vomiting and nausea

Muscle spasms

Glaucoma

Digestive issues and appetite loss

Skin conditions

As with any supplement or medication, getting the correct dose is crucial. Many of the manufacturers state dosing suggestions should be determined based on each dog’s individual stats and condition. Some suggest generic guidelines as a starting point: 1 mg per 10 pounds of body weight twice a day; Dr. Krause recommends 0.5 mg/kg of CBD twice daily for anxiety.

Of course, always get input from your dog’s vet on any treatment. “First, many symptoms that CBD may help with can be an indication of a deeper and more serious medical problem that needs to be treated,” Joey says. “Second, CBD oil can interfere with the metabolization of other drugs (in a similar way that grapefruit does). Third, the answer to dosing questions is dependent on what condition is being addressed.”

And don’t assume you and Fido are in for a quick fix. “While some dog owners may notice an immediate difference in their pet, we suggest waiting two to three weeks to see the full effects,” Lauren says.

Giving to your dog

Whatever the dosage, you have a couple of options on how to administer CBD oil: topically or ingested. But which is better?

“The answer ultimately depends on the individual dog,” Annie says. “More commonly, topical application can provide a more localized sense of relief, such as pain relief in the hips and legs. Ingesting can provide a broader sense relief, such as separation anxiety relief.”

Angela Ardolino, founder and CEO of CBD Dog Health in Tampa, Florida, lists other conditions that lend themselves to direct applications. “It has incredible benefits for skin issues, including allergies, hot spots, bug bites, skin tumors, warts and cysts when applied topically,” she says.

If you do decide to go the oral route you have more choices here, too. According to Angela, “The best way to administer CBD is to lift the dog’s lip and administer it right onto the gums (it is absorbed through capillaries in the gums).” Putting it under the tongue is also common. CBD oil can be mixed in with your dog’s food or treats made with CBD oil.

It may come down to what your dog — and wallet — prefer. “The oils and treats that I use in the practice have the same hemp extract in both,” Dr. Krause says. “The oil is more cost effective.”

Why the Farm Bill Matters

In December 2018, President Trump signed the much anticipated 2018 Farm Bill into law. Whether you’ve got a city dog or a country dog this is something that can affect dog owners everywhere regarding CBD. In short, the Farm Bill officially legalizes cultivating and producing industrial hemp and removing the crop from the federal list of controlled substances.

The Farm Bill helps lit restrictions off of CBD production. Photography by: ©CaraMaria | Getty Images

That last part may also free up your veterinarian to be able to discuss CBD oil more in depth with you. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration named cannabis and cannabinoid products as Schedule I controlled substances, with no accepted medical use. That hindered veterinarians’ ability to administer or prescribe them. Some vets opted not to talk about CBD as a treatment because of these restrictions.

“Now that the Farm Bill has passed, I believe this will not be an issue moving forward,” says Angie Krause, DVM, with Boulder Holistic Vet in Boulder, Colorado. “Hemp is legal at a federal level, and each state will decide how they want to regulate hemp. If a state declares hemp illegal, it may limit the veterinarian’s ability to prescribe or discuss hemp/CBD.”

The Farm Bill will:

Define industrial hemp broadly to cover all parts of the Cannabis plant including seeds, derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, etc. as long as it has a THC level of 0.3 percent or less.

Remove hemp completely from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Make the USDA the sole federal regulatory agency overseeing hemp cultivation.

Authorize and fund hemp research as part of the Supplemental and Alternative Crops program and the Critical Agricultural Materials Act.

Regarding that research, Heidi Hill, Holistic Hound founder and trained homeopath in Berkeley, California, says, “We are thrilled with this victory … This decision will also fund and allow long-overdue research into the many health and wellness benefits of this amazing plant.”

A final look at terminology

Some manufacturers tout CBD isolate while others say full spectrum is better. Here’s the difference and an industry professional’s take on each:

Full spectrum, or whole plant, CBD contains all other cannabinoids found in the marijuana plant, including minute amounts of THC. “[Full spectrum] contains all the beneficial constituents of the whole plant, including other cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids and fatty acids. These naturally occurring components all work together for enhanced benefit and what is called ‘the entourage effect,’” says Heidi Hill, Holistic Hound founder and trained homeopath in Berkeley, California.

