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thearabkhaleesi · 5 years

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D23 EXPO DAY 2 - WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

On the second day of Disney’s D23 Expo this year, Disney hosted a huge panel on all the upcoming movies the company has planned. Here’s everything you need to know from the Walt Disney Studios panel.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

A new poster for Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released at D23! It shows Rey and Kylo fighting against a backdrop of PALPATINE! (⚠️ He was confirmed to be in the movie when the first trailer was released months ago, I know some of you consider it a spoiler, I would too, but it seems like Disney will feature him heavily in the marketing so there’s no escape from it really).

We also got some other not spoilery news and some VERY spoilery news.

First, no spoilers:

JJ Abrams says that Leia is still at the heart of Episode IX❤️

Anthony Daniels says of IX, “what an ending!”💛

Keri Russell says her character is an old friend of Poe’s...

Now, VERY SPOILERY NEWS FROM D23 FOR STAR WARS IX⚠️⚠️⚠️ You have been warned. D23 attendees were shown a reel of footage where Rey was wearing a dark cowl & was wielding a red lightsaber. I have goosebumps typing this. The video is attached below.

STAR WARS IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is set to be released December 20💫

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CRUELLA

Disney unveiled the first look at Emma Stone in CRUELLA!🐶 Disney’s Cruella ia A live action movie surrounding the iconic villain from 101 Dalmatians, Cruella De Vil, focusing on Cruella’s origins, similar to Maleficent & it’ll have a pop punk vibe. The film also stars Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Joel Fry. Cruella currently has a release date on May 28, 2021.🖤

PIXAR’S SOUL

“Soul” is an upcoming Pixar animated film from Pete Docter (Monsters Inc, Up, Inside Out). The synopsis states: “Ever wonder where your passion, your dreams and your interests come from? What is it that makes you … you? [The film] takes you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life's most important questions.” The main character is a middle school band teacher who plays jazz on his off time, but unfortun lately life has derailed him from getting his big break and playing at a jazz club her dreams of getting into. He is the first black lead in a Pixar film. D23 attendees were shown footage. The voice cast includes Jaime Foxx, Daveed Diggs, Tina Fey, and Phylica Rashad. Soul is set to be released June 2020!

PIXAR’S ONWARD

A new poster & a still was just released for Disney•Pixar’s next movie an original story titled “Onward”! The film is set in a suburban fantasy world where humans do not exist, instead populated with elves, trolls, and sprites, where unicorns are as common as rodents, and the story follows two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic in the world.

Click here for the trailer.

The voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer, & D23 attendees were shown an 8-minute clip. Tom Holland took the stage & told the audience “Listen, I know it’s been a crazy week but I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, I love you 3000”. I’m crying. We love you 3000, Tom. Onward arrives in theatres March 6, 2020!🦄

KIT HARINGTON & GEMMA CHAN JOIN MARVEL’S ETERNALS

The Eternals cast made an appearance at D23, with concept art of their costumes, and it was officially confirmed that Gemma Chan is joining the cast as Sersi and KIT HARINGTON is officially joining as BLACK KNIGHT / Dane Whitman🤩💫💫

The Eternals are an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who are sent to Earth to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.✨

In the comics, Dane Whitman inherited a mystical sword that carried a family curse - he took the Black Knight name to help restore honor to their family legacy & was a long time member of the Avengers in the comics (very on brand for you Kit). Sersi is a member of the Eternals, & had a romantic relationship with Dane Whitman / Black Knight in the comics.🖤

The movie also stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff as the first deaf superhero in the MCU, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, and more. I’m so happy Kit is in Eternals, reunited with his Stark brother :’)🐺 💫 Filming has already begun and it’s set to be released November 2020!

FROZEN 2❄️

We finally have some more details on FROZEN 2!❄️ At the panel at D23, it’s said that Frozen 2 centres on an important question - why does Elsa have powers? Additionally, the producers said that Frozen 1 and Frozen 2 come together to form one complete story. And Frozen 2 starts in the past” - confirming that they will be bringing back Anna and Elsa’s parents for ONE SCENE in the new movie. Two new additions to the voice cast are: Sterling K Brown who will voice a character called Lieutenant Mattias, and Evan Rachel Wood who will voice Elsa and Anna’s mother. The attendees at D23 got to see some footage & heard some of the music (& apparently it’s very catchy) Frozen 2 hits theatres this November!❄️

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON🐉

Disney just announced an original new animated film in the works, Raya and the Last Dragon!🐉 The movie is described as a combination of classic Disney and kung-fu movies, but also Disney meets Game of Thrones. The film is set in a mysterious land called Kumandra, & the region is split into five sections, and Raya is a warrior on the search for the last dragon in the world.🐉 Here’s the concept art & logo - Cassie Steele is voicing Raya and Awkwafina will voice the last dragon. The movie is set to be released Thanksgiving 2020!

Here are the final bits of news from yesterday’s Walt Disney Studios panel at D23!

BLACK PANTHER 2🐾 No official title yet but the release date is set for May 6, 2022, with Ryan Coogler set to return as writer & director.

BLACK WIDOW🕸D23 attendees were shown a teaser trailer for BLACK WIDOW twice so far during D23. A 4-second clip leaked but Disney is taking it down. We also know Black Widow takes place following the events of Captain America: Civil War, as she finds herself on her own & forced to deal with “some of the red in her ledger”. It stars David Harbour stars as Red Guardian (a Russian super-soldier), Florence Pugh plays Yelena (a sister-figure to Natasha), and Rachel Weisz plays a Red Room spy. The movie is currently filming & is scheduled to be released May 2020!

JUNGLE CRUISE🍃D23 attendees were shown footage/a trailer for Jungle Cruise, an upcoming Disney live action film based on the popular Disney Parks attraction of the same name. There are apparently lots of references to the ride that it’s based on. The film is set during the early 20th century, where a riverboat captain named Frank takes a scientist and her brother on a mission into a jungle to find the Tree of Life which is believed to possess healing powers. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Paul Giamatti, Edgar Ramirez, and Jesse Plemons. Jungle Cruise is set to hit theaters July 2020.

MULAN⚔️The live action adaptation of Mulan was discussed at the panel today, showing attendees clips that include the matchmaking scene & the recruitment of the Emperor’s army. Apparently lots of the animated film’s shots are recreated and the film feels like a Chinese epic. It only has instrumental music from the animated film, and Mushu and Li Shang will not be in it. Mulan is set to hit cinemas March 27, 2020.🏮

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dudedrops319 · 5 years

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Dooley Noted - A musical journey through the mojo of a Toledo bluesman

(original version can be seen at https://toledocitypaper.com/feature/dooley-noted/)

Dooley Wilson is frustrated.

It’s 9:57 am on a cold Saturday in December and he is supposed to start playing at 10 o’clock. He has only just now stumbled out of the Toledo tundra into the cozy confines of the Glass City Cafe, which has booked him for its popular Bluegrass Breakfast music series.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he cries out in the direction of restaurant owner Steve Crouse, who assures him everything is fine. Wilson looks pained as a brief flash of flame passes over his smoldering dark brown eyes. No, it’s not fine. He was scheduled to start playing the blues at 10 sharp, and now he’s going to start late. And a professional should always be punctual.

Undaunted, he swallows his disappointment and, within 10 minutes, he has everything set up at the front of the restaurant which serves as the stage. Upending his battered Cunard Queen of Elizabeth canvas bag, he sorts through the contents— Halls menthol cough drops, a bottle of slippery elm supplements (“Just in case my voice goes out”), a bottle of Deja Blue water, a glass vase that serves as a tip jar and a power strip.

He plugs the power strip into his amp, a well-loved 1965 Fender Bandmaster. And then out comes the artisan’s tool— his Jay Turser electric guitar. It doesn’t have a name or anything; it’s a utensil to serve the stew of blues (“It’s a cheapo guitar, but it’s MY cheapo guitar,” he muses). He’s almost ready. He asks, and a cup of hot black coffee is delivered. After the obligatory microphone check, he sits on the edge of a worn tan suitcase and readies his guitar. It’s time to go to work.

