If we want to end the chaos and division—and keep alive the possibility of progress on the issues we hold dear—we’ve got to vote for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris like our lives depend on it.
MIchelle Obama
Closing out the first evening of the first ever ‘virtual’ convention, Michelle Obama, hit hard but remained emotionally centered as she continued to say “go high” but emphasized “standing fierce against hatred” and “scraping and clawing our way to the mountain top”. “We’ve got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it” she intoned as millions listening silently thought “because they do”.
The rousing yet softly intoned plea was equal parts a testament to Biden’s compassion and character and a dignified take down a the man that who is “cannot meet this moment” and “clearly in over his head”. “He simply cannot be who we need him to before it is what it is” she said in the only and indirect reference to his many lies and undignified pronouncements. When asked about the massive numbers of covid deaths Trump shockingly tossed off the phrase “it is what it is“.
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The progressive political action committee MeidasTouch has released the latest anti-Trump advert. The video specifically cautions Trump’s donors to be wary of giving the campaign any more money – and alleges millions of dollars are supporting Trump’s family and friends. $180,000 a year to Trump’s sons’ girlfriend and wife, $17 million on Trump properties, $40 million on Trump’s former campaign manager, and $157 million on Jared and Ivanka’s salary.
Nepotism proves to be a recipe in failure for Trump clan
Another ad produced by the super PAC known as – The Lincoln Project takes a shot at Jared Kushner, calling him the “secretary of failure”. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law has been given a large handful of very important tasks, one of which was heading the response team uncharge of coming up with a plan to contain the spread of the pandemic.
So far the total lack of an effective “plan” and instead the obvious outcome that more and more Americans are losing their lives (150,000 and counting), he has definitely failed on that front.
Blast at a firework depot rocks Lebanese residents from miles away
A huge explosion has rocked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, causing many injuries, overturned cars, blown out windows and damaged buildings all across the city. This is a breaking and developing story so there will be additional details to follow. According to the most current information, sources on location are stating this blast was likely an accident caused by a fire from within a warehouse that holds highly explosive materials (i.e. fireworks) near the port in Beirut.
The captured video leading up to the explosion shows a large mushroom-shaped plume of billowing smoke, above a fire with crackling lights that appear to be fireworks. Seconds later, a fiery red cloud immediately follows a huge blast, sending massive amounts of smoke barreling towards the city. You can hear bystanders scream, undoubtedly trying to get to safety. The smoke and shockwave of the blast has destroyed buildings miles away from the port with final reports of the damage expected to be even worse.
Lebanese security official announces that "explosive material" was stored in a warehouse in Beirut's port (a very heavily populated area). Israel has long accused Hezbollah of storing explosive weapons in downtown Beirut. At least 15 people killed and hundreds more injured.
Residential properties as far away as 10 kilometers ( 6 miles) also experienced damage from the blow. Witnesses reported seeing the fire initially without realizing that an explosion would soon follow. Due to this confusion, the blast appears to have caused many that were in close proximity to experience temporary deafening effects. The explosion was so strong that the sound of the blast could be heard as far away as Nicosia on the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus which is 240 kilometers (150 miles) away.
This developing story likely to have dire updates To come
Hamad Hasan, Lebanon’s health minister has stated that many have been injured and hospitals are anticipated to be overwhelmed by casualties of the blast. Hasan later remarked to the news that more than 50 people have been killed and more than 3,000 injured. A Lebanese Red Cross official, George Kettaneh said there were hundred of casualties – both dead and wounded but was unable to give an exact number. Marwan Abboud, the governor of Beirut spoke on its local television network explaining they did not know exactly what caused the explosion and called the event a national catastrophe.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hassan Diab stated in a televised speech that those responsible for the explosion would be held accountable for its devastating results.
“I promise you that this catastrophe will not pass without accountability… Those responsible will pay the price.”
Hassan Diab / lebanon’s prime minister
BREAKING: Massive explosion in Beirut. Footage from the daily star office now in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/2uBsKP5wCH
— Ghada Alsharif | غادة الشريف (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020
It has been a truly horrible time in history for Lebanon, the explosion just making matters even worse. The country is already suffering an extreme economic crisis that has left many of its population suffering from poverty. In addition the country has been in a civil war for nearly 25 years, as well as suffering due to the repeated conflicts with Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group, near Lebanon’s southern border.
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Immediately vows to donate all through her foundation to organizations and projects “on the front lines” of Climate Crisis
Greta Thunberg, Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2019 has acquired another prize for her humanitarian efforts. The global pandemic has, to some degree, taken attention away from the climate crisis and, by extension, it’s most famous spokesperson. There have also been signs of a backlash, potentially due to overexposure, but more likely stemming from various actors, backed by the fossil fuel industry and its proponents, trying to drum up support for a dying business model.
For example, a brief attempt to champion an “anti-Greta” figure, Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old from Münster, Germany, who gained some media attention in February of this year for her “climate skeptic” stance. Reports surfaced that she was being paid by a group associated with the Tump administration and was being put forward as an unofficial spokesperson for Arthur B. Robinson Center for Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank.
The massive crash in the price of oil in April and the aforementioned pandemic seems to have derailed her budding career as a solution for the fossil fuel industry to the “Greta problem”.
In the video (above) released via twitter, Greta pledged to give away all the funds “as quickly as possible”. Her first recipient was named, along with the amount to be given; 100,000 Euros to the SOS Amazonia Campaign known via @FridaysForFutureBrasil. A second award, also in the amount of 100,000 Euros, will go to the Stop Ecocide Foundation
Further grants will be awarded to those fighting for climate crisis solutions and for “a sustainable world”.
”Also, to help organizations and projects who are fighting for a sustainable world and who are fighting to defend nature and the natural world.”
The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity
Based on twitter reactions, the prize is not well known in the US. Based in Portugal, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has established an international jury to choose the prize recipient. The Prize is awarded annually for “contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change”.
“The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, awarded annually, in the amount of 1 million euros, aims to recognise people, groups of people and/or organisations from all over the world whose contributions to mitigation and adaptation to climate change stand out for its novelty, innovation and impact.”
The Foundation’s goals, which the prize seeks to highlight, are an acceleration to a carbon neutral society and to mitigate negative effects of climate change on people, the environment and the economy.
Though fewer headlines have been seen relating to current events surrounding the climate crisis, they are sure to return as the problem is far from over. Temperatures worldwide continue to shock and break records. Greta Thunberg putting her fame and award proceeds to good use is a bright spot on the horizon during an admittedly difficult year for our planet and species. Below are the original tweets
I’m extremely honoured to receive the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. We’re in a climate emergency, and my foundation will as quickly as possible donate all the prize money of 1 million Euros to support … -> 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Eti6AJXSvj
Starting with giving €100.000 to the SOS Amazonia Campaign led by Fridays For Future Brazil to tackle Covid-19 in the Amazon, and €100.000 to the Stop Ecocide Foundation to support their work to make ecocide an international crime. @fcgulbenkian 3/3
A Book of Historic Importance as November Election approaches
Mary Trump’s book, the memoir titled “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” went on sale on July 14, 2020. There has been much buzz leading up to its release and it is now clear that a serious number of people are going to read this book. Those that do will get an intimate insider’s view of the president and his family dynamics.
Publisher Simon & Schuster reported that the title has already sold almost 1 million units, with approximately 950,000 copies sold at the end of its first day on the market. The totals also include pre-orders, audio and e-books. This also represents a new opening-day sales record for the publishing company.