CBD isolate is purified CBD that has been extracted from the marijuana plant and isolated, hence the name, from the other cannabinoids. “Our knowledge about CBD and its benefits are well-established, but we are just beginning to learn about the possible benefits of other compounds in the hemp plant. To claim the benefit of a full spectrum product over CBD itself, is premature,” says Joshua Sosnow, DVM, chief medical officer of CompanionCBD and owner of Arizona practices North Scottsdale Animal Hospital and Desert View Animal Hospital.

Know the facts about CBD to keep your dog healthy and relaxed. Photography by: ©Getty Images

Sharing pros and cons

If you have other pets at home with similar conditions, they may also benefit from the same product your dog uses — with different dosages, of course. “There is a big difference in dosing for dogs and cats,” Amanda says. “Cats are not small dogs! The half-life in cats is extremely short, meaning they metabolize it very quickly. We have very specific dosing for dogs and for cats based on science.”

According to Colette Florido, founder and president of CR Pets Thrive in St. Petersburg, Florida, says, “A high-quality CBD product will work equally well for both cats and dogs. The main difference you’ll find between options for cats and dogs is what other flavors are combined with the CBD, knowing that each pet has their preferences.”

Some CBD products for cats come in catnip or fish flavors, while beef or peanut butter flavors are used for dogs.

The most important part about sharing CBD oil is to never share products made for humans with your dog or any other pets. “It is vital to make sure that the oil you are buying is not just a human product with a paw print on the label,” Angela says. “Human products may contain artificial flavoring, like xylitol, that is toxic to dogs.”

Joey gave a flavor-specific example of toxicity. “Wintergreen oil, which is perfectly fine for people and probably won’t bother a dog, is potentially toxic to cats. It is commonly found in CBD products made for people.”

There is much more research to be done on using CBD oil for your dog but hopefully you now know more about how it works and how it might help. And just to confirm: CBD oil won’t give your dog the munchies. If your dog is craving Scooby snacks, it has nothing to do with a supplement.

CBD QAFs

Nope, not FAQs, these are Questions to Ask Frequently when looking for quality CBD for your dog.

Make sure to ask the right questions to keep your dog safe! Photography by: ©vitalytitov | Getty Images

Jon Neveloff, partner with King Kanine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says, “The most important question is: Are there lab results on this bottle of CBD? If so, what are they testing for?”

“Know where the hemp is grown,” recommends Angie Krause, DVM, with Boulder Holistic Vet in Boulder, Colorado. “U.S. hemp grown organically is preferred. Extraction technique is very important. For cats, I prefer CO2 extraction. This ensures there are no harmful chemical residues. A guaranteed analysis should be available from the manufacturer to quantify the concentration of CBD in each ml.”

Colette Florido, founder and president of CR Pets Thrive in St. Petersburg, Florida, says to “ask to see the company’s certificate of analysis (COA) and lab tests. If the company can’t or won’t [share it], do not buy. It means they don’t test for pesticides, solvents, mold, yeast and E. coli. An ethical CBD company will proudly show you their COA.”

Jillian Dutson, marketing and advertising manager for Pet Releaf, in Littleton, Colorado, suggests you ask these questions when comparing CBD products:

Where is their hemp grown and can they prove it?

If claiming organic, do they have the necessary certifications to verify these claims?

How much CBD is in their products and do they have consistent third-party testings to confirm these amounts?

Jodi Ziskin, director of communications with Treatibles in Petaluma, California, adds these:

Does the milligram count on the label reflect the amount of hemp oil or does it include the carrier oil(s)?

Is the company a National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) member and are they fully compliant with their packaging and marketing?

“We bought and tested about 20 different products we got from pet stores and online, and out of the 20, none had what was advertised on the label and some had no CBD at all,” said Amanda Howland, co-founder and CTO of ElleVet Sciences in Portland, Maine. “Pet owners need to be careful and research the company.”

Thumbnail: ©Teran Buckner | Phido Photography

About the author:

Elizabeth Anderson Lopez is an award-winning writer based in Lake Forest, California. She and her husband have many pets, including two English Bull Terrier rescues named Dexter and Maybelene. You can contact her at fromconcepttocontent.com.