Soon the Glass City Cafe fills with the sound of the blues— and Wilson is lost in ecstasy. He’s sitting atop the worn tan suitcase, choking the guitar neck, his angular carved-in-stone features a mask of concentration, fingers and knuckles gnarled from a lifetime of plucking strings. There’s no setlist, no backdrop, no real plan. Just a working man with an instrument sharing the gospel of what he believes is the greatest music that exists. Wilson plays the blues as if his life depends on it.

And maybe it does.

From C.J. to Dooley

Dooley Wilson does not take toast with his mozzarella cheese omelet, favoring potatoes instead. Sitting in the Glass City Cafe months later— this time as a patron— he is a bit more relaxed than he was when he played here. He still doesn’t smile much. Wilson isn’t grumpy, he just carries himself with an intensity that’s disarming. You get the feeling that he doesn’t want to be here. That’s because he lives to do one thing: Play the blues. And when he’s not playing the blues, by gum, he wants to be playing the blues.

But for now, he’ll tell his story. Now 45 years old, he was born C.J. Forgy, in West Lafayette, Indiana to James and Sandy Forgy. His parents split when he was two years old and he went to live with his maternal grandmother in Maumee. An only child, Wilson describes himself as an “artsy kid” who spent hours in his room drawing and writing.

“Everyone thought I was going to be a visual artist,” says Wilson, taking a sip of his coffee. “But along with writing, over the years I’ve let those skills atrophy,” he says, with a regretful sigh. “But I don’t know; I’m thinking about taking up drawing again for its therapeutic value.”

So what sparked his obsessive devotion to the blues? It started as musical hangups often did in the ‘80s— with a cassette. At 15, Wilson, who was teaching himself guitar and whose musical tastes at the time ran towards Led Zeppelin, walked into Camelot Music in the now-long-gone Southwyck Mall and spied a tape from Columbia Records called Legends of the Blues Vol. 1. There was something about that tape that spoke to him.

He picked it up and looked at the back. As-yet unfamiliar names like Bo Carter, Blind Willie Johnson, Charley Patton, and Leroy Carr stared out at him from the tracklisting. Robert Johnson— he knew that name from an interview he’d read with Jimmy Page and he was fascinated by the infamous story about Johnson reputedly getting his blues talent while making a deal with the devil at a crossroads. Maybe it was the ghost of Johnson himself speaking to Wilson that day in Camelot Music. All he knew is that he had to buy it.

When he got home, he popped the tape into his boom box, and something in the universe shifted. At that moment, C.J. Forgy ceased to exist and the bluesman named Dooley Wilson was born.

“That anthology started this mystique and passion I had for this music,” says Wilson, in between forkfuls of omelet. “It just spoke to my angst-ridden soul at the time and I had never heard anything so authentic, so human, so real. Take Son House’s song ‘Death Letter,’ which is on that anthology. It’s taken from his 1965 Columbia session and it’s just this amazing song about how a man gets a letter saying that the woman he loves is dead. It’s just…” Wilson often trails off when he talks about the blues; yet another reason why he’d much rather play you a song than talk about it.

From that fateful moment, the blues wasn’t just a preferred style of music to listen to or to learn to play… it became, at that time, a life choice.

“I decided I’m going to devote my life to being some kind of bluesman like Fred MacDowell or Son House,” says Wilson. “It became much more important to me than making a living. If you weren’t dead and black, I couldn’t be bothered to listen to you.”

Henry & June

By the way, where did that name Dooley Wilson come from? Wilson smiles broadly with a touch of sheepishness. He was setting up one of his earliest gigs, at the famous East-side haunt Frankie’s, and his buddy Lance Hulsey (currently the leader of Toledo rockabilly outfit Kentucky Chrome)— who Wilson played with his first band, a heavy metal project called Harlequin— said that the promoter needed to know what to call him… and C.J. Forgy didn’t exactly sound bluesy. So the young musician, right there, decided on the name Dooley Wilson in homage to the actor and musician of the same name, famous for playing the character Sam in Casablanca. Dooley Wilson is now his legal name. He cashes checks with that moniker.

With a new name under his bluesman’s belt, the then-recent Maumee High School (Class of 1992) graduate needed a band that would let him explore the blues the way he wanted to. The result was Henry & June, a heavy blues ensemble that Wilson formed with his good friend Jimmy Danger. They got the band name from a recently released biopic of Henry Miller, one of Wilson’s favorite authors.

“I was obsessed with the blues at that time, but I’m still incapable of playing it correctly,” says Wilson, draining his coffee cup. “I was really struggling to learn how to play blues the way it was meant to be played.”

But even as he worked to unravel the mysteries of Deep South blues, Wilson was experiencing something unexpected: Success. Henry & June had released a single called “Going Back to Memphis” on Detroit label Human Fly Records, and the song was attracting a lot of heat. The popular band The Laughing Hyenas— which featured former Necros member Todd Swalla, who would go on to play with Wilson in his later outfit Boogaloosa Prayer— were big fans of the song and were trying to get Henry and June signed to Touch and Go Records. Some cat named Jack White, who had a little band called The White Stripes, also was a big Henry and June fan and began covering “Going Back to Memphis” in concert.

“We were kind of a hot, cult thing on the scene in Detroit,” says Wilson, thanking the Glass City Cafe waitress as she refills his coffee. “Jack White wasn’t the only cool person in Detroit who knew who we were though, of course, he became the most famous one. Judah Bower of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion put out a cover of the single on his side project called 20 Miles. I heard The Von Bondies used to cover ‘Going Back to Memphis.’ It’s a really fun, simple, dumb song.”

And then right when things started to go well for Henry & June, it all went wrong. The blues were supposed to feel like freedom and suddenly Wilson and the rest of the band began to feel decidedly trapped.

“Jimmy in particular felt like things were getting stagnant,” says Wilson. “Things were going good for us but it started to feel like we were just going through the motions. It was creative claustrophobia.” And so the band, at its peak, unceremoniously broke up.

“We were just dumb kids. We had no idea what we were doing with our little garage band. Looking back, that may have been the worst decision of my career. But when you’re young and dumb, you don’t realize that; you just think ‘Well, I’ll just do the next thing that comes along.’”

Today, Henry & June is fondly recalled as an early part of the Detroit music resurgence of the latter 20th Century. While The White Stripes, Kid Rock, The Detroit Cobras, and various Detroit rappers, from Eminem to Insane Clown Posse, put the Motor City musically back on the map, Henry and June remains a small part of that legacy. Copies of “Going Back to Memphis” routinely go for more than $100 on eBay, and the song was recorded live by The White Stripes for their DVD concert film, Under Blackpool Lights.

And no, Wilson hasn’t received any royalties. It all worked out for the members of Henry & June, though. Drummer Ben Swank is now the top A&R guy at Third Man Records, Jack White’s label. The band did a well received reunion back in 2010 in Toledo and everyone is still cool with one another. But in rock-n-roll and the blues, time waits for no one, so Wilson was off to new projects and new adventures.

And those adventures would lead to him nearly lose his mind.

On a wing and a Boogloosa Prayer

Brushing off the ashes of Henry & June, Wilson decided to further buckle down and get more “authentically bluesy.” He quickly formed a new band with Ben Swank and guitarist Todd Albright, that went through various names such as Dime Store Glam and Gin Mill Moaners. They sat in for many nights at the long-gone-but-never forgotten Rusty’s Jazz Cafe.

“I was spending all of my disposable income on that watered down whiskey at Rusty’s,” said Wilson. “Rusty’s was an amazing little place.” After a while though, he got restless and decided he would get as real as the blues could get and move to New Orleans.

“I wanted to see if I could live as a street performer,” said Wilson. “I had this rather naïve idea that I could possibly make a living at it in that town. I suspected it was the place on Earth where you might encounter people doing this kind of music.”

So Wilson moved to New Orleans, virtually homeless, busking on the streets of NOLA. Meanwhile, The White Stripes were starting to get their first big taste of international notoriety and began introducing “Going Back to Memphis” to a whole new audience due to their frequent covering of the song in live gigs.

“There I am trying to get lunch money down in New Orleans, and suddenly The White Stripes and the whole Detroit thing started to blow up and I’m trying to be Mr Authenticity down in effing New Orleans,” says Wilson, shaking his head incredulously. “My career is awful. I always zig when I should have zagged.”