On June 23,2020 when former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir” was released, yet another exposé about Trump, also published by Simon & Schuster, it too also held massive sales, yielding in more than 780,000 copies on its first week.
Both books endured repeated attempts by President Trump and his family to block any release. Trump claimed Bolton’s book would reveal classified information and that Mary Trump had violated her nondisclosure agreement. In each case, a judge denied requests for injunctions and both books are now available for mass public consumption.
After the judge’s ruling in her favor, Mary Trump took to social media and began posting on her Twitter account, her first tweets since 2018. Welcome back, Mary
Tesla continues to hit new sales and tech milestones (not to mention the stock price)…
Throughout 2018 and 2019, Tesla delivered 612,120 vehicles. This is an impressive number, and a quota that surely upped the ante for Elon Musk‘s famed tech-car company. However, that striking figure has already been dwarfed by the number of pre-orders currently in place for Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck.
According to Finbold, Tesla has already received 650,000 pre-orders for the Cybertruck. The bulk of these pre-orders (approximately 535,000 of them) took place before February of 2020. Naturally, fewer people placed orders as the coronavirus spread across the globe. Still, over 100,000 additional orders despite everything going on in the world is an enduring sign of the vehicle’s popularity.
Pre-ordering a concept with a precious few in circulation
Tesla first revealed the Cybertruck on November 21st in Los Angeles. It’s ultramodern aesthetic, with sharp lines, futuristic angles, and tankish wheels met polarizing reactions. Many even took to lampooning the vehicle on social media via memes. However, this generated increased publicity for the Cybertruck all the same, and the pre-orders eventually poured in.
Of course, not all pre-orders for the truck are guaranteed sales. Nevertheless, the 650,000 figure means that that many people are interested in the vehicle enough to reserve one, and each reservation requires a $100 deposit. Already, Tesla is earning money on the truck and if the copious pre-orders do turn into deliveries, the company will continue its trajectory of increased sales for every year since 2014.
Elon Musk and Tesla have recently earned some negative press while delivering their latest Model-Y cars, which are similarly in very high demand. Perhaps connected to the unanticipatedly large number of orders, Model-Ys have been notorious for quality control problems. Pre-ordered cars often come with incorrect paint, faulty interiors, asymmetrical features, and other mistakes.
Luckily, the company is already correcting its mistakes, and the issues have not hindered Tesla fans from remaining enthusiastic about the Cybertruck. Musk wants to start shipping them early next year, introducing the first EV truck onto the road and optimistically shifting the car market for the planet’s benefit.
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On July 6th, actor Tom Hanks sat down for an interview with The Guardian to promote his new movie “Greyhound.” However, this interview was not done face-to-face between Hanks and the correspondent. Like almost all other professional interactions nowadays, it was done remotely, with the two parties talking via computer screens in their homes—practicing social distancing due to the coronavirus.
This particular interview with Hanks was especially telling, because the actor was actually one of the first American celebrities to contract COVID-19 back in March, and “Greyhound” was among a long list of movies meant to hit theaters this summer, but got sidelined because of the pandemic.
Now, Hanks—along with his wife Rita Wilson, who also had coronavirus—is fully recovered and well. Nevertheless, his beef with the pandemic is not entirely settled, as the coronavirus’ consequential theater shutdowns has forced him to release his new film on a different platform: Apple TV+.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with Apple TV+. As far as streaming services go, Apple is a rising phenomenon and has brought about several praiseworthy shows since it launched last November. All the same, Hanks intended “Greyhound” for a theatrical release, and in the interview he called the film’s ultimate home on Apple TV+ “an absolute heartbreak.”
Again, this is not necessarily a jab at Apple, but it is indicative of what many filmmakers are going through right now. Streaming vs Theatrical releases was a hot debate in Hollywood long before COVID-19 ran everything amuck, but now that releasing movies in theaters is not an option, many movies have no choice but to sell out to the streamers and debut online.
“Greyhound” for example, was meant to hit theaters in March with Sony Pictures as distributor. However, the pandemic pushed the release date back perpetually, and in May, it sold to Apple for $70 Million, getting an official July 10th release date on the site.
Hanks continues in the interview, “I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality [when viewing a film online rather than in a theater].” He is not the first filmmaker to voice this opinion, but he is also not the first filmmaker to have his creative work siphoned off to an unanticipated platform during these unprecedented times. Paramount Pictures, for example, sold the Kumail Nanjiani-starring rom-com, “The Lovebirds” to Netflix earlier this year despite initially banking on a theatrical release.
Triple Threat Thwarted by Timing, perhaps, but will be enjoyed nonetheless
The alternative would’ve been to hold out on releasing these films until theaters re-open. Given the fact that the theaters are closed indefinitely, though, only the movies that are more-or-less guaranteed blockbuster hits are taking this risky option—Marvel’s “Black Widow,” Universal’s “Fast & Furious 9,” DC’s “Wonder Woman: 1984” and Warner Brother’s Chris Nolan-directed “Tenet” are among them.
“Greyhound”— which Hanks wrote and produced as well as starred in— might’ve had blockbuster potential, but the clock was ticking a little too temperamentally on production company Columbia Pictures and the film’s $50 million budget. Returns simply could not be left up to a temporally unspecified gamble.
Luckily, the stigma around direct-to-streaming releases has diminished in recent years, as Netflix in particular has garnered a large number of Oscar nominations with prestigious projects like Martin Scorsese‘s “The Irishman” and Alfonso Cuaròn’s “Roma” going straight to the service. Likewise, even the studios are also transitioning to the streaming world these days with Disney+, HBOMax, and Peacock headlining the ongoing streaming wars.
Still, with “Greyhound” being a war epic set at sea, we can empathize with Tom Hanks for wanting audiences to experience it on the big screen. In fact, we can empathize with all of the filmmakers who put their hearts into creative projects for 2020, and are now seeing them shrunk down to something smaller—but perhaps not lesser—than their expectations.
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To get through this we’re gonna need all our faculties on high alert…
It’s no wonder that the busiest freeway on the planet is nearly empty, with all that’s going on. Sure. But try driving on it if you remember the old normal. To dramatize, take a look at the video above taken during the 5pm rush hour on Tuesday, and the video below, of just what this beast could do on a big traffic day. Even a “normal” day, pre-covid-19 had a similar feeling. Not anymore.
It can be an emotional and somber experience to see, first hand and in-person, what the busiest freeway in the world looks like in the middle (at the beginning?) of a pandemic and with unemployment rate at up to 50% (locally). And then there’s the one bright spot; that the deserted freeway is being impacted even more so by the new “WFH” (work from home) boom as we change our lives and reduce carbon emissions by living a digital life.
“Anecdotal” evidence: raising the feeling that something’s going on other than what you hear from on-high
Sometimes, even if you listen to the voices all around you, take in all the news and noise, you just have to block all of that out and take a good look with your own eyes. If you look beneath the surface of the news you will also find a very different story.
Take for example the recent “positive” jobs reports. Unemployment appears to be dropping and the overall numbers are not as bad as many had feared, right? Or is that just a manufactured impression? The previous official jobs reports were rife with confusion and even errors that were admitted outright by The Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of course by that time the “good news” had already circulated and had created the desired effect (a delay of the stock market pricing-in the real unemployment numbers).
The reports, according to former US secretary of labor, Robert Reich, are not giving an accurate picture, and he points out in a recent piece that the real situation is that the current number of unemployed is the worst in over 70 years.