Learn more about dog health care at dogster.com:

Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Dog Seizures: What Causes Them and How Should They be Treated?

7 Means of Dog Anxiety Treatment

The post CBD Oil for Dogs by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

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[wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog]

Bikini-wearing celebs over 50 are breaking the internet

One trick for a great bikini body? The kind of sexy confidence that only comes with age, and is exuded by slew of 50-and-over stars in their two-pieces, from Elizabeth Hurley to Halle Berry.

The A-list of anti-ageism is inspiring a new wave of body positivity, showing strength and beauty in all forms. Here are some of the bikini wearers we bow down to (watch the video above for more):

1) Elizabeth Hurley, 53

The queen bee of 50+ bikini models is especially invested in looking this good, as she’s got her own swimwear line, Elizabeth Hurley Beach.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elizabeth Hurley (@elizabethhurley1) on Mar 14, 2019 at 5:37am PDT

2) Jennifer Lopez, joining the club on July 24

The bride-to-be and soon-to-be 50-year-old has been aging backwards before our eyes for decades. Her swimsuit shots leave fans speechless, and have helped her amass over 85 million followers on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on Oct 26, 2018 at 10:05am PDT

3) Angela Bassett, age 60

Yes, seriously, 60.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angela Bassett (@im.angelabassett) on Aug 16, 2018 at 8:09am PDT

4) Cindy Crawford, 53

An original supermodel with infinite staying power, Crawford counts fitness (hiking, weight training and pole dancing) and a ban on processed foods as her top beauty secrets.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cindy Crawford (@cindycrawford) on Apr 3, 2016 at 2:13pm PDT

5) Halle Berry, 52

Gorgeous, yes. But also fierce. Have you seen those boxing videos?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Halle Berry (@halleberry) on Jan 4, 2018 at 11:47am PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Halle Berry (@halleberry) on May 11, 2018 at 12:20pm PDT

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Elizabeth Hurley, 52, says she’s not on a ‘mad ego trip’ when she posts bikini photos

Elizabeth Hurley, 53, hula-hoops in a tiny pink bikini

Brooke Shields, Halle Berry, and Elizabeth Hurley are among the celebs with bikini bragging rights

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.

[centinel2001]

Secretary of State Pompeo Meets With UN Secretary General Guterres

Secretary of State Pompeo Meets With UN Secretary General Guterres

Any attempt by the ICC to enforce a warrant against any U.S. citizens must be fought by all means necessary Re Posted from The Canada Free Press By Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist —— Bio and Archives—March 7, 2020 Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met on March 6th with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres at UN headquarters in New York. The offices of the…

[theconservativebrief]

Allure, the magazine devoted to all things beauty, revealed its November cover this week. It features Angela Bassett looking glorious and powerful in a plaid suit and giant gold hoop earrings, standing high above the city of Los Angeles. The interview with the actress, who is 60, is titled: “Stop Asking Angela Bassett Why She Looks ‘So Young’ For Her Age.”

Ah yes, that well-worn backhanded compliment, “You look great for your age!” In the cover interview, Christian L. Wright starts the piece by recounting how an Instagram shot of the actress in a bathing suit was picked up by the celebrity press, incredulously highlighting that she was 59 at the time.

“That was surprising,” Bassett said. She then followed it up by admitting, “It feels good that they wonder” about her secrets for apparent eternal youth. When a stranger in a grocery store lobbed that stock praise her, Bassett reports that she replied: “Hearing that is a wonderful thing — seeing as I’m 80!”

This cover and its star are part of a themed issue to draw attention to an initiative Allure announced about a year ago banning the term “anti-aging” from its pages and website. Editor in chief Michelle Lee wrote in her editor’s letter at the time, “Changing the way we think about aging starts with changing the way we talk about aging.” But because this particular magazine issue is framed around anti-anti-aging, what ends up inadvertently being the focus is … Bassett’s age. We need to get to a place where age is besides the point.

Everyone who hears this knows what “you look so good for your age!” means: “You look as fine as can be expected for someone of your advanced years. I’m so impressed that decaying flesh isn’t hanging off your cheekbones. Good job!”