But New Orleans proved to be an artistically fruitful time for Wilson. He met true, dyed-in-the-wool blues players who were playing incredible music from their souls. Nobody had record deals or anything that could get in the way of making direct, honest music. Many of these men and women were homeless or living off the grid; something Wilson describes as “an anti-American dream.” He talks enthusiastically and excitedly about that time in his life.

“These were some of the greatest living blues artists. There was a guy named Augie Junior who was simply incredible. I had never heard anything like him. There was this woman named Lisa Driscoll who played the washboard. People called her Ragtime Annie. And…”

Suddenly Wilson stops in mid-sentence and a hollow expression crosses his face. He stands up, sets his coffee cup down, excuses himself with a hurried “I’m gonna step out for a minute” and before uttering another word, he’s left the Glass City Cafe. A few minutes pass and he returns, wiping his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes, sitting back down. “It’s just…it’s hard talking about this. I just got a little overwhelmed talking about some of my departed friends.”

He steadies himself with a sip of coffee that’s starting to go cold, as he’s eager to move on to talk about his other great band, Boogaloosa Prayer. Formed after moving back to Maumee fresh off a year in New Orleans, Boogaloosa Prayer, which Wilson says “was one of the best things I ever did artistically” came after stints in short lived bands like The Young Lords, and The Staving Chain.

Boogaloosa Prayer, an aggressive blues rock outfit featuring in part his old friend Jimmy Danger and Maumee drumming legend Todd Swalla, garnered quite a devoted following, playing in both Toledo and Detroit. The band had momentum behind them that recalled the Henry & June days. Then one hot summer night in 2006 at the now-shuttered Mickey Finn’s Pub, Wilson’s demons got the better of him.

Sporting a shaved head and a sickly frame that was skinny even by his normally lithe, sinewy standards, Wilson cracked onstage during the show. He ranted incoherently, couldn’t perform any songs, and couldn’t remember any lyrics. To everyone who was there, it was a harrowing experience.

Today, Wilson is reluctant to talk about the incident but he acknowledges it happened.

“I can say that I had a horrible psychotic breakdown and it had an impact on my life,” says Wilson, a bit guardedly. “At the time I had several severe emotional stressors in my life. A toxic woman in my life was stalking me. I had a business deal that was crushing me under the pressure. Plus, Boogaloosa Prayer was breaking up at the time because Swalla was moving to California. It all led to that time in my life.”

Following his breakdown, Wilson spent some time in a psychiatric ward, and lived in his aunt’s attic as he attempted to rebuild his fragile psyche. He eschewed traditional psychotherapy and refused meds because he’d seen too many of his friends “get hooked on those damned things.” Through a lot of hard work, meditation, and support from his friends, Wilson says he “totally got well again” and he hasn’t had any mental health issues since— thank goodness.

“Losing your sanity really puts a damper on your life.”

Still walkin’ down that road…

Wilson now lives in what he calls “a shack,” though it’s actually a carriage house out on a property in Maumee. The place smells of incense, a bit cramped but cozy abode, filled with guitars, amps, books on Buddhism, and novels by Charles Bukowski. Exactly how you would expect Wilson to live. This is not the living quarters .of a typical 45 year old, but it is definitely the home of a bluesman— and that’s all Wilson ever wanted to be. He plays gigs around the region and works as a “factotum” (his term) helping out family members and friends with projects. He’s completed an album and is currently trying to figure out how to release it. Love? Not interested.

“I have the kind of personality where I just do better alone,” he says simply. He may be alone but he’s not lonely. He has the best friends in the world in his life, even if most of them are dead. Son House. Sonny Boy Williamson. Bo Carter. All those great blues artists of yesteryear he counts as his personal friends, and by playing their music and his own songs inspired by their influence, Wilson is a happy man.

On that cold December day at the Glass City Cafe, Wilson utters a line that captures his essence: “Oh, I’m Dooley Wilson. Don’t mind me.” But, about that, he’s wrong. Mind him. Pay attention to Dooley Wilson. Pay close attention.

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afriendlypokealien · 3 years

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News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

This article was produced through the NPR NextGen/Texas Observer Print Scholars program, a new collaboration designed to offer mentorship and hands-on training to student journalists and recent graduates interested in a career in investigative journalism.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

The lull between spring and fall semester was short-lived at the Rodriguez house. Lauren Rodriguez, a 37-year-old social worker, was busy managing a list of things that need to get done before her teenage son, Greyson Rodriguez, can start college in the fall. But before orientation and moving Greyson more than 1,000 miles away to begin his undergraduate career, the Rodriguez family needed to get through high school graduation.

Several boxes of supplies cluttered the dining room table, ready to be shipped to the school. Rodriguez checked on Greyson for the second time, warning the sleeping teen that he had a student advising appointment beginning in a few minutes. Greyson emerged, sluggish and silent, to sit on an oversized brown loveseat and stare at his phone. The neediest of their three dogs, Daisy, hopped into his lap to demand attention.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

Greyson has had to be driven. He graduated a year early to escape Texas, which he has mockingly nicknamed “the great state of hate.” Indeed, Texas is one of the most dangerous states in the country for a teen like Greyson.

At 13, Greyson came out as trans. He and his family faced abuse, cruelty, death threats, and aggression. “While I never read them, I know that during the summer I got death threats when I was 13 from people in my neighborhood who were sending me mail telling me to kill myself and they wanted me to die,” Greyson says. He was forced to switch to an online school and the family eventually moved to the more progressive Austin area to get away from their conservative hometown. Texas ranks second in the U.S. in number of cases of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people since 2013, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Since he came out, both he and his mother have become advocates for LGBTQ Texans, especially trans youth. In March, Lauren Rodriguez testified in front of the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence in support of House Bill 73, which would have banned the use of the “gay/trans panic” defense. The panic defense, often cited by defendants in cases of violence directed at gay or trans people, argues that after an individual discovered someone was gay or trans, they panicked and assaulted or killed them.

“Currently in the state of Texas, a criminal penalty for a defendants’ violence, including murder, can be lessened or eliminated if the perpetrator claims that the victim’s gender identity or sexual orientation triggered a mental breakdown that resulted in their loss of self control and subsequent assault,” state Representative Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat who filed HB 73, said during the public hearing.

In more than 100 criminal cases between 1970 and 2020 where defendants attempted to use the “gay/trans panic” defense, the highest concentration of cases took place in Texas, according to W. Carsten Andresen a professor at St. Edwards University in Austin and an expert on the topic.

But the 87th Texas Legislature failed to pass HB 73, signaling to LGBTQ Texans like Greyson Rodriguez and his family that the “gay/trans panic” defense is still an acceptable excuse for violence against vulnerable Texans. The bill was brought to a vote and rejected in the House committee, while the Senate companion never got a hearing. Despite the defense’s conflict with federal hate crime laws and a 2013 resolution from the American Bar Association calling for states to ban it, so far only 15 states and D.C. have passed legislation banning the use of the “gay/trans panic” defense, with bills proposed in Texas and 10 other states.

In 2018, James Miller, a 69-year-old Austin man, was sentenced to six months in jail plus 10 years probation for stabbing his neighbor Daniel Spencer to death. Instead of a murder or manslaughter charge, Miller was convicted of the lesser offense of criminally negligent homicide after claiming that Spencer had made sexual advances and that he acted in self-defense. However, prosecutors called the self-defense claim “ludicrous,” saying Miller didn’t have “so much as a scratch on him.” LGBTQ rights advocates and experts like Andresen point to the light sentence in this case as an example of the “gay/trans panic” defense at work.

“‘Are they going to get away with murder?’ That’s the concern,” Greyson says. “It’s not a matter of if it’ll stop or to lower the rates that we’re being killed. It’s, if we do die at least justice is being served properly.”

During the public hearing, 11 people, including Rodriguez, testified in support of banning the defense and submitted a total of 15 pages of written statements supporting the bill. In contrast, only a lobbyist from Texas Values Action, a conservative think tank and evangelical Christian organization, testified against HB 73.

“I think it’s not good public policy to include definitions of sexual orientation or gender identity because it forces us to determine what a person perceives,” said Jonathan Covey, the Texas Values Action lobbyist. “You easily run into issues of constitutional vagueness when you use this terminology.”