Naturally the reasons, emanating from the top job at the White House, for wanting to spin these very important numbers, are obvious. Not only is there the the high stakes re-election scenario but, in this special case, the potential prosecutions that could proceed from a loss for Trump in November.
And if you are not a “Robin Hood” day trader and are just trying to get a life?
Although Los Angeles is not currently in an official “lockdown”, there is a surge in new cases and over twelve million active cases worldwide, and over three million in the US alone. Therefore, the streets reflect the real situation that people are experiencing – both economic due to the lack of employment and the caution and self-isolation that is appropriate and the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in the city.
Donald Trump said Thursday’s jobs report, which showed an uptick in June, proves the US economy is “roaring back”.
Rubbish. The labor department gathered the data during the week of 12 June, when America was reporting 25,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day. By the time the report was issued, that figure was 55,000.
Click to See “Saving Capitalism“ to Help Lynxotic and Independent Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
Then, just today, the newest jobs report came out. The headline on Marketwatch was that, although 33 million people are unemployed and millions more getting laid off weekly, “many doubt it’s that bad”. Why the caveat? You tell me.
Rather than focusing on the 33 million out of work, with the real number potentially far higher, they question anything that may help to mitigate the negative impression (bad for the stock market). Then they feature an earlier story with the title: “U.S. Regains 4.8 million Jobs in June”, further giving the impression that everything is hunky dory.
Oh, and late last night United Air Lines announced that they would lay off 36,000 which they site as a worst case scenario. Brooks Brothers announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Bed, Bath and Beyond are closing 200 stores. And the list goes on.
With the Climate Crisis far from over, A pandemic that has no end in sight and economic repercussions that are beginning to boggle the mind, there is plenty to overwhelm the average or even supra-average human.
Maybe, for now though, with all the doom and gloom, it’s best to just put the pedal-to-the-metal and enjoy the empty road…
Despite plenty of legal shenanigans it is unlikely the book will be held back
Donald Trump and his family have tried to silence many people over the course of his presidency. From reporters, to writers, to scientists, and more, the presidential family has a knack for blocking out information that is daunting, unflattering, or threatening to their national image. Most recently, however, the extended First Family carried this censorship into the family itself, trying to stifle the publication of Mary L. Trump‘s new tell-all book about the POTUS’s lineage.
Mary Trump is President Trump‘s niece, the daughter of his late brother Fred Trump Jr, who died of alcoholism in 1981. She holds an M.A. in English from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Adelphi University. Other than a Twitter account where she will occasionally criticize her uncle or express support for groups such as Black Lives Matter or the LGBTQ+ community, her politics have not been overly exposed. The last time she spoke publicly on political matters was 20 years ago, when she shamed her family to the New York Daily News. Unlike many members of the Trump family, though, Mary has largely kept herself out of the spotlight until now.
And that although also bound by the agreement the President “has spoken out about our family and the will dispute on numerous occasions”— implying that this would have voided the agreement in any case.
Could this be the bombshell that fatally taints POTUS’ already suspect reputation?
Her new book is titled “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” and it offers an inside perspective on the Trump family, intensely revealing the familial structures that gave rise to the nation’s current controversial leader.
Published by Simon & Schuster, Mary’s book is rumored to include never-before-exposed information about the Trumps, much of which is bound to be shocking, raw, and scathing. Perhaps this is why the rest of the Trump family tried to bar it from publication in court.
The president’s brother and Mary’s first uncle, Robert Trump led the brigade in trying to halt “Too Much and Never Enough” from hitting book stores, citing a Non-Disclosure Agreement from Fred Trump Sr’s estate that prohibits descendants from exposing family secrets. Robert brought this evidence to the Queen’s Surrogate’s Court in New York, but Judge Peter J. Kelly tossed the case, calling the claims “fatally defective.”
For starters, Robert Trump’s allegations were based off of Fred Trump Sr’s probate, which was resolved in 2001 and is therefore irrelevant today. Because the case has nothing to do with wills and assets after all, Judge Kelly deemed it beyond the Surrogate Court’s jurisdiction, and suggested that Robert take it to the New York Supreme Court, which handles civil and criminal matters.
Recently in response to the legal challenges mounted by her Uncle Donald and his brother Robert Trump in the various court proceedings, Mary said she was telling her “life story”— which she deems outside and restrictions set forth in the non-disclosure agreement and that here personal story includes, incidentally “the conduct and character of my uncle, the sitting President of the United States.”
“None of the parties to the Settlement Agreement, including my uncles Donald Trump and Robert Trump, or my aunt Maryanne Trump, has ever sought my permission to speak publicly about our family or their personal relationships with me, my brother Fred, or among each other”
Mary L. Trump
Another book is out there for a peek into inner sanctum scuzz
Even then, however, the Trump family would likely be ineffective in blocking Mary’s book. With the Fred Trump estate already wrapped up, she has every right to publish a book about her own family. Such is her first amendment right— it is hard to argue against the first amendment in a court of law, no matter what kind of elite lawyers the Trump family has on its side.
During the rising election season, the Trumps have been extra vigilant about protecting the President’s reputation on the printed page. Earlier this summer, the publication of former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton‘s “The Room Where It Happened” was quite embarrassing for the commander in chief, as it heavily criticized his political actions and exposed his incompetence from the inside. Despite inconsistent reviews as a text, Bolton’s book garnered lots of attention and effectively stained the President’s image.
Bolton was simply served as the 27th United States National Security Advisor in the Trump administration from 2018 to 2019, so we can only imagine the kind of dirt Mary has on the man. Her book is scheduled for a July 28th release.
A building chorus of dissenting voices from well heeled and carefully researched corporate ad buyers
Zuckerberg faces the music (collage / Lynxotic)
The Facebook ad boycott has been going on for several weeks now, as more and more companies are abstaining from promoting content on the social media website until it makes greater amends to eliminate hate speech on its platform. At first, many expected that the boycott would not be enough to spark real change. After all, only about a hundred companies are engaged in it, and Facebook hosts over 8 million advertisers. However, now that a few key players have joined the movement, Facebook is facing palpable financial and PR consequences, heralding an indirect response.
Companies started to boycott ads on Facebook earlier this month, as civil rights groups such as the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, Sleeping Giants, Color Of Change, Free Press and Common Sense criticized the site for providing a platform for racist and bigoted content. These groups were particularly critical of Facebook failing to censor President Trump‘s inflammatory post regarding the Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s death. In the post, Trump stated, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” endorsing a hateful rhetoric riddled with dark precedents.
Facebook was defensive of allowing Trump’s post go unedited at first, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg playing the free-speech card that has kept Facebook relatively unaccountable in the past for the mounds of unsavory content plastered on the site.
Now, however, Facebook is waking up to a significant hit to the wallet.
Major ad contributors have joined the boycott against Facebook including Verizon, Coca-Cola, Unilever, and dozens upon dozens more, with most making a statement that they will abstain from advertising on Facebook through the summer or until the site changes its methods. It is part of a movement titled “Stop Hate For Profit,” targeted at companies that make money off of bigotry.
Money matters, apparently, particularly big, big sums
As mentioned above, the companies who have joined the movement are but a drop in Facebook’s ocean of advertisers. Nevertheless, amidst the boycott and all of the negative PR Facebook has acquired as a result, the site’s stock price has dropped significantly. On Friday, June 26th, its stock went down more than 8%, representing a loss $56 billion in market value for the company. Even for a company like Facebook, that is not exactly chump-change.