The qualifier “for your age” is wielded with the tacit understanding that anyone over the age of, say, 36, is precluded from looking great, because we all know that baseline “great” means “young.” As we age, our appearance automatically moves one or two standard deviations away from “great,” at least in the eyes of society. However, if you somehow manage to appear younger or skinnier than society’s expectations of what 40 or 50 or 60 should look like, that is something to be lauded and inquired about and celebrated. Because looking old is bad!

We saw this play out recently with Jennifer Lopez, who just celebrated her 49th birthday. The celebrity media posted several shots of her working out, abs on display. Whenever sites publish stories about an older woman’s appearance, you can bet her age will be in the headline, like this one: “Jennifer Lopez Flaunts Her ‘Birthday Week’ Body As She Nears 50.”

While all female celebrities undergo scrutiny of their faces and bodies, you won’t often see the age mentioned for younger women. A recent headline about Emily Ratajkowski reads: “Emily Ratajkowski flaunts her model figure wearing only a floral jacket with nothing else underneath;” it doesn’t say, “Emily Ratajkowski flaunts her model figure wearing only a floral jacket with nothing else underneath as she nears 28.”

Highlighting age in a headline is just shorthand for “Can you believe how good she looks for her age?”

In her new editor’s letter, Lee writes: “Our point has always been about removing the shame. It’s about reclaiming our own agency versus feeling forced to take actions because we’ve been made to feel ‘less than’ by society. You do you. That may mean going au naturel for life, or that may be a 10-step daily skin-care routine with Botox and fillers every three months, weekly cryo facials, and a neck lift at 70.”

A lot of women have internalized this shame, me included. I want to look younger. I get Botox. I slather a lot of questionable things on my face. I look wistfully at the confident women featured in the Grombre Instagram account embracing their gray hair, even as I am getting my roots dyed.

Even beauty doesn’t actually seem to blunt the stress of aging. 53-year-old Paulina Porizkova was a prominent model in the ’80s and early ’90s, and later, a judge on America’s Next Top Model. She is stunningly beautiful. This week she told NewBeauty magazine that aging publicly “sucks.”

“Aging erases me as a person because my identity is so tied to what I look like,” Porizkova said. “It’s not fun — I don’t want to have to go to war with my looks. And I don’t want to start trying to look 20 years younger.”

Her honesty is refreshing, but it can be utterly depressing to hear her self-doubt. If someone who looks like that feels so terrible, what chance do I ever have at peace and self-acceptance? When a person who looks objectively great — not merely great for her age — has that level of angst about her appearance, it can’t help but trickle down to us normies. It indicates a societal problem.

Which brings us back to Allure. Putting Angela Bassett, sexagenarian extraordinaire, on a magazine cover is fantastic. But putting her on the cover of an age-themed issue means we have work to do. Aging and older people need to be represented in media much more frequently — and when they are represented, age can’t be the driving contextual force. Let’s talk about them as people, not old people.

The reality is that the oldest person featured on Allure’s previous 2018 covers was 35-year-old Lupita Nyong’o. Allure is not alone in this, and there is definitely financial pressure on publications to portray young, attractive, skinny people in its pages. Advertisers want to showcase their products in proximity to people they think are aspirational to readers.

A few years ago I interviewed Lesley Jane Seymour, the former editor in chief of the now-defunct More magazine. She told me it was a constant fight to get older women on the cover — and More was a magazine that was dedicated to older women. “If [older] women knew how these companies talk about them behind their backs, they would be booted faster than Debbie Schultz at the DNC,” she said. “It is appalling how these executives treat older women.”

The older women that are booked for covers or as the faces of makeup companies are usually those who look, yes, great for their age — something that is, more often than not, referenced in a headline or advertising copy.

But there are tons of women who don’t want to look younger or don’t have the means for the upkeep required or simply don’t have the genetics, and the result is that they don’t see themselves represented anywhere in popular culture. It perpetuates the cycle of not feeling good enough or attractive enough, because not only do you think you do not look as good as a 27-year-old, you don’t even think you look as good as someone your own age.