In 2009, the federal definition of a hate crime was expanded to include crimes motivated by gender identity and sexual orientation in federal cases, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. While Texas’s hate crime statute includes crimes motivated by sexual orientation, it does not include crimes motivated by gender identity.

During the public hearing on HB 73, Covey also said that his organization opposed the bill due to free speech concerns. “It’s typically a bad public policy to ban offensive speech,” Covey said. “Open discussion even in a courtroom is better than allowing supposed bias to fester in a type of subconscious realm.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Johnson continued: “For example if a 16-year-old has sex with a 32-year-old, we would not allow the 32-year old to say, ‘but she consented.’ We have made a policy decision that there is no consent, correct?”

“I think I’m following what you’re saying,” Covey said. But, “we don’t create laws that hinge on someone’s perception of how much they weigh or create laws that hinge on someone’s perception of how tall they are.”

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

Rodriguez says that this failure to support and affirm gay, trans, and gender diverse Texans at the state level exacerbates safety concerns for Greyson. “My son has to live in fear of someone finding out he is trans and hurting him,” Rodriguez said during her testimony.

In nearly every social situation, Greyson has to consider how someone would react to him coming out as trans. At his first job as a host in a restaurant, Greyson says he “tested the waters” to gauge his coworkers’ acceptance of him by mentioning his long-time boyfriend; he didn’t tell them he was trans.

Rodriguez and her son have strict rules around dating, specifically about coming out to potential partners. Because LGBTQ people are at a much greater risk of intimate partner violence, Rodriguez and Greyson have agreed that the first few dates with a new person will always be in public and that Greyson will only come out if he decides it’s safe and wants to pursue a relationship. He says that conversation is also about mutual respect.

“If I think I want to have a relationship with you and you think you want to have a relationship with me, I still want that to be built on everything being out in the open,” he says. “Not built on your assumptions on what you think is going on, only for that to be thrown out the window and you having a crisis or not understanding what to do with this information.”

On a humid day in early June, Greyson accepts his high school diploma during a socially distanced, in-person commencement ceremony. He’s difficult to spot in his emerald cap and gown with a black mask covering nearly his entire face.

When his name is called, Greyson walks out onto the stage to shake hands with administrators, as his mother, father, and grandparents cheer from a section near the front of the room. Then he disappears again into the first few rows of seats filled with other teens leaving high school behind.

Greyson also plans to leave behind his activism, at least for a while. “Passing isn’t the goal,” Rodriguez says, but both she and Greyson describe the importance of his identity outside of being trans, and safety concerns around his visibility.

“There’s some people who think every single person on the planet has a right to know,” Greyson says. “In my opinion it would be great if everyone had the ability to know and it wasn’t a threat. But the less random people who freaking know, the less risk there is.”

Greyson will start college in the fall, 1,200 miles away from his home and parents because he says he isn’t safe in “the great state of hate.” Inspired by the affirming care he has received from his medical team, Rodriguez says that he plans on studying nursing. Lauren had hoped that a bill banning the “gay/trans panic” defense would bring some peace of mind that would allow her family to remain close.

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This program is made possible by gifts from Roxanne Elder in memory of her mother, journalist and journalism teacher Virginia Stephenson Elder, Vincent LoVoi in honor of Jim Marston and Annette LoVoi, and other generous donors.

This post was first provided here.

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afrolatinxsunited · 3 years

Text

News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This post was first provided here.

youtube

0 notes

afroavocadowitch · 3 years

Text

News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This post was first provided here.

youtube

0 notes

cypher2 · 5 years

Link

“The Portland game is a typical rivalry,” Reign FC head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “Regardless of how good you are, regardless of how well you play, it can go either way. I’m just excited. I’m excited to play Portland. Every time that we play them, it’s a good show. I’m looking forward to Sunday.”

Last Match: 2-1 W vs. Utah Royals FC

Reign FC took care of business at home against Utah Royals FC on Wednesday, September 25, winning 2-1 to claim three massive points in the race for the postseason.

Rookie forward Bethany Balcer extended her team scoring lead, grabbing her fifth goal of the season to open the scoring in the 40th minute. After assisting on Balcer’s goal, forward Jodie Taylor volleyed in the game-winner in the 86th minute of a hard-fought contest.

“It was a battle, wasn’t it?” Taylor said. “We knew going into it that it was going to be a scrappy game. I thought it was quite end-to-end and tight. I’m just happy that we won.”

Fan Appreciation Match

As the final home game of the season, the game against Portland will serve as Reign FC’s Fan Appreciation Match. The first 4,000 attendees through the gate will receive a team poster presented by Zulily.

Playoffs Within Reach for Reign FC

Reign FC will guarantee itself a spot in the postseason with a win in either of its final two matches. The club owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against Utah. The Washington Spirit’s 0-0 draw at Houston on Wednesday, meanwhile, means that the Spirit can only attain 36 points in their final three matches, while a Reign FC win would lock the final playoff spot up with 37 points.

The club can also clinch a playoff spot before play even begins on Sunday morning. Should Washington and Utah lose to North Carolina and Chicago on Saturday, respectively, Reign FC’s current 34 points would be enough to clinch a playoff spot, thanks to the tiebreaker against the Royals.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Reign FC currently has an 86 percent chance of finishing in fourth place, an eight percent chance of finishing third and a six percent chance of finishing in fifth place.

Big Stage for a Rivalry Match

Reign FC has the opportunity to sweep Portland in the 2019 regular season if it wins on Sunday. Each club has swept the other once before, with Portland winning all four meetings between the clubs in 2013 and Reign FC winning both matches in 2015 en route to winning the NWSL Shield.

Centerback and captain Lauren Barnes says that a rivalry match with Portland is the perfect situation for the club as it seeks to lock up a playoff spot.

“We’re in this position, but to be fair, there’s no better game to be in this position with,” Barnes said. “It’s always a really hard-fought battle with them. We’re excited to play in front of the fans we have down here in Tacoma. They’ve been so great for us. There are no words for these games. You go out there and you play with your heart. That’s all you can do.”

Injury Report

Six players are unavailable for selection in Sunday’s contest:

Taylor Smith (SEI - R knee)

Jasmyne Spencer (SEI - L knee)

Michelle Betos (SEI - R achilles)

Jaycie Johnson (SEI - R knee)

Scout Watson (SEI - concussion)

Jess Fishlock (SEI - L knee)

How to Watch

A limited number of tickets are available online, or by calling the Reign FC ticket office at (855) REIGN-FC.

Fans inside the U.S. can watch the match live on ESPN2, while fans outside of the U.S. can watch the match live on their local ESPN channel or stream.

#seattle reign fc #reign fc #nwsl #woso

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afishtrap · 7 years

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Until recently, cultural evolution has commonly been regarded as a permanent teleological move to a greater level of hierarchy, crowned with state formation. However, recent research based upon the principle of heterarchy – ‘... the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked or when they possess the potential for being ranked in a number of different ways’ (Crumley 1995: 3) changes the usual picture dramatically. The opposite of heterarchy, then, would be a condition in a society in which relationships in most contexts are ordered mainly according to one principal hierarchical relationship. This organizational principle may be called ‘homoarchy’. Homoarchy and heterarchy represent the most universal ‘ideal’ principles and basic trajectories of socio-cultural (including political) organization and its transformations. There are no universal evolutionary stages – band, tribe, chiefdom, state or otherwise – inasmuch as cultures so characterized could be heterarchical or homoarchical: they could be organized differently, while having an equal level of overall social complexity. However, alternativity exists not only between heterarchic and homoarchic cultures but also within each of the respective types. In particular, the present article attempts at demonstrating that the Benin Kingdom of the 13th – 19th centuries, being an explicitly homoarchic culture not inferior to early states in the level of complexity, nevertheless was not a state as it lacked administrative specialization and pronounced priority of the supra-kin ties. The Benin form of socio-political organization can be called ‘megacommunity’, and its structure can be depicted as four concentric circles forming an upset cone: the extended family, community, chiefdom, and megacommunity (kingdom). Thus, the homoarchic megacommunity turns out an alternative to the homoarchic by definition (Claessen and Skalník 1978: 640) early state.

Dmitri M. Bondarenko. "A Homoarchic Alternative to the Homoarchic State: Benin Kingdom of the 13th–19th Centuries." Social Evolution & History, Vol. 4 No. 2, September 2005 18–88.