Non-coincidentally, later that same day, Zuckerberg released a statement outlining Facebook’s plans to be more proactive about censoring content on the website. In a thirteen minute video and accompanying post, the CEO explained that going forward, Facebook will be making more efforts to ensure that all users feel safe on the website. This includes prohibiting ads that target or demean certain demographics, making it more apparent when content is or is not deemed “newsworthy,” and increasing security for content related to the upcoming election, flagging hoax videos and removing the spread of misinformation.
A long list of convictions and potential crimes is beginning to mount
The larger question exists as to why now, after facebook’s lax and predatory behaviors are well known and documented, suddenly these major advertisers have woken to the urgency of change? BLM and antitrust, along with a long list of highly critical investigative reports from major news over a period of years, might just be building into a tsunami of anti-facebook sentiment too big to ignore.
It was Facebook’s complacency with spreading misinformation during the 2016 Election—as well as the Cambridge Analytica privacy breeches— that instigated the website’s fall from grace nearly four years ago. Since then, Facebook among other big-tech labels have been the subject of greater criticism for their role in politics, culture, and public discourse.
While Zuckerberg’s latest video feels more substantial than most of his responses to criticism. It attempts to off some possible real solutions to the problems rather than just hollow suggestions or distractive rebranding techniques. Still, many are not satisfied, hoping that Facebook will focus more on removing all hateful content rather than simply flagging it, or adjusting its corporate allegiances so they stop selling data to or providing a platform for institutions that aim to disenfranchise people.
As the boycott continues, perhaps Facebook’s response will grow more progressive, but Zuck and his company continue to toe that delicate line between upholding freedom of speech and quelling unambiguously offensive content. Likewise, it will be interesting to see what the boycotters do in the coming months. Facebook is a crucial advertising platform for most of these corporations. By the end of the summer, will they start using the site again, or will they continue to hold out until greater change comes about?
To endorse the former would seem like a sellout, like the entire boycott was but a disingenuous gesture. However, to carry on with the boycott indefinitely begs the question of how much Facebook needs to adjust itself before returning to the public’s (as well as other business’) good graces.
Ultimately, the question is whether real change is finally coming; for us all to have a choice of more than a single, solitary option for our social media network (facebook), search engine (google) or eCommerce destination (amazon).
The Lincoln Project, Republican Voters Against Trump and Others are Actively Working to Get Him Gone
A new super-PAC has also been launched with participation of former Trump White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci called Right Side PAC. The Lincoln Project (video above) along with RVAP.org and this new organization all have one thing in common; an active desire to see Trump gone, so much so that they are supporting Joe Biden under the never-Trump philosophy.
Actively looking to target red battleground states and get support from moderate Republicans, a growing and ever-more-visible backlash among “traditional” conservatives and many more who are ready to actively campaign against the “leader” of their own party.
The Lincoln Project has been very active in opposing Trump, bringing a no-holds-barred and yet dignified approach to the resistance from a conservative perspective. With high-profile names such as George Conway, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson (see book he authored at right), Jennifer Horn and others, listed as advisors. The group is carving out a solid mind-share through the almost-constant release of ads on social media and with paid ads on various broadcast outlets.
Republican Voters Against Trump a.k.a. RVAT.org are also on the warpath, looking to remove the current occupant of the White House at the ballot box. They recently launched with a $10 million war chest and have also produced strong anti-trump ads (see below). Their website features a vast and growing collection of testimonials by former Trump voters and Republicans that are ready to vote for Biden, in order to rid the country of the man they, in some cases, helped to elect.
The approach is simple, yet powerful, with each testimonial showing the home state of the voter and a quote indicating why they are ready to switch and, more significantly, willing to speak out against the Republican nominee and in favor of his challenger.
High profile, bombshell-launching books by insiders are lined up to expose corruption and crimes
The current wave of media coverage for John Bolton’s “The Room Where It Happened” is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to books filled with insider information exposing the scandalous wrongdoings of Trump and his administration.
Currently sitting at #1 on the bestseller charts (as a pre-order) Bolton’s long awaited book is scheduled for a huge release on June 23rd and all the desperate efforts by Trump and his lawyers to stop it appear to be garnering nothing more than added publicity.
The leaks of damning details culled from the book, based on Bolton’s tenure as 27th United States National Security Advisor, so far have been revelatory. Judging from the level of panic coming from the administration and efforts to squelch the release, there is much, much more still to come, once the full details are out.
Most publicized leak from the tomb to date: Bolton corroborates hard details of the Ukraine quid-pro-quo that got Trump impeached, and states that the inquiry could have uncovered more such crimes with any further digging.
Bolton is being criticized heavily by Democrats for not cooperating and testifying during the impeachment trial, and for grabbing a $2 million advance for the book instead.
The Ultimate insider’s account recounts an origin story fit for a comic book super-villain, based on pre-release details…
Already at #2 on current bestseller lists is the “other” massive story, Too Much and Never Enough, exposing corruption and evil from an ultimate insider, Trump’s own niece Mary L. Trump. The eldest grandchild of Fred Trump Sr., the 55 year-old has a PhD from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and has taught courses in developmental psychology, psychopathology, and trauma.
With the book’s sub-title calling her Uncle, currently sitting in the White House, the “World’s Most Dangerous Man”, it is clearly not a favorable view into the mind and genesis of the morally bankrupt former reality-TV personality.
“In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald’s only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric.“
Simon & Schuster Publisher’s Description of Too Much and Never Enough How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man By Mary L.Trump
Scheduled to be released on July 28th, conveniently less than a month before the Republican convention, which is set to begin on August 24th, the books profile and buzz have already hit the stratosphere and will only build further as the election chatter heats up in August.
As the election season peak approaches, a massive anti-Trump tsunami appears to be on the horizon
Bearing in mind that the election battle 2020 is underway but at nowhere near a peak, the few elements mentioned above represent a building media and grass-roots chorus in opposition to the current regime. Not only will books, ads and testimonials continue to be produced and combined to attack the famous attacker, but progress in the multitude of legal challenges he faces will expose more facts and data almost certainly unfavorable to his support among the voting public.
Between the powerful forces growing on the Right, in his own Party, and the fallout to be expected from these and other revelatory tombs to come, Tump faces stiff opposition from all sides. For a man who benefitted from literally millions of social media posts made by Russian bots and was even potentially elected as a result of their influence, it would be a fitting end to his political saga if real, live, flesh-and-blood people he has hurt or endangered, would finally stand up and ensure that he can no longer inflict damage on this nation.
Production Companies making a stand? Helping to educate through free viewing
Warner Brothers has made the film “Just Mercy” available to rent for free on all major digital platforms for the whole month of June 2020. Shortly after, Paramount made “Selma” free to rent as well. The announcement comes during the wake of mass global protests in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) following the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and in honor of the many other Black men and women targeted by racists and killed at the hands of unjust police.
A movement has been created and from that theres been a light shed that there are many people that hold an open and eager desire to educate and expand their awareness on matters of race, especially those coming from a place of privilege. Books, documentaries and movies can be positive starting point to learn more about the history of discrimination and systemic racism that continues to take place against African Americans and many people of color on a continuous basis.
Click to see “Just Mercy” and help Lynxotic and Independent Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
“Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship–and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Click to see book “Just Mercy” also available on Amazon.
Warner Brothers released the following statement on its website
“We believe in the power of story. Our film Just Mercy, based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are interested in learning more about the systemic racism that plagues our society. For the month of June, Just Mercy will be available to rent for free across digital platforms in the US. To actively be part of the change our country is so desperately seeking, we encourage you to learn more about our past and the countless injustices that have led us to where we are today. Thank you to the artists, storytellers and advocates who helped make this film happen. Watch with your family, friends and allies. For further information on Bryan Stevenson and his work at the Equal Justice Initiative please visit EJI.org.
