AMC value about half of its skyrocketing value, says investor Trey Collins

One of AMC Entertainment’s most ardent retail investors is playing the long-game with the stock but foresees a return to Earth for the shares before the end of the year.

Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday morning, Trey Collins, 23-year-old host of the Trey’s Trades channel on YouTube, said he believes the fundamental value of AMC stock will be $20 to $25 a share at the end of 2021.

“I think most of the retail investors understand this is not the true fundamental value of AMC,” Collins said.

Shares of the company hit an all-time high this week, topping out at $72.62 before retreating. Shares of the company were up around 2% during intraday trading, last exchanging hands at around $52.

“Just because the stock market tells you exactly what every single security in the market is worth at that given moment, if there is someone out there willing to buy AMC stock trading at $47 … that means it’s worth $47,” he said. “The momentum trading aspect, even if it doesn’t necessarily reflect on the current earnings or future projected earnings, doesn’t mean there isn’t money to be made.”

Collins uses social media to document his investments in the stock market and has become the de facto mediator between AMC and its largest shareholder base, who call themselves apes. Collins has interviewed AMC CEO Adam Aron twice, including Thursday night, airing their conversations live on his 280,000-subscriber channel, many of whom are owners of AMC’s stock.

“Adam Aron is setting the bar for CEOs reaching out to retail investors and caring about what they’re asking for, what they’re looking for, what they care about, as well as watching the long-term health of the company,” Collins said.

Collins has used his platform to disseminate information about AMC’s stock in recent months and to decry short sellers who are betting against the company. Collins publicly states that he is not a financial advisor and warns his social media followers not to “blindly follow my financial decisions.”

AMC’s transition from mature company to meme stock came in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered the brand’s movie theaters and suspended income. As AMC fell behind on its rent, it scurried to raise money. With AMC on the brink of bankruptcy, short sellers swarmed in, doubting the company could weather the storm.

Thanks to AMC’s own fundraising and the apes driving up the company’s stock price, Aron was able to capitalize on the interest in the stock to raise more cash.

After selling hundreds of millions of shares in the last six months, AMC is asking its shareholders to issue 25 million more that it can dole out after 2021.

Aron reiterated Thursday during his interview with Collins that the company is looking at several acquisition opportunities, including buying ArcLight and Pacific theater locations that were shuttered during the pandemic, and would use funds raised through stock sales to do so.

He also said the cash could be used to pay down debt, reduce interest costs, or pay off millions in unpaid rent.

AMC has around 18% of its float shares sold short, versus about 5% for an average U.S. stock, according to data from S3 Partners. This week’s rally pushed short-sellers’ losses to more than $5 billion on the year, S3 data showed.

Shares of the company are up more than 2,300% since January.

CEOs Must Put together for Ransomware Assault Enhance: DOJ Officers

A senior Justice Department official warned Friday that US business leaders must do more to prepare for an onslaught of ransomware attacks by foreign states and criminal groups.

“The message has to be to viewers here, CEOs across the country, that they are seeing the exponential increase in these attacks,” said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General, CNBC’s Eamon Javers in her first television interview since joining the Justice Department in April .

Monaco, which has spearheaded the DOJ’s efforts to deter cyberattacks, said the recent high-profile hacks on the Colonial Pipeline and meat processing company JBS mirror the types of break-ins that happen every day.

“If you don’t take steps – today and now – to understand how to make your business more resilient, what is your plan?” Said Monaco, addressing business leaders. “If your chief security officer came to you today and said, ‘We’ve been hit, boss’, what’s your plan? You know, and does your chief security officer know the name and number of the FBI leader near you? Who cares about ransomware- Attacks? These are steps you must take now – today – to make yourself more resilient. “

Monaco, who was a homeland security adviser to former President Barack Obama, issued a memo to the country’s federal prosecutors on Thursday calling for the centralization of reporting of ransomware attacks. Shortly after joining the DOJ, she launched a 120-day review of the department’s cybersecurity challenges.

“What we are doing here at the Justice Department reflects the threat that ransomware poses to national and economic security,” Monaco said.

The two most recently published attacks against Colonial Pipeline and JBS have been linked to criminal groups in Russia. Monaco declined to speculate on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin, a U.S. opponent, played a role in the debilitating raids.