The word ‘homoarchy’ first came to the present author and his colleague, Andrey Korotayev's minds during an informal discussion of Carole Crumley's concept of ‘heterarchy’ (1979; 1987; 1995; 2001). Crumley (1995: 3; see also 1979: 144; 1987: 158; 2001: 25) defines the heterarchy ‘… as the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked or when they possess the potential for being ranked in a number of different ways’, just in the vein heterarchy is defined in biophysics from which the term was imported by her to social science (see Crumley 1987: 156–157). Respectively, homoarchy may be coined as ‘the relation of elements to one another when they are rigidly ranked one way only, and thus possess no (or at least very limited) potential for being unranked or ranked in another or a number of different ways at least without cardinal reshaping of the whole socio-political order’. The association used for delimitation of heterarchy and hierarchy in cybernetics is applicable for our purposes as well: ‘Heterarchy [is the] form of organization resembling a network or fishnet’ while ‘Hierarchy [is the] form of organization resembling a pyramid’ (Dictionary n.d).

However, in social science homoarchy must not be identified with hierarchy (as well as heterarchy must not be mixed up with egalitarianism [Brumfiel 1995: 129]). Hierarchy is an attribute of any social system while on the other hand, in any society both ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ social links may be observed (Berreman 1981; Smith, M. E. 1985; Ehrenreich et al. 1995: 1–5, 87–100, 116–120, 125–131; Blanton 1998; Bondarenko and Korotayev 2000c; for this dictum verity's explicit confirmation in recent works on an impressive variety of specific cultures, based on different kinds of sources – archaeological, written, and first-hand ethnographic, see e.g., Kelly 1993; Jolly and Mosko 1994; Small 1995; Wailes 1995; Kammerer 1998; Kristiansen 1998: 54–56; Nangoro 1998: 47–48; Anderson, C. E. 1999; Kuijt 2000: 312–315; Scarborough et al. 2003). More so: sometimes it seems too difficult to designate a society as ‘homoarchic’ or ‘heterarchic’ even at the most general level of analysis, like in the cases of the late-ancient Germans (see, e.g., Gurevich 1999: 45–57) and early-medieval ‘Barbarian kingdoms’ in which one can observe monarchy and quite rigid social hierarchy combined with (at least at the beginning) democratic institutions and procedures (like selection of the king), not less significant for the whole socio-political system's operation (see, e.g., Diesner 1966; Claude 1970; Dvoretskaja 1982). Hence, the questions which rise are if in a given social system there is only one hierarchy or there many of them? and in the latter case, are the hierarchies ranked rigidly or not: do, say, two individuals find themselves ranked towards each other the same way in any social context or not?

Every hierarchy in a society is underpinned by a specific set of values. A society may be considered as homoarchic when there is one value which is central to all the hierarchies and not only integrates but also arranges in a definite pyramidal order all the other, secondary to it, values and hierarchies they underpin. Under such circumstances this value ‘encompasses’ all the rest and makes the society ‘holistic’ (Dumont 1966/1980), that is homoarchic when the whole unequivocally dominates parts as the supreme expression of that all-embracing and all-penetrable value. Although Dumont's vision of ‘purity’ as the value (or idea) encompassing the holistic society in India is criticized nowadays (Mosko 1994b: 24–50; Quigley 1999), his theoretical contribution's validity is nevertheless testified, for example, by the 20th century totalitarian societies in which, e.g., the idea of communism clearly did play precisely the role Dumont attributes to that of purity in the case of India. On the contrary, when ‘there is a multiplicity of “hierarchical” or asymmetrical oppositions, none of which are reducible to any of the others or to a single master opposition or value’, ‘the … case immediately departs from the Dumontian formulation’ (Mosko 1994a: 214) – the society does not fit the homoarchic (or hierarchic in the Dumontian sense) model.

[...]

The overwhelming majority of modern theories of the state consider this phenomenon as a specialized and centralized institution for governing a society, to what its right to exercise coercive authority – legitimized violence is often added as the state's critical characteristic feature (see e.g., ‘summarizing’ definitions in anthropological encyclopedias, text-books, and general publications of the last decade: Earle 1994: 945; Claessen 1996; Marcus and Feinman 1998: 4; Ember and Ember 1999: 226–229, 242; Abélès 2000; Kradin 2004: 268). This approach to the state, rooted in political, philosophic, legal, and anthropological thought from Antiquity on (Hodgen 1964: 354–515; Harris 1968; Service 1975: 21–46; 1978; Nersesjants 1985; 1986; Iljushechkin 1996: 13–92; Gomerov 2002: 14–68), in the 20th century became equally typical of Marxists, (neo)evolutionists, and structuralists notwithstanding all the differences between them3. We may argue safely that these two characteristics – political centralization (‘the “concentration” of power in the hands of a few’ [Roscoe 1993: 113]) and specialization of administration, form the backbone of the theory of the state in general4.

However, contrary to the postulate of political anthropology's Founding Fathers, Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940/1987: 5), political centralization cannot be regarded as a specifically state's feature as it is applicable more or less to all forms of complex homoarchic (organized ‘vertically’) societies including chiefdoms first and foremost5. Even more so, in current research of the statelevel polities ‘… there is a clear movement away from a view of states as highly centralized, omnipotent entities toward a heterogeneous model that recognizes variability in state/urban organization and explores the limits of state power within the broader society’ (Stein 1998: 10). Good examples of such movement have recently been provided by Blanton (1998) and Kristiansen (1998). However, it must be noted that e.g., when Kristiansen postulates the opposition between ‘the decentralized archaic state’ and ‘the centralized archaic state’ (1998: 46–48)6, he de facto means that the former is less centralized than the latter but not that it is not centralized at all. Is it really true lack of centralization (if it is not mixed up with one person's omnipotence or lack of intermediary administrative levels) when ‘government is carried out (by “the warrior chiefs and king” – D. B.) through regional and local vassal chiefs…’ (1998: 46)?!7 It would be better to describe such a society as politically centralized but disintegrated (and what Kristiansen calls the centralized archaic state as politically [more] centralized integrated one).

In the meantime, specialization resulting in professionalization is precisely the feature which is typical of the state only, it is not by chance that in the specialization of the administrative apparatus scholars usually see the brink between the state and all the nonstate forms of socio-political organization, again including homoarchic ones like the chiefdom and complex chiefdom (see Wright 1977: 381–385; Earle 1978: 1–7; Godiner 1991; Belkov 1995: 171–175; Spencer 1998; Blanton et al. 1999: 112; Johnson and Earle 2000: 245–329; Bondarenko 2001: 244–245). So, I shall agree with Charles Spencer's (1998: 5) elegantly simple dictum (the first part of which I have already just quoted in note 5 and which is based on Henry Wright's seminal publication of 1977): specifically chiefdoms are ‘societies with centralized but not internally specialized authority’, and states are ‘societies with centralized and also internally specialized authority’ (see also Earle 1987: 289). ‘A state administration, from this perspective, is inherently bureaucratic’ (Spencer 2003: 11185; see also Cohen 1978).

Indeed, what makes the administrative apparatus specialized? It becomes such when it is ‘filled’ with professional (i.e., permanent and full-time) administrators thus forming bureaucracy. Max Weber elaborated the most authoritative concept of bureaucracy and his ideas form an implicit or explicit background for most of influential modern theories of the state8. Though not all the famous Weber's ten features of bureaucracy could apply to preindustrial states mainly because his definition is based on executive and decision- making functions only (Morony 1987: 9–10), and although it is stressed sometimes (recently, e.g., by Claessen and Oosten [1996: 5–6; Claessen 2003: 162], Kristiansen [1998: 45, 46], Johnson and Earle [2000: 248], Chabal, Feinman, and Skalník [2004: 28], Christian [2004: 273–274], and Kradin [2004: 179]) that bureaucracy can be poorly developed in early states, it must be admitted that it still has to be present as such if a given society is attributed as a state. In the meantime, even most complex among all complex chiefdoms, like Cahokia (Pauketat 1994; Milner 1998), the Powhatan paramountcy (Potter 1993; Rountree and Turner III 1998), or Hawaii (Earle 1978, 1997, 2000) notwithstanding their political sophistication, could not boast of having professional administrators at all. The existence of specialized administration was also improbable in Benin of the First (Ogisos) dynasty time, in the 10th – 12th centuries (see Bondarenko 2001: 108–117) attributed by me as a complex chiefdom elsewhere (Bondarenko 2000b: 102–103; 2001: 133–135; 2004: 340).