“Somebody has to stand when others are sitting. Somebody has to speak when others are quiet.” – Bryan Stevenson
We stand with our Black colleagues, talent, storytellers and fans – and all affected by senseless violence. Your voices matter, your messages matter. #BlackLivesMatter
Click to see “In Peace and Freedom” and help Lynxotic and Independent Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
SELMA is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s SELMA tells the real story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.
Paramount released a statement ” “We hope this small gesture will encourage people throughout the country to examine our nation’s history and reflect on the ways that racial injustice has infected our society. The key message of Selma is the importance of equality, dignity and justice for all people. Clearly, that message is as vital today as it was in 1965.”
“Just Mercy” and “Selma” are available to watch for free on the following streaming platforms: Apple TV, Fandango Now, Google Play, Amazon Video, Redbox, PlayStation Store, YouTube and Vudu).
The Strawberry Moon is set to take place Friday night which will bring a penumbral lunar eclipse which is when the Sun, Earth and Moon are imperfectly aligned. The moon will appear slightly darker than usual around some parts of the world as the moon will be passing through parts of the Earth’s outer shadow.
“The news on television has been heavy and sad, and I wrote slower as a result. We are now starting three eclipses, each two weeks apart, June 5, June 21, and July 4-5. Eclipses demand change on a personal and societal level. With an eclipse coming on July 4, I feel my country, the US, will still have something more to go through. Eclipses enlighten us with a floodlight of truth, so that we can see all that we had been too blind to see. The coming two months will have lots more news, so we are only at the beginning.”
susan miller / astrology zone
This will also be the last full moon of the spring season. The moon will appear full for approximately three days from early morning Thursday June 4th to early morning Sunday June 7th.
According to NASA, the Algonquin tribes called the June full moon the “Strawberry Moon” based on the short season for harvesting strawberries in the north-eastern region of the United States. Other old European names for the moon have been referred to as the Mead or Honey Moon when honey was the most ripe and sweet for harvest.
The eclipse will begin 1:45 p.m. ET and last around three hours and 18 minutes until 5:04 p.m. ET and can be most visible in Eastern Africa, the Middle East, Southern Asia and Australia. Those in New York can see the full moon set around 5:17 a.m. local time and will rise that day at 8:29 p.m. The Strawberry Moon eclipse is just one of the three eclipses to take place in June and July, with the annular solar eclipse (Ring of Fire) on June 21, 2020 and another penumbral lunar eclipse (Thunder Moon) on July 4, 2020.
The Strawberry Moon is only a partial penumbral lunar eclipse as only a portion of the full Moon will drift into Earth’s shadow, the next total lunar eclipse won’t happen again until March 16, 2128.
Many factors contribute to the haze of confusion surrounding the facts
The coronavirus pandemic is sowing confusion across the globe, not just medically but in the representation of fact vs. hopes. Since, 1918, most of the world has not experienced anything akin to a global outbreak of this magnitude. In order to navigate this novel landscape, quality, consistent, and factual information is essential. Unfortunately, many journalists are already getting the boot during the shutdown, which causes trusted reporting to be less available, but the stifling of facts does not stop there, as now scientific integrity may be in question too.
As harrowing as COVID-19 is, the disease is presenting new opportunities for scientists and medical researchers. Academically speaking, it is an irresistibly hot topic, and any significant contribution to its study could launch a career. Thus, there is a budding competitiveness amongst the scientific community, with many researchers rushing to uncover something (anything) about the coronavirus and get it published.
According to a new post on Harvard Law’s Bill Of Health website, a recent study from Stanford University epitomizes the chaotic drive for scientific corona-findings right now. The Stanford study is documented in an unpublished paper titled, “COVID-19 Antibody Seroprevalence In Santa Clara County, California.” It describes a procedure whereby the scientists tested multiple Santa Clara County residents for the SARS-Cov-2 antibody, which causes COVID-19. The ultimate findings suggest that many more Santa Clara residents had the virus than sought treatment for it.
By extension, the scientists suppose that this conclusion could be true for other parts of the world as well. If it is, it could significantly alter the reported data as well as the global reaction to the virus.
Peers in the scientific community, however, express skepticism towards the Stanford study, citing dire flaws in its methodology. First off, Stanford improperly selected its subjects for the tests. Rather than creating an algorithm for testing random individuals from the Santa Clara area, it fished for volunteers on Facebook, attracting people more likely to seek out testing in the first place and ergo, more likely to have symptoms. Using social media also means that they probably drew in a younger crowd, catering to a demographic that is less at risk and therefore less prone to hospitalize or report feeling sick.
Critics also note some inconsistencies in the data itself, particularly the section that takes into account the risk-factor of faulty equipment or inaccurate results. Overall, the results are more than a little suspicious, depicting a possible example of scientists getting excited over this unprecedented natural phenomenon and jumping to conclusions.
Politics, ratings and money are putting pressure on journalists and scientists alike
Of course, the scientific community meets even greater discrepancies when findings get thrown into the blenders of media and politics. Even when the science remains rightfully impartial, different forces can twist or manipulate data to tell a different story.
“If refusing to mislead the public during a health crisis is insubordination, then I will wear that badge with honor,”
Rebekah Jones in an interview with Chris Cuomo of CNN
In Florida, for example, Department of Health scientist recently lost her job for refusing to skew data. In a statement to CBS, she said that the Department wanted her to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”
Jones’ job at the Department was to create Geographic Information Systems (maps) of Florida that topographically represented the spread of COVID-19 across the state. Her work was widely praised and her departure comes non-coincidentally around the same time that Florida Governor Ron Desantis is trying to reopen stores, restaurants, and barber shops across the Sunshine State.
In a leaked email, Jones warned other Florida Health Department workers to be weary of forthcoming data produced by the state, for it could easily be meddled in corrupt agendas.
Science, by definition, is the objective study of what is. When warped to fit a subjective point of view, though, it becomes something very dangerous—a destructively deceitful force disguised as the truth. Nowadays, truth is an unfortunately delicate term, but it is a necessity to conquer our current circumstance. If we lose science as the impartial study of truth, then we lose the facts, and thus lose our grasp on reality.
Have you seen the monologue from Bill Maher on Amazon and Bezos? If not you better take a look. Can’t say if Bill is a barometer of the pulse of the public at large, but this time he seems to be spot-on. There could be a sea-change coming, even as we all reflect on the massive changes wrought this year, not only by the pandemic itself, but by the collateral damage and collateral advantage, in some cases, that came with it like a tsunami after an earthquake.
Perhaps change can be good. Tesla and Elon Musk are trying, at least, and the upcoming announcements regarding battery tech breakthroughs are like a ray of sustainable sunshine in a world of clouds and rain. Quibi appears to be struggling out of the gate (surprising no one!) but with billions in their war chest it’s likely too soon to count them out entirely. After you check out the Bill Maher video below, you might want a little deeper background on the landscape that led to Amazon’s insane dominance, so check out the extended, anonymously sourced reporting by our News Staff.
Isn’t it funny that the so called bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000 which resulted in a nearly 75% drop in the tech heavy NASDAQ index by March, 2000. Ultimately, among survivors and upstarts, the winner-takes-all saga led to no less than three trillion dollar companies. Click to see complete story.