“We know that the recent attacks against JBS Foods and Colonial Pipeline have actually been linked to criminal actors, criminal groups known to law enforcement and ties to Russia, and these are attackers who have already struck, it reflects one persistent threat, “said Monaco.

“Today, Eamon, businesses are actually being attacked by ransomware attacks, from malicious cyber attackers, whether they are criminals, nation-states or what we call a” mixed threat “of both,” she added.

JBS, the world’s largest meat packer, was hit by a cyberattack on Monday that affected its operations in North America. As of Tuesday, the company said it had made significant strides in restoring the internet, but did not disclose whether it paid a ransom.

Monaco said it doesn’t know if the company paid a ransom. But she said, “I think we need to know” when companies are paying in response to attacks. Investigators, including the FBI, must be able to “follow up on that money,” she said, noting that it is often paid for in cryptocurrency.

Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount said his company paid a ransom of $ 4.4 million in bitcoin to DarkSide, the criminal group behind the attack. DarkSide self-closed in May but had reportedly received $ 90 million in bitcoin ransom payments.

“The use of cryptocurrency can of course have many good applications, but we have to be aware of the abuse, the abuse of criminal actors in this area,” said Monaco. “So we need both the exchanges and the companies that are going to work with them to really work with the FBI.”

Monaco also said it was vital for companies – especially those that are publicly traded – to disclose when they have been hit by ransomware attacks.

“It is important for the public to understand the steps companies are taking to make themselves more resilient,” she said.

Also on Friday, the FBI released a statement on the recent ransomware attacks, calling its investigation “top priority”.

“The FBI has a long history of addressing unique cyberspace challenges and of imposing risks and ramifications on our nation’s cyber adversaries,” it said. “Thanks to trusting relationships with our partners from the private sector, we are indispensable in the fight against cyberattacks.”

Eating places flip to on-demand hiring apps through the labor squeeze

Chef Matt Bolus

Source: Kelli LaMatia

Like many restaurant owners, Matt Bolus, executive chef of The 404 Kitchen in Nashville, had to get creative when the city shut down due to Covid-19 mandates last spring.

He kept some of his core staff busy by cooking meals for the local food bank, private dinners and other opportunities to pay the bills. 

“You were just truly grabbing at every straw you could because you didn’t know when the end was,” he said. 

As the city opened back up and mandates vanished, Bolus saw an influx of guests returning to the restaurant. But now he faces a huge challenge: staffing the kitchen to meet rising demand. 

“The labor pool is still, unfortunately, more of a labor puddle,” he said.  

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The pandemic gutted the hospitality industry, which shed 2.5 million jobs in 2020, the National Restaurant Association reported.

Although restaurants have added jobs in 2021, the unemployment rate for restaurant workers is still above the national average. But despite the jobless rates in hospitality, many restaurants are still stretched to find workers.

Almost half of establishments are operating with 20% less staff than usual, the National Restaurant Association found.

Moreover, accommodations and food service job openings spiked to nearly 1 million in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While there have been debates over the prolonged restaurant worker shortages, some point to the enhanced unemployment benefits. 

“If you talk to any restaurateurs, they will tell you that a lot of their workforce is making more money with the stimulus to stay home,” said Jean Chick, U.S. restaurant and food service leader at Deloitte in Chicago.

But others blame systemic issues that have plagued the restaurant industry for years.

“The places that want to continue the old model of no benefits, low wages and poor working conditions are having the most trouble bringing in staff,” said Teofilo Reyes, chief program officer at Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a non-profit advocating for restaurant workers.

Leaving the industry

While the pandemic heightened staffing issues, restaurant worker shortages were a problem before Covid, Bolus said.

In Nashville, restaurateurs grappled with stiff competition for talent as the city welcomed a surge of new establishments. There were 112 new restaurants, bars or cafes in 2019, the third consecutive year of more than100 openings, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.  

“In the 26 years that I’ve been doing this, it might have been the roughest two-year patch that I’ve seen for hiring,” Bolus said.

Nashville isn’t the only city that coped with a tight hospitality labor market pre-pandemic. 

“We’ve been in what the press has called a ‘hospitality staffing crisis’ for over a decade,” said Ben Ellsworth, founder and CEO at GigPro, an on-demand hiring app based in Charleston, South Carolina. 