#anthropology #cultural traditions #benin #early modern #west africa #research #political system

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afriendlypokealien · 3 years

Text

News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This post was first provided here.

youtube

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afrolatinxsunited · 3 years

Text

News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This post was first provided here.

youtube

0 notes

anagamitofotografia · 3 years

Text

News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This post was first provided here.

youtube

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afroavocadowitch · 3 years

Text

News and useful info on Point of Sale & POS Hardware.

For Greyson’s safety, identifying details, locations, and recent photos of his face have been intentionally left out of this story.

“He can be lazy sometimes, because that’s all teenagers,” Rodriguez says of Greyson. “But when he wants something, he’s very driven.”

“This is not a free speech bill,” state Representative Ann Johnson replied. “We are talking about the criminal context where it’s assaultive conduct. Right? So it’s not a speech.”

“I understand that,” Covey said.

Greyson Rodriguez poses with his maternal grandparents, who flew into Texas to attend his graduation. Sadie Brown

“If we pass this bill, my son may be able to feel safe enough to return to Texas and live as his authentic self,” Rodriguez said during her testimony. “And I would have my son closer to me.”

This post was first provided here.

youtube

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exclusivememorabilia · 4 years

Text

Our Favourite Memorabilia Pieces!

Since working in the signed sports memorabilia since 2002, members of our team have met numerous athletes and stars of the screen. We've had thousands of items signed for us over the years by numerous different heroes. Here's some of our personal favourite memorabilia pieces and the reasons behind them:

David:

" My favourite piece of memorabilia is this road sign from the 2018 Tour De France stage between Brest and the Mur De Bretagne.

I was there to see the stage as part of a cycling trip to Brittany and cycled the route the previous day. After the stage finished we liberated the sign and stored it in our Voiture Balai for the journey home.

Some months later at our first signing with Geraint Thomas I was able to get the winner of the 2018 Tour to sign it.

So this item is a memory of a great trip with friends to see the Tour signed by the maillot jaune from that year.

A unique and treasured item. "

James :

"One of my favourite pieces of memorabilia would be our Eric Cantona signed football boot .

Cantona was one of my first signings with the company back in 2016. We travelled to Lisbon, where Eric currently resides.

Being a United fan, I was very anxious and excited to meet one of the club's all-time greats. In walked 'Le King' and the signing began.

This piece of memorabilia will always remind me of not only an awesome trip, but meeting a legend."

Josh S:

"Mine would have to be the Darth Vader helmet!

Being a massive Star Wars fan and having so much fun during the signing session with Spencer Wilding, I think this would be my favourite item we currently have."

Josh P:

"My favourite is the signed Pelé 10 shirt.

Pelé is one of football's most iconic players and his signature on the back of a classic Brazil number 10 shirt is one of the best I've seen.

I've always admired the Brazilian style of football with lots of pace, skill and flair. I remember watching my dad's VHS tapes over and over of the 1970 World Cup, since then I have been a massive Pelé fan.

Being the most successful domestic league goal-scorer in football history scoring 650 goals in 694 league matches is why he is one of my favourite players ever."

Charlie:

"My favourite memorabilia piece is our Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson dual signed England shirt.

I have been fortunate enough to meet both Jonny and Martin at our Exclusive signing sessions. As a huge rugby fan I was extremely excited about the prospect of meeting both rugby legends. Jonny is the nicest person I have had the pleasure of signing with and Martin's knowledge of cycling, NFL and football truly made me listen with awe during the signing.

The stories and knowledge I gained from spending time with these players are ones I will treasure.

The shirt itself is an incredible reminder of England's iconic 2003 Rugby World Cup victory! The large clear signatures from each player really do make it an incredible piece and one any rugby fan would be proud to own."

Tom:

"My most treasured item of memorabilia would have to be my signed Diego Maradona Argentina shirt.

He's always been my favourite football player, not even the Hand of God goal changed that, so to meet him in 2005 was a privilege.

The signing session took place at his mother's house in Buenos Aires, where, while signing shirts and posing for photos, he chatted and joked and smoked a fat cigar. I still can't quite believe it happened."

#Memorabilia #sports #film #football #cycling #star wars #rugby #blog post #favourite #collection #signature #autograph #tour de france #world cup

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payment-providers · 5 years

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New Post has been published on Payment-Providers.com

New Post has been published on https://payment-providers.com/updated-coronavirus-round-up-marks-spencer-scs-hotel-chocolat-travis-perkins-frasers-group-ikea-joules-imrg-fta-and-more-as-the-way-we-shop-changes/

UPDATED Coronavirus round-up: Marks & Spencer, ScS, Hotel Chocolat, Travis Perkins, Frasers Group, Ikea, Joules, IMRG, FTA and more as the way we shop changes

We’re reporting on the effect of the Covid-19 coronavirus on the way UK shoppers buy – and on how retailers are responding to that changing behaviour. This update comes as 3,983 positive cases have been confirmed by Public Health England as of 9am on March 20 and 177 people have died. The World Health Organisation last week classified coronavirus as a pandemic. This rolling news story covers suggestions, from the IMRG and Kooomo, that retail will move further online as the pandemic progresses, and on calls for more support for retail staff from Joules and for logistics workers from the FTA, as Ikea closes its stores, and Hotel Chocolat looks to raise £20m for headroom in the case of store closures and to invest for future growth.

Government briefing: coronavirus job retention scheme; shops can still remain open

In today’s briefing by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, it was announced that pubs, cafes, restaurants, theatres, cinemas are to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but shops can still remain open. Those serving food can, however, start to offer food for takeaway instead.

Many shops have decided to close, nonetheless. Ikea said yesterday that its shops would close till further notice, while Arcadia Group said today that its all of its stores would also shut their doors for the moment. Both suggest shoppers turn online instead: TopShop, for example, is currently offering 30% off all online orders and free standard home delivery.

Today the Government launched a coronavirus job retention scheme

2/ For the first time in our history, the British government is going to step in and help pay people’s wages.

Government grants will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers, up to a total of £2,500 a month, that’s above UK median earnings level.

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 20, 2020

to cover 80% of the wages for those working at companies that are now shutting down because of the virus. They will qualify if they keep on staff rather than laying them off. Employers will be able to apply to HMRC for a grant, backdated to March 1, to cover wages up to £2,500 a month for each employee.

The coronavirus business interruption scheme will now be interest-free for 12 months.

4/ Many businesses are hurting now and I can announce that the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will not be interest-free, as previously planned, for 6 months – it will be for twelve months.

Those loans will now be available on Monday. https://t.co/9blM7svmXw

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 20, 2020

Additionally, business VAT payments will be deferred, self-employed people can access, in full, universal credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees (£94.25 a week), with their tax payments also deferred, and people on universal credit and working tax credits will see their basic allowance increase by £1,000 a year over the next year.

6/ We are already seeing some job losses. Today I’m increasing the Universal Credit standard allowance, for the next 12 months, by £1,000 a year. I’m increasing the Working Tax Credit basic element by the same amount.

These measures will benefit just over 4 million households.

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 20, 2020

8/ Taken together, I’m announcing over £6bn of extra support through the welfare system.

And to further support the self-employed through the tax system, I’m announcing today that the next self-assessment payments will be deferred until Jan 2021.

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 20, 2020

Five Jack Wills stores to close amid ’unprecedented uncertainty’

Jack Wills has announced the immediate closure of five stores.

The British brand, which was rescued out of administration by Frasers Group in August 2019, will close stores in Dublin, Exeter, Cambridge, Bath and Manchester Trafford Centre.

A spokesperson said: “The group has been working closely with landlords since acquiring Jack Wills to keep as many stores open as possible. Now faced by unprecedented uncertainty in the retail environment, further closures are inevitable.”

How UK retailers are discounting online

UK retailers have cut prices as never before since the Covid-19 coronavirus broke, according to data from LovetheSales.com.