Shooting Bassett for the cover highlights that women are still vibrant, productive, and attractive when they’re not young. Talking about and celebrating a 60-year-old woman is a good thing, especially in a medium — women’s magazines — that bears responsibility for making women feel ashamed about growing older in the first place. But only when we finally start talking about women of a certain age without talking about their age will we have made real progress.

Original Source -> Angela Bassett’s Allure cover shows that we still focus too much on women’s ages

via The Conservative Brief

[chloe-jayde]

Euro hit by German coalition crisis, Mexican peso gains as Lopez Obrador wins

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/euro-hit-by-german-coalition-crisis-mexican-peso-gains-as-lopez-obrador-wins

Euro hit by German coalition crisis, Mexican peso gains as Lopez Obrador wins

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO:An employee shows fifty-euro notes in a bank in Sarajevo

By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake

TOKYO (Reuters) – The euro slipped back in Asian trade on Monday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel was dealt a fresh blow when her interior minister offered to quit in an escalating row over migration policy.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who has called for tougher border controls, said he was ready to step down as minister and as chair of his Christian Social Union (CSU), junior coalition partner in Merkel’s government.

While the euro initially rose to as high as $1.1698 in a knee-jerk reaction to the news, it quickly lost steam as Seehofer’s departure would be seen as making Merkel’s future even more uncertain.

The common currency last stood at $1.1653 (), down 0.32 percent from late U.S. trade on Friday. Against the safe-haven Swiss franc, it fell 0.15 percent to 1.1557 franc ().

The euro had gained on Friday after European Union leaders hammered out an agreement on migration that investors hoped would ease pressure on Merkel.

The dollar extended its gains against the yen to hit a fresh six-week high of 111.06 yen .

The Japanese currency was unmoved by the Bank of Japan’s tankan business sentiment survey, which showed a slight dip in big Japanese manufacturers’ sentiment.

The dollar has been supported by the relative strength of the U.S. economy and the prospects of further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

Data on Friday showed so-called core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of U.S. inflation, rose 2.0 percent from a year earlier, the biggest gain since April 2012.

That kept alive expectations that the Fed will raise rates at least once and possibly twice by the end of year.

Yet investors are also becoming wary of possible disruptions from the trade disputes triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist “America First” policy.

Canada struck back on Friday at the Trump administration over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, imposing punitive measures on C$16.6 billion ($12.63 billion) worth of American goods, effective from Sunday.

The United States has also threatened to impose duties on up to $450 billion of Chinese imports, with the first $34 billion portion set to go into effect on July 6.

While economists expect the direct economic damage from those tariffs to be relatively contained, at least for now, many see the reversal of globalisation could have negative repercussions for years to come, lowering companies’ longer-term growth expectations.

Fears of a trade war have already knocked Chinese shares to two-year lows, and dented the yuan last week.

The yuan, which posted its biggest monthly fall on record last month, was not much changed at 6.6460 per dollar in offshore trade, just ahead of Friday’s seven-month low of 6.6522 to the dollar.

“The Chinese authorities do not seem to have tried to stem the yuan’s fall, which many people take as a message from Beijing that that’s one thing they could do against U.S. pressure on trade,” said Bart Wakabayashi, Tokyo branch manager of State Street Bank.

The official survey on China’s manufacturing sector published on Saturday suggested growth in the sector slowed slightly in June after a better-than-expected performance in May.

Elsewhere, the Mexican peso gained as much as 1.4 percent, in choppy early Asian trade on Monday after exit polls showed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – widely known as AMLO – scored a decisive win to secure Mexico’s presidency on Sunday.

Lopez Obrador, former Mexico City mayor and anti-establishment leftist, rode a wave of voters’ anger at rampant violence and corruption in the country.

Investors are now looking to the results of Congressional elections, where National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), a party that has only existed formally since 2014, could be close to a majority.

The peso last traded at 19.8380 to the dollar , up 0.39 percent on the day and edging near one-month high of 19.5615 touched on Friday.

“I think that given the wide lead AMLO had during the whole campaign, a result favorable to him was already priced in the currency,” said Tania Escobedo, New York-based Latam FX Strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

“So far it seems that the process has been calm and without major disruptions. Signs for a smooth transition and a conciliatory tone from the candidates are also, in our view, adding to Mexican peso strength.”