Tesla has proven already that a well designed and engineered EV has many superior qualities compared to an equivalent ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle. Teslas have shown that they can last up to one million miles with far less maintenance. Click to see complete story.
A recent “study” has been cited by a gaggle of digital media outlets. Featuring headlines such as “Jeff Bezos Could Be the World’s First Trillionaire, and the Overwhelming Response Is ‘Thanks I Hate It’ (Vice.com) and“Jeff Bezos could become world’s first trillionaire, and many people aren’t happy about it” (USA Today) and trending on twitter via the hashtag #bezostrillionaire and #RIPCapitalism. Click here to see complete story.
Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman launched Quibi on April 6th. The latest project from the two well-experienced entertainment moguls, Quibi is a streaming service designed for the smallest of screens— namely, smartphones and other mobile devices. The subscription based platform’s initiative is to provide short bursts of entertainment for people on the go, keeping content between seven and ten minutes long apiece. Click to see complete story.
With half the world seemingly at the beach, and most of us focused on the right way to survive coming out of lock-down, you may have missed the incredibly active news coming out of the tech space. Not just space itself, but a variety of interesting looks toward the future, both in law and anti-trust issues and, yes, space itself both from the fantasy as well as reality perspective.
With the coronavirus pandemic implications for the economy and business at the forefront of looming threats, at least in terms of non-medical issues, the big tech giants; Amazon, Google and Facebook are all getting warnings that the government are a-coming with serious questions as to the behavior of the former, if not outright legal actions. And the people at large, in particular small business owners may not be far behind.
A Bully with a “Nice” Promise is Still just a Bully:
Photo Collage / Lynxotic / Adobe Stock
Funny thing about promises made by politicians and owners of public companies. Although truth will eventually come out due to public access to accounting, these are often so far in the future that virtually anything can be promised today with no need for a specific plan or transparent numbers to back them up. Click to see complete story.
From “Star Trek” to “Star Wars,” “Interstellar” to “2001,” outer space has been the primary setting for a wide range of science fiction and action movies over the years. Still, never has a film actually been shot in the infinite frontier. Sure we have footage from the stars (even from the moon and Mars), but no feature film has been bold enough to actually construct a full-length narrative with principal photography occurring in space. Click to see complete story.
On Friday, May 15th, Facebook announced that it will be buying Giphy— the world’s most popular GIF site on the internet, social media, and messaging services. Giphy is already an integrated part of iMessage, Tinder, Slack, and Twitter, and Facebook now owns it for a reported $400 million. Click to see complete story.
It is safe to say that Google is a hegemonic force in the digital world. The site practically has a monopoly on internet searches and it holds nearly a third of the money tied up in online advertising. Because of the United States’ lax laws regarding cyber security, Google’s dominance has largely gone unchecked over the years. That is, until now. Click to see complete story.
A long, slow, converging consensus is coming to expose Facebook, Amazon and Google
On Friday, May 15th, Facebook announced that it will be buying Giphy— the world’s most popular GIF site on the internet, social media, and messaging services. Giphy is already an integrated part of iMessage, Tinder, Slack, and Twitter, and Facebook now owns it for a reported $400 million.
Acquiring a GIF-generating site seems inconspicuous enough for Facebook, the social media conglomerate that already owns Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus VR, and many other subsidiaries. Nevertheless, the purchase raised some red flags in Washington, especially for Democrats like Senators Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Senator Amy Kolchubar (MN) as well as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and David Cicilline (RI), all of whom have been critical of major corporate mergers throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Because of COVID-19, many small businesses are facing immense hardships. They are in a vulnerable state, desperate for money and far more likely to sell out. By contrast, major corporations not only have the funds to stay afloat, but also the continued stability to take advantage of the smaller, more jeopardized companies. Senator Warren and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez have thus proposed the “Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act” to halt all big-business mergers until the situation gets better for their small business counterparts.
Hence, Facebook’s purchase of Giphy comes at a dubious time. Giphy is no small time company, but Facebook’s ownership of it could still lead to increased exploitation down the road. Because the site is integrated into so many different apps and services already, it will provide Facebook with covert entrance’s into all of those platforms’ data.
As brought to the foreground in 2016’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook keeps an overabundance of data on each of its users. The site tracks and analogs everything we do, and that information does not remain confidential. Facebook sells it to other services, businesses, or even political assets, usually (but not always) for the sake of marketing.
With WhatsApp and Instagram already in house Giphy appears to be a bridge too far
With Giphy under the site’s control, Facebook’s data-mining efforts will overreach even farther. It will be able to access information from our Tweets, iMessages, Tinder matches, and even business correspondences via Slack. Evidently, the purchase entails a whole lot more than just the newfound ability to insert GIFs directly into our statuses.
click to see “Life After Google” and help Lynxotic and all independent bookstores.
The politicians against business mergers during the pandemic are by-and-large the same people who have been fighting Facebook for the past few years, demanding heightened security and increased regulations for big-tech across the board. Right now, the Department of Justice is planning antitrust charges for Google and many attorney generals are investigating Amazon for their monopolistic control over the market. If these cases prove successful, we might finally see some legislation passed to keep the long-unrestricted tech moguls in check.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has not yet commented directly on the Giphy acquisition, nor has he provided a public response to the “Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act” proposition. In typical Facebook fashion, all the website has really done to help in these trying times is create a new “hug” reaction icon. It’s a nice addition, but hardly makes up for the company’s clear manipulation of the present circumstances.
If there is one shred of good news amidst the purchase so far, it is that Giphy will thankfully not be removing their library of embarrassing Mark Zuckerberg GIFs. Moreover, we can also take solace in the fact that there are many more GIF-worthy Zuck moments to come.
Banks make final approval, official form, with schedule for documentation, lays out detailed requirements
The US treasury department, along with the SBA made the highly anticipated document and details available on Friday. The application, which can be downloaded from this link and printed, or filled out online, contains the requirements needed in order for the so called Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, recipients to apply for forgiveness under the program.
This release also clarifies the process whereby the borrower must fill out the form and provide any additional accompanying documentation. Once completed the borrower must submit the form and accompanying documents to the lending institution where they received the PPP funds. The lending bank will make the final decision to approve any forgiveness.
The 11 pages included in the file consist of the forgiveness application itself and instructions on how to fill it out. The application itself has two important schedules: Schedule A and the worksheet for Schedule A.
Key is the 60-day period which has been designated as the period within which the funds must be used, in order for the expenses to be forgivable. In some cases there can be, apparently, some flexibility regarding the date an expense was incurred, such as hours worked by employees, vs. the date those incurred expenses were paid, such as the scheduled payroll payment date or pay period closing date. The applicable dates, can in some cases, be the date the expenses were incurred, not paid, in case of discrepancies.
While some may find this application and the accompanying instructions more than sufficient, such as ongoing businesses that maintained employment and lease / mortgage payments, and already have a ratio to costs between them at 75% / 25% as prescribed in the original guidelines. Others, however, may have a more difficult time deciphering what exactly they can or can’t expect forgiveness for.
Though the release is a major step toward clarification, confusion still abounds in the details of the program and forgiveness eligibility
Articles are appearing online picking apart the confusion that may be caused by this initial attempt to clarify the process and set it into motion. The SBA has indicated that more guidance will be forthcoming.
One gripe being mentioned is the lack of narrative-based guidance, basically a verbal explanation for the various cases that could potentially arise and how they should be handled.
Many businesses had to furlough or fire employees due to lack of funds and then re-hire or re-activate them to comply with the SBA program, in particular wanting to be sure to qualify for forgiveness. This was an acute need in some situations, such as restaurants or other businesses that were required to close and deemed non-essential. In many of those cases the employees were paid not to work or to do minimal work while receiving a full paycheck.
Companies in that situation, even with full forgiveness granted, face a daunting, uphill battle to regain profitability or viable revenue streams to keep them running after the 60 days of funds has run out. The lingering effects of the pandemic and the lock-down and stay-at-home orders along with the general state of fear (well founded in many cases, it appears) create a situation where former levels of business revenue and activity may take a long time to regain.
This is not taking into account the economic after-effects and general depressed state of consumption being seen in current national published data.
While the SBA has taken a large and positive step forward with the release of this application and achieved some clarification of the process, much more help for struggling businesses will be needed as we emerge, slowly, from the coronavirus / covid-19 crisis.
Based on a 5 year extrapolation of the past into the future. Nope.
A recent “study” has been cited by a gaggle of digital media outlets. Featuring headlines such as “Jeff Bezos Could Be the World’s First Trillionaire, and the Overwhelming Response Is ‘Thanks I Hate It’ (Vice.com) and“Jeff Bezos could become world’s first trillionaire, and many people aren’t happy about it” (USA Today) and trending on twitter via the hashtag #bezostrillionaire and #RIPCapitalism.
The source of this nonsense projection appears to be a web site called “comparisun”, who are likely getting a lot of traffic from this, so congratulations.
Naturally, $150 billion of basically ill-gotten gains (more on that below) is enough to engender plenty of outrage, as it well should. The joke in this case is that this man’s net worth is almost as likely to be near zero in 5 years as to be a trillion dollars.
Why’s that you ask? The answers are endless and all true, but here are a random few. Jeff Bezos wealth is mainly based on Amazon’s share price. That is likely to continue to be the case. That price is currently at all time highs due to many factors but one factor that will not likely continue is the buying that “investors” are engaging in based on the idea the our future economy will consist of Amazon, Netflix and some medical companies that will profit off the coronavirus pandemic.
We all need to look hard at this.
— Madison Santel 🏊🏻♂️🌎🎭 (@santel_madison) May 15, 2020
Hmmm. How’s that likely to work out? Netflix has around 6,700 employees and are unlikely to hire the 20 million that just lost their jobs. Amazon has nearly a million workers but the vast majority are in terrible low paid jobs without bathroom breaks (allegedly).
Does that sound like an economy where stocks, even Amazon’s are likely to rise in price for 5 years straight? Nope. No jobs, no income, no prime .
The reality of the inner workings of his empire will one day be known. Midas touch terminated.
Digging deeper into the business model of the predatory monster from Seattle, there are also some difficult issues that will have to be faced. For example, it is a little known fact that nearly 60% of the income generated by the eCommerce site is based on fees charged to “marketplace sellers”. These sellers are so efficiently exploited that they are known to “source” new products from dumpsters in order to earn enough (after fees) to eat. To supplement what they eat out of those dumpsters, apparently. Don’t just read our article on this, try the Wall Street Journal article titled: “You Might Be Buying Trash on Amazon—Literally”.
And after the pleasure of that kind of “partnership” they are rewarded with zero job security and will be blamed for any and every problem, regardless if it is a small issue with a customer (all refunds and return postage are charged directly to the seller and is triggered at will by the host) or a P.R. problem (marketplace sellers are perfect scapegoats and weeding out the “bad apples” is the perfect cover, driving scrutiny away from the real issues).
Jeff Bezos is expected to become the 1st trillionaire as he consolidates the retail market during coronavirus.
Now Amazon is telling its workers (who have faced significant risk) that it'll be ending their hazard pay at the end of MAY!
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) May 13, 2020
The hatred for this system and the virtual impossibility to prosper has been growing steadily for years (ask Nike, Birkenstock or thousands of small companies driven out of business on a whim or tiny infraction by the behemoth) and will only grow. And then there’s the Gov. Both democrats and republicans have major issues with Bezos and his one man circus. Antitrust investigations are ongoing and not only in the US.
There are so many land mines waiting in the road ahead that that stock price has virtually no chance of rising, regardless of how many more competitors of the “grim reaper” are six feet under. Ironically, it is the lack of real competition, online or at the now soon-to-be-extinct shopping mall, that will focus even more of us on why this show needs to end, and soon, not expand at the obscene rate of the previous 5 years.
In a future dreamworld Bezos could have a trillion. In a better world he would be the one unemployed.
Some of the best books written on human behavior and finance
The economy is in a precarious situation right now, as you are no doubt well aware, stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic. Early March the stock market met with some unprecedented hits, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid to consecutive record percentage drops on the 9th, 12th, and 16th. Now, with many businesses remaining closed, or struggling to re-open, most consumers still forced to stay at home, with people living in near-panic, due to a well founded fear of infection, and many Americans are struggling to stay financially afloat.
At the very least throughout all of this, we have found more time to read books, and luckily, there are a few experts who have taken the time to write valuable and approachable texts on issues facing our convoluted global economic system. Here are five books that are worth turning to in these troubling times. While they might not be able to help us magically regain the stock market losses we’ve accumulated over the past few months, they can still give us some solace and understanding, with perspectives that could prevent something like this happening again. Perhaps even reveal ways to prosper in the coming phase II, Depression, Recession or Recovery.
Click to buy “Manias, Panics, and Crashes” and at the same time help Lynxotic and all Independent Local Bookstores
Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, Seventh Edition
By Robert Z Aliber and Charles P Kindleberger
Originally published in 1978, “Manias, Panics, and Crashes” has evolved a lot over the years. This most recent seventh edition has aged well with experience, witnessing and learning from some of the most significant stock market events to take place over the past forty years. Economist Robert Z Aliber, originally working with the late Charles P Kindleberger, takes a wholistic view of financial crashes, seeing them as predictable events in an unstable system. Bookshop calls the edition “an investment classic has been thoroughly revised and expanded following the latest crises to hit international markets”
Click to buy “Connectedness and Contagion” and at the same time help Lynxotic and all Independent Local Bookstores
Connectedness and Contagion: Protecting the Financial System from Panics
By Hal S Scott
In a move that seems almost prophetic given today’s situation, this 2016 book likens the financial system to a contagious disease. Partially a criticism of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, “Connectedness and Contagion” asserts that the government needs more control over Wall Street to limit creditors and prevent them from creating unethical, potentially dangerous situations. Harvard Law Professor Hal S Scott throughly researched this highly intellectual read, which Bookshop sums up as “an argument that contagion is the most significant risk facing the financial system and that Dodd¬Frank has reduced the government’s ability to respond effectively.” Sounds like prescience to us!
Click to buy “The Infinite Game” and at the same time help Lynxotic and all Independent Local Bookstores
The Infinite Game
By Simon Sinek
A more contemporary title, “The Infinite Game” was published in October 2019, and it likens global economics to an elaborate game with ever-changing players, fluid rules, and no predetermined endpoint or objective. Motivational speaker and writer Simon Sinek offers readers ideas on how to navigate such a game, for doing so certainly breaks from conventional goal-oriented mindsets. According to Sinek, the required cognitive state for “winning” involves remaining focused, but also adaptable, to attain longterm achievements. Bookshop calls it “a bold framework for leadership in today’s ever-changing world,” and a useful text for situations far beyond the stock market.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds
By Charles MacKay
Originally published in 1841 by Scottish poet Charles MacKay, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds” is a bona fide classic and a must on every economics zealot’s bookshelf. Although written at the height of Western modernity, MacKay’s book holds up to this day as a an early analysis of the intersections between economics and culture throughout history. Despite it sounding cliché, we can indeed learn lots about the present by looking to the past. Bookshop, selling a 2016 Createspace Independent Publishing Platform edition of the book, calls it “highly readable and accessible even today.”
Click to buy “Incerto (series)” and at the same time help Lynxotic and all Independent Local Bookstores
Incerto (series)
By Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“Incerto” is not one book, but four— “Fooled By Randomness,” “The Black Swan,” “The Bed Of Procrustes” and “Antifragile.” All penned by statistics essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb and respectively published in 2001, 2007, 2010 and 2012, the “Incerto” series is all about risk, error, and probability in our difficult-to-predict world. Taleb takes both contemporary and past events into account, mulling over abstract human illusion and myths as well as down-to-earth psychological, technological, and economic occurrences. As a whole, the series sheds light on many things that seem to be anomalies in our modern lives. Bookshop— which is selling the series in one, extended-edition collection— calls “Incerto” “a landmark” and a helpful map for “decision-making in a world we don’t understand.”
Universal Studios and AMC theater chain at war over a potential straight to video future.
Throughout the history of the movie theater business, it has often survived desperate times, successfully adapting and staying in business during the Great Depression, two World Wars, the rise of television as competition, and, so far, even the recent streaming boom. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the entertainment industry has likely met its match, and the exhibition sector is getting hit the hardest.
For the first time since the 1918 pandemic, when theaters in San Francisco alone lost $400,000 per week while closed in what we now call a “lock-down”, theaters across the globe are being forced to barricade their doors. Adhering to social distancing precautions, government officials and theater owners alike are barring the possibility of people gathering in close proximity at the cinema.
Clearly, averting these gatherings is the responsible thing to do during the coronavirus outbreak, but several weeks into the lockdown, many theater workers were struggling to make ends meet. Now, exhibitors are even losing the cooperation of studios.
Currently quarantines are being gradually phased out, with social distancing procedures being used for “non-essential” retail, restaurants and in some cases movie theaters in the first wave of relaxation. Next would be Schools, parks and other public gatherings. Later, in a third phase, concerts and sporting events would be sanctioned, assuming that there is no second wave of cases to cause a reversal back to strict lock-down quarantines again. That is, at this point a big “if” as some states are already should surges in the number of new cases.
Just as restaurants could face financial hardship if they must maintain 50% or even 30% capacity to adhere to social distancing guidelines, a half-empty theater is an anathema in the movie business and could kill off theatrical releases altogether if required for years.
Part of the reason why theater chains have been able to persevere for so long is because major Hollywood studios see the continuing economic value of putting a movie exclusively on the big screen for at least a few weeks. The theatergoing experience allows studios to profit off of ticket sales before making their products available on the far more modestly priced home video markets. At least, this is how the process has conventionally taken place.
If congregating for any reason is too dangerous it could render Hollywood theatrical releases virtually extinct
Now, with so many theaters closed, it makes almost no sense for movies to even attempt theatrical releases during the pandemic. For a few titles (mostly the flashiest blockbuster-style movies like “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Fast 9,” or “Black Widow”) studios have pushed back release dates, knowing that they will eventually turn a profit at the box office despite delays. However, for some more modestly budgeted movies, production companies have contemplated (and in some cases executed) forgoing theatrical runs altogether and releasing the movies straight to video on-demand.
Bypassing theatrical runs has obviously been a possibility for decades, and the perspective has gained significant momentum in the past few years as direct-to-streaming titles have gained legitimacy. If the practice became widespread, however, this would be a nightmare for the theater industry. Because the pandemic is likely to prevent public gatherings for months or even longer, the shift towards this business model is rapidly becoming unavoidable.
Most notably, Universal Studios recently released “Trolls: World Tour” in theaters and on-demand at the same time. To the shock of theater owners everywhere, the film has reportedly made over $50 million on-demand, perhaps exceeding box office expectations and proving that a movie can make huge profits while eschewing the box office and going straight to this direct-to-home-video model.
Universal’s choice to take this unconventional path with “Trolls” led to the studio butting heads with AMC Theaters. AMC President Adam Aron penned a scathing open letter to Universal’s Chairman, claiming, in a threat that sounds like a bluff, that the chain would never play another Universal movie in any of its theaters. That’s a bold claim considering that Universal releases all DreamWorks, “Fast & Furious,” and “Jurassic Park” titles, all of which would bring in major numbers for AMC.
Worst case scenario, however, AMC won’t even need to worry about this, for Universal amongst other studios will see the success of the direct-to-home-video model and replicate it, significantly decreasing, perhaps even nullifying theaters’ essentialness in the release process.
Other movies that were already out when theaters started closing such as Universal’s “The Invisible Man,” Warner Brother’s “Birds Of Prey,” and Pixar’s “Onward” were expedited to on-demand. They are all now on Amazon’s Prime Cinema platform, available for rent at the theater-ticket-like-price of $19.99. The cost is definitely higher than a standard rental, but when watching with the whole family, it is cheaper to view these movies at home than each individual paying for a separate movie theater ticket.
That is, if people could even choose go to the theaters when they wanted to take the risk.
The world is changing fast and it is unlikely if things will ever go back to “normal”
Despite the success of Prime Cinema rentals and “Trolls: World Tour” on-demand, studios cannot ignore the desperation and unique extremes of the times. People are in a vacuum and home entertainment is the only kind of entertainment available to them. If consumers had the option of going to the movies, perhaps the home-video model would not prove as successful.
Essentially, the entertainment industry is undergoing a massive non-consensual experiment, but the variables are erratic and irreplicable. There is no telling how these movies might’ve done at the box office if the box office still existed.
When theaters open up their doors again, studios might realize that people still appreciate going to the cinema and that continuing theatrical releases as usual is the only financially sensible option. Of course the level of fear that people will still feel, even after governments sound the “all clear”, is also an unknown.
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AMC and Cinemark both hope to have their doors open by mid-June or July. Meanwhile, the states of Georgia and Texas will be amongst the first states to allow theaters to continue business. Returning to normalcy will not be simple, though. Just because state governments allow theaters to reopen does not mean that they have to. Plus, many theaters will probably want to take precautions with their crowds, allowing a limited number of people in at a time. The movies themselves will also probably be in limited supply, as it wouldn’t make sense for a movie to get a theatrical release if theaters are only open in a couple states.
If theaters were open today, we would currently be entering a huge summer blockbuster season with “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Fast 9,” and “Black Widow” leading the charge alongside Disney’s “Mulan,” Pixar’s “Soul,” and Warner Brothers’ Christopher Nolan directed “Tenant.” Likewise, we’d be seeing a whole lot of indie content pushed up through the festivals such as South by Southwest and Cannes— the former getting cancelled back in March and the latter pending cancellation.
God forbid the need for precautionary measures is still as extreme through the end of the year, but if the entertainment industry in still in the same situation come winter, then the closures, cancellations, and postponements will collide with the Awards Season. Already the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has stated that a theatrical run is no longer a requirement for Oscar nominees, breaking down a barrier that has been a point of contention over the past few years. As of right now, it is unclear if this waived rule will remain in perpetuity after its adoption during this highly abnormal year.
Regardless, those who own and work in movie theaters remain on the edges of their collective seats. While nobody in the entertainment industry is currently in an ideal situation, the theaters are clearly the most vulnerable; and that threatens the survival of the most hallowed of hollywood traditions.