In the last week, on top of what was on sale the previous week, a further 23% of clothing stock was reduced in price. That means 43% more products are discounted than in March 2019. That suggests, says LovetheSales, that retailers are now hoping to mitigate the effect of plummeting high street footfall on their cashflow through online sales.

The most discounted products are in categories including men’s underwear, which has 83% more products on discount, men’s polo shirts (34%), jeans (33%), and t-shirts (33%). In women’s clothing, the most discounted products include onesies (55%), underwear and lingerie (54%), maternity wear (51%) and jeans (32%).

Luxury brands have 123% more products on discount than last week, premium brands 1% more, and high street brands 11% more.

Stuart McClure, founder of LovetheSales.com, said: “Retailers are facing an unprecedented situation right now. One that could put them out of business. They’re seeing immediate drops in footfall in stores, meaning they’re seeing an accompanying sales shortfall. This will lead to an increase in excess inventory. Combine this with late deliveries of products intended to be sold this season, and they’re facing major inventory surplus issues later in the year. These unseasonably high volumes of discount are intended to drive spend and clear stock. However, retailers need to start considering new ways to solve what will become an even bigger issue for them throughout 2020 and into 2021.”

Borough Market extends online deliveries across London

Borough Market in London is extending its online delivery service to all customers within the M25 amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The market is still open for shoppers, and says it’s following new public health and hygiene measures set out in government guidelines.

Borough Market Online has offered deliveries by zero-emission electric bike within a 2.5 mile radius of its London Bridge site since November 2019. Now deliveries will be temporarily extended to any location inside the M25. Click and collect is also available from the market up until 9pm each day.

The market says electric bike couriers will still be used for deliveries within a reasonable distance of the market, but vans – hybrid where possible – will be used further afield. Strict hygiene practices mean that the food is securely packaged, and the option of a doorstep drop service allows it to be received without contact with couriers.

“In these extraordinary times, the delivery zone has been extended to within the M25,” said Kate Howell, development director at Borough Market. “The priority is for the market to be able to deliver wonderful food from our traders to Londoners who have to stay at home and live outside our normal delivery zone.”

Borough Market’s partnership with the Plan Zheroes charity will continue, with surplus produce collected from the Market and delivered to community organisations that help feed some of the city’s most vulnerable people.

Darren Henaghan, managing director, Borough Market said: ““We aim to remain a haven for food lovers while supporting our small, independent businesses. Borough Market has served this community for a thousand years, through thick and thin. It has survived wars. It has lived through food shortages and curfews. As recently as 2017, our community withstood the trauma of a terrorist attack and the subsequent weeks of closure. It did so by remaining close and supportive, by caring about people – and that’s how we’ll get through this crisis too.”

Shoppers can order from the majority of Borough Market traders. Once the order is placed the Borough Market Online team collects produce from the relevant traders and delivers the goods to a designated hub within the market. From here, customers can either collect their order between 12pm and 9pm or it will be dispatched via state of the art zero-emission electric cargo bike to the customer’s address at a pre-booked time slot. At the time of writing, the service was limited amid high levels of demand.

Marks & Spencer focuses on food and online

Marks & Spencer says it is moving staff from its clothing and home departments to food where it can, and will also focus on expanding its online clothing sales during the current pandemic. It is also preparing for the possibility that some shops may have to close temporarily. But it says its model of operating parallel clothing and food businesses and its existing strategy of moving its business further online – including through its Ocado Retail joint venture – should give it more resilience than retailers operating in single sectors.

The retailer, ranked Elite in RXUK Top500 research, says it is seeing “substantial sales declines” in both its clothing and home departments at the moment, and says that revenues are likely to be “severely impacted” over the next nine months to a year. It is working to defer clothing and home supplies where possible. “At this stage,” it said, “we are not assuming a return to normal trading in the autumn.”

Its food business has remained strong and is expected to remain profitable, but while customers have visited its stores to stock up in recent days, it is not seeing the strong uplift that the supermarkets have. That’s because it has a “heavy bias” towards chilled and fresh food, rather than tinned or frozen. It said: “The significant shift to eating in home should however continue to benefit sales in the months ahead. Although there will undoubtedly be supply interruptions, we do not expect these to be prolonged or financially material.”

Marks & Spencer is now postponing capital investment that it is not already committed to, freezing recruitment, reducing marketing spend and is taking “extraordinary measures” to hold over new inventory. It says it currently has £1.34bn of available liquidity. It expects pre-tax profits to be at or below the bottom end of expectations in its current financial year which finishes next week. Profits had been expected to come in at between £440m and £460m. M&S says it is too early to say what will happen in the next financial year, but says “we are planning on the basis of a prolonged downturn in demand for clothing and home.”

On its website, the retailer is making its click and collect options more flexible, with an 11pm cut off for orders made for next-day pick-up in store. It says its stores currently remain open, although its in-store cafés are closed. In its stores, the first hour of trading is currently reserved for vulnerable and elderly customers on Mondays and Thursdays and for NHS and emergency service workers on Tuesdays and Fridays, starting next week.

ScS sees visitor numbers fall in-store

ScS today said visitors to its stores had started to fall as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and it warned of potential impact on both delivery and demand.

It identified risks that it might need to close its stores, head office or distribution centres, the latter potentially delaying deliveries and sales.

ScS chief executive David Knight said, in today’s half-year results statement: “In the past week we have seen reduced footfall and we are mindful of the developing situation with Covid-19 and the potential impact on deliveries and demand. However, we believe the group is as well positioned as it can be.”

More than a quarter (29%) of ScS’ furniture came from China in 2019 and the retailer is currently seeing longer lead times that it expects to return to normal by the end of the year. Customers, it says, have been notified of any delays and have generally been understanding. As yet, it says, it has seen no delays in its UK manufacturing suppliers.

Hotel Chocolat to raise £20m against potential store closures

Hotel Chocolat is to raise £20m through a stockmarket placing to give it more headroom in case its stores are closed in the run-up to the crucial Mother’s Day and Easter periods, and to invest in the business.

The retailer says that while group revenue had been up by 6% in February, year-on-year, March revenues are 5% down as store visitor numbers fall.

“With the increasing possibility that the UK Government will impose further public health measures, the group anticipates the ongoing effect of Covid-19 and the continued reduction in high-street footfall is likely to result in some or all of the company’s stores being closed for a period, which will impact company sales and profits. Mother’s Day and Easter, two important trading periods for the company, typically contribute c.12% of the Group’s annual revenue,” Hotel Chocolat said in today’s update.

Measures available to it include shifting inventory towards selling online and via digital wholesale.

The retailer is placing the new shares today at 225p to raise the money, which will give it headroom and also enable it to improve its warehouse and distribution capacity as it expands over the next five years, to expand chocolate making capacity by 35% through a fourth production line, and to invest across UK sales channels and open more stores in Japan.

On the Hotel Chocolat website, the retailer has currently suspended next and nominated-day deliveries in the face of strong demand in the run up to Mother’s Day, but says most of its stores are open, although opening times may vary from the normal. It has also suspended chocolate experiences and lock-ins, and is no longer accepting reusable cups.

Travis Perkins postpones Wickes demerger

Wickes’ planned demerger from the Travis Perkins group has been put off as the company focuses on current challenges. Travis Perkins says it still plans to go ahead with the action, and is in an “advanced state of preparedness” for it that means it will be able to move quickly when appropriate.

In the meantime, it says the business had got off to a strong start, with group sales up by 2.4% in the year-to-date. As yet trading has not been significantly affected by Covid-19. “However, due to the rapidly evolving situation and the dynamic UK government response to the impact of Covid-19, the group expects the trading environment to change quickly and materially in the coming weeks. In response to this, the board is taking prudent decisions in order to successfully navigate this period of turmoil.”

The retailer says it is withdrawing all market guidance for the time being and has suspended its final dividend.

Nick Roberts, Travis Perkins chief executive, said: “We are absolutely committed to fulfilling the essential role we play in the UK construction industry supply chain in keeping the UK dry, warm, maintained and operational; providing materials, working capital funding and support for our trade customers, large and small.

“Whilst there is unprecedented uncertainty on how the virus outbreak will directly impact our markets and our businesses, we enter this period from a position of strength and security, with a strong balance sheet and access to significant committed liquidity.”