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/euro-hit-by-german-coalition-crisis-mexican-peso-gains-as-lopez-obrador-wins

[jettadarkwynd]

Euro hit by German coalition crisis, Mexican peso gains as Lopez Obrador wins

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/euro-hit-by-german-coalition-crisis-mexican-peso-gains-as-lopez-obrador-wins

Euro hit by German coalition crisis, Mexican peso gains as Lopez Obrador wins

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO:An employee shows fifty-euro notes in a bank in Sarajevo

By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake

TOKYO (Reuters) – The euro slipped back in Asian trade on Monday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel was dealt a fresh blow when her interior minister offered to quit in an escalating row over migration policy.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who has called for tougher border controls, said he was ready to step down as minister and as chair of his Christian Social Union (CSU), junior coalition partner in Merkel’s government.

While the euro initially rose to as high as $1.1698 in a knee-jerk reaction to the news, it quickly lost steam as Seehofer’s departure would be seen as making Merkel’s future even more uncertain.

The common currency last stood at $1.1653 (), down 0.32 percent from late U.S. trade on Friday. Against the safe-haven Swiss franc, it fell 0.15 percent to 1.1557 franc ().

The euro had gained on Friday after European Union leaders hammered out an agreement on migration that investors hoped would ease pressure on Merkel.

The dollar extended its gains against the yen to hit a fresh six-week high of 111.06 yen .

The Japanese currency was unmoved by the Bank of Japan’s tankan business sentiment survey, which showed a slight dip in big Japanese manufacturers’ sentiment.

The dollar has been supported by the relative strength of the U.S. economy and the prospects of further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

Data on Friday showed so-called core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of U.S. inflation, rose 2.0 percent from a year earlier, the biggest gain since April 2012.

That kept alive expectations that the Fed will raise rates at least once and possibly twice by the end of year.

Yet investors are also becoming wary of possible disruptions from the trade disputes triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist “America First” policy.

Canada struck back on Friday at the Trump administration over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, imposing punitive measures on C$16.6 billion ($12.63 billion) worth of American goods, effective from Sunday.

The United States has also threatened to impose duties on up to $450 billion of Chinese imports, with the first $34 billion portion set to go into effect on July 6.

While economists expect the direct economic damage from those tariffs to be relatively contained, at least for now, many see the reversal of globalisation could have negative repercussions for years to come, lowering companies’ longer-term growth expectations.

Fears of a trade war have already knocked Chinese shares to two-year lows, and dented the yuan last week.

The yuan, which posted its biggest monthly fall on record last month, was not much changed at 6.6460 per dollar in offshore trade, just ahead of Friday’s seven-month low of 6.6522 to the dollar.

“The Chinese authorities do not seem to have tried to stem the yuan’s fall, which many people take as a message from Beijing that that’s one thing they could do against U.S. pressure on trade,” said Bart Wakabayashi, Tokyo branch manager of State Street Bank.

The official survey on China’s manufacturing sector published on Saturday suggested growth in the sector slowed slightly in June after a better-than-expected performance in May.

Elsewhere, the Mexican peso gained as much as 1.4 percent, in choppy early Asian trade on Monday after exit polls showed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – widely known as AMLO – scored a decisive win to secure Mexico’s presidency on Sunday.

Lopez Obrador, former Mexico City mayor and anti-establishment leftist, rode a wave of voters’ anger at rampant violence and corruption in the country.

Investors are now looking to the results of Congressional elections, where National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), a party that has only existed formally since 2014, could be close to a majority.

The peso last traded at 19.8380 to the dollar , up 0.39 percent on the day and edging near one-month high of 19.5615 touched on Friday.

“I think that given the wide lead AMLO had during the whole campaign, a result favorable to him was already priced in the currency,” said Tania Escobedo, New York-based Latam FX Strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

“So far it seems that the process has been calm and without major disruptions. Signs for a smooth transition and a conciliatory tone from the candidates are also, in our view, adding to Mexican peso strength.”

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/euro-hit-by-german-coalition-crisis-mexican-peso-gains-as-lopez-obrador-wins