After wrestling with worker shortfalls for years, Charleston restaurants veered to layoffs last March, cutting 65% of the city’s 28,000 restaurant workers by mid-April 2020, according to estimates from the College of Charleston.

As workers scrambled to pay the bills, many looked for jobs elsewhere. Some employees found higher-paying jobs with landscaping or construction companies, Ellsworth said.

Pre-pandemic, experienced line cooks in Charleston were making $15 or $16 per hour. With one-bedroom apartments renting for more than $1,000 per month in the area, it’s easy to see why some workers have left the industry, he said.

Health risks have also impacted the shortage, as many workers haven’t felt safe returning to work, said William Dissen, executive chef and owner of Haymaker in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Restaurant workers, especially those working in a small kitchen, have been vulnerable during the pandemic. Line cooks may have been among the highest for worker mortality from March to October 2020, a study from the University of California, San Francisco found.

Since reopening back to 75% and 100%, we’ve really had difficulty. I put ads out almost every day.

William Dissen

executive chef and restaurateur

After mass layoffs nationwide, burnt-out restaurant workers may have taken the opportunity to pursue other career options, Ellsworth said.

More than one-quarter of kitchen workers have permanently left the industry, according to a survey of 2,000 line cooks from staffing firm Mis en Place. Some workers cited relatively low pay and long hours as reasons for leaving.

However, one-third of those surveyed say they plan to return but haven’t yet for various reasons, including looking for the right opportunity (20%), Covid concerns (7%) and unemployment benefits or stimulus checks (6%).

On-demand hiring apps

Although North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper recently lifted restrictions, many operators have failed to staff restaurants to full capacity, said Dissen, who also owns The Market Place in Asheville, North Carolina, and Billy D’s Fried Chicken in Asheboro, North Carolina.

Restaurateurs often turn to Craigslist to find workers, but lately, there hasn’t been sufficient response to meet rising demand, he said.

“Since reopening back to 75% and 100%, we’ve really had difficulty,” Dissen said. “I put ads out almost every day.”

As the industry continues to battle increased worker shortages, Dissen has turned to GigPro, an on-demand hiring app, to fill temporary needs, such as line cooks or dishwashers.

“It has really been just amazing for our business [in Charlotte] to be able to fill the gaps when we need it,” he said.

Managers may offer higher pay for last-minute workers. For example, if a dishwasher’s typical hourly rate is in the $15 per hour range, they may offer to pay $20 per hour on GigPro, Dissen said. 

“I’ve literally filled gigs at our restaurant within 5 minutes of posting,” he said.

The app also allows managers and workers to try a shift together before taking the plunge with employment, said Bolus, who has hired a handful of staff from the app.

“They’ve got a chance to shine or they’ve got a chance to leave,” he said.

Downsides of on-demand hiring apps

Worker advocates say there may be some drawbacks to on-demand hiring apps, however.

“The biggest downside is that you’re going to be treated as an independent contractor,” Reyes said. “This means you’re not subject to the few labor protections that we have under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Another potential shortfall may be the increased risk of race or gender discrimination based on the worker’s profile pictures in the app, he said. 

“I think this is definitely something to monitor,” Reyes said.

I think these kinds of applications are just starting and I think they’re possibly going to revolutionize how we all work.

Matt Bolus

Executive chef of The 404 Kitchen

A ‘reckoning’ in the restaurant industry 

Still, some restaurateurs say changes to the hiring and recruiting process may be a good thing. 

“I think these kinds of applications are just starting and I think they’re possibly going to revolutionize how we all work,” said Bolus.

Another trend in the hiring process is offering applicants money to show up for interviews, said Chick.

“They’re saying, ‘we will actually give you $50 cash to show up for the interview,’ and then the onus is on the owner of the restaurant to sell them on taking the position,” she said.

As hiring managers test new recruiting strategies, some have noticed a shift in the dynamic between owners and workers. 

“I think there’s been kind of a reckoning in the restaurant industry,” said Dissen.

As restaurants examine operations, there may be some steps to try and “level the playing field” between owners and employees, he said.

But it will look different for every restaurant, depending on long-term debt, products sold and how much they pay employees, he admits.

“I think it’s a lot of deep questions and maybe sleepless nights to try and figure out what the answer is,” Dissen said. “But