Frasers Group warns on profits as it expects significant disruption

Frasers Group, owners of multichannel retail brands including House of Fraser, Sports Direct, Jack Wills, Game and more, today (Friday) says it expects significant disruption to its business from factors including falling store visitor numbers as a result of the pandemic. It now expects that it will not achieve the growth in profits of between 5% and 15% that it had previously expected – and it is giving no formal guidance for its current financial year.

The retailer said its performance had been in line with expectations so far this year, and that its management team was able to respond and adapt quickly. “Over the longer term,” it said in today’s stockmarket statement, “the board remains confident in focusing on the company’s elevation strategy.”

Ikea to close its shops in the UK and Ireland

Ikea today said it would temporarily close its stores to customers at 6pm on Friday March 20. Shoppers will be able to buy online for home delivery instead, with the option of contact-free deliveries.

Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager and chief sustainability officer, said: “These are extraordinary times, and our absolute priority is to ensure the health and safety of our customers and co-workers. We have listened carefully to them, to the advice of the UK and Ireland governments, and have been closely monitoring the situation as this evolves. This is the right decision for us to take at this point. We look forward to welcoming our customers back to our stores in the future.”

Ikea had previously put measures including the closure of its restaurants, cafes and bistros, enhanced cleaning routines and closure of its outside playground facilities in place.

Joules says online and in-store sales are down – and calls for support for workers

Fashion-to-homewares retail brand Joules today said that it had seen both store visitors and overall revenues fall since Covid-19 first appeared in the UK. Online sales have also been hit, although to a lesser extent, as shoppers spend more cautiously.

It says that it is unable to offer financial guidance on its full-year figures at this point, although it is going to cancel its proposed interim dividend.

Currently, says Joules, it has £16m cash headroom and strong relationship with its bank and with its major shareholder, Tom Joules. But it is calling for more urgent action to support retail workers.

Joules chief executive Nick Jones said: “The challenges that all retailers are currently facing are unprecedented in modern times. Our immediate and over-riding objective is to ensure the wellbeing and protection of our colleagues and our customers. Our teams continue to demonstrate a flexible, can-do attitude during this testing time, and I would like to thank my colleagues across the world for their continued commitment and positivity.

“While the group’s near-term profitability will be impacted by the sector-wide effects of Covid-19, the board is remaining focused on protecting long-term value for its stakeholders and managing the near-term pressures on the business.

“We have an outstanding, unique brand and a fantastic team. I am very confident that Joules will successfully emerge from this very difficult period in a position to continue to deliver its exciting long-term growth plans.”

Joules is a Top250 retailer in RXUK Top500 research.

Shopping set to move online – fast: IMRG

Shopping may move further online – and quickly – as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the IMRG has warned.

The etail trade association warns that people may have little choice but to move all of their shopping online, both for groceries and non-food products, as the virus continues to spread.

The update came as IMRG said that online sales were slow in February, the month before the pandemic started. Andy Mulcahy, strategy and insight director at IMRG, said: “Now that stockpiling has driven demand to unprecedented levels, we may see a situation where shopper behaviour shifts over to that as a preferred channel very rapidly. Equally for general merchandise – with so little clarity over how long the current crisis will go on, people might have little choice but to switch all purchasing online.”

Learn from Italy and prepare for online sales to grow further

UK retailers should learn from the Italian experience and prepare themselves for a fast rise in online sales as coronavirus measures tighten, says cloud platform provider Kooomo. It says that now Italian residents are quarantined at home, with most institutions and shops, except supermarkets and pharmacies, now closed, online sales are skyrocketing.

It says that in Italy, online sales of consumer products increased by 81%, compared to the previous week between February 24 and March 1. Orders on placed on Supermercato.24, a site that employs independent shoppers to physically shop at a store on behalf of the customer, increased by 164%. And it expects the trend to continue as shoppers buy online while avoiding public places.

It suggests that retailers such as Amazon could become the biggest beneficiaries. UK supermarkets have also been asked increase home delivery services and expand capacity by up to 20%.

Ciaran Bollard, chief executive of Kooomo said: “The impact of coronavirus on the global economy is accelerating the need to start delivering products to customers who cannot leave their homes. Retailers that have invested in omnichannel solutions and have in-store stock available online will help to ease the negative effect of no footfall on the high street. I know some retailers considering resupplying the main delivery warehouse with shop stock to help fulfil this demand.

“Although this will put pressure on retailers, there are great opportunities for those that rise to the challenge and hopefully the UK and Irish markets can learn from the situation unfolding across Italy. Where the supply chain is affected for home deliveries, customers are willing to have a longer delivery window to avoid going to stores. Therefore, we would advise retailers to make sure communications with customers are accurate and transparent, as it is crucial to ensure delivery timings on an online store are updated to avoid disappointment.”

Retailers from the Co-op to Asda hire more workers

The Co-op is hiring 5,000 store workers on a temporary basis as it looks to staff up during the current crisis. The convenience store operator says it will take on people through a fast-track process and wants to hear from those who have lost jobs elsewhere and need temporary work, or those who want permanent jobs.

The retailer says the boost in numbers across its 2,600 stores will help them to get stock on the shelves, to fulfil online orders and help vunerable customers. People interested in applying can drop into their local Co-op store.

Jo Whitfield, chief executive, Co-op Food, said: “The Co-op has a critical role to play in supporting our members, customers and colleagues, as well as the local communities that our stores sit at the heart of. Whilst our store and depot colleagues are working around the clock to ensure people have the essentials they need, we are all too aware that many people working in bars, pubs and restaurants are currently out of work. It makes perfect sense for us to try and temporarily absorb part of this highly skilled and talented workforce who are so adept at delivering great customer service, as we work together to feed the nation.

“We’re talking to a large number of organisations whose workforces have been affected by this situation. To anyone in this position who is looking for a job in one of our stores, our message is simple: please get in touch now. We’ve made the application process quicker than ever and hope to have new colleagues on the ground within a day or two. What we need now is genuine, tangible cooperation as we look to support the wider economy and help the nation overcome this challenging period.”

The retailer joins a number of other grocers who are currently recruiting. Morrisons is hiring 3,500 new delivery staff while Asda is also reported to have said it is looking for staff who can start as soon as next day.

Supply chains will stand up to Covid-19, but support is needed: FTA

The supply chain is strong enough to stand up to the Covid-19 crisis, says logistics industry body the FTA – but it needs support from partners in order to carry on working.

Elizabeth de Jong, policy director at the FTA, says: “Logistics is responsible for every item used in this country, from the food we eat to the manufacturing components industry relies upon and, as such, should be recognised as a critical emergency service and its workers given the same recognition as those working for the emergency services or in healthcare. It is vital that they have urgent access to healthcare, washing and toilet facilities and their children are able to attend school, so that the flow of goods can continue unchecked.”

De Jong added that logistics also needs government support for contingency plans to address driver shortages caused by sickness, as well as a lack of compliance testing resource to ensure that operators can continue to operate legally and effectively.

She said: “There are still areas of ongoing regulation of our industry which require clarification, to ensure that businesses can continue to function efficiently and keep supplies moving. It is clear that we are facing unprecedented times, and additional financial support may be required for many businesses, particularly those that supply the tourism or hospitality sectors, in the very near future if the logistics sector is to survive.”

It’s also important, she says, to keep logistics moving as normally as possible. “Logistics can cope with the challenges of the pandemic, providing everyone maintains a balanced and sensible response to the situation,” she said. “Our members are well prepared to keep goods and materials flowing to all areas of the UK’s economy, providing a pragmatic approach is maintained.”

Delivery drivers classed as key workers

The news that delivery drivers have been classed as key workers has been welcomed.

The status means that drivers’ children will continue to be able to go to school if their parents need to work during the coronavirus outbreak.

This, says David Jinks, head of consumer research at ParcelHero, is to be welcomed.

“The coronavirus outbreak has created a massive growth in home deliveries which has resulted in some home delivery services being stretched to near breaking point and the complete suspension of Ocado new orders until Saturday; and it was essential to avoid more delivery drivers missing work, because they had to look after young children.

‘This decision will help keep home deliveries on the road, and give a platform for retailers and their courier partners, to build up their delivery capabilities further in the days ahead.”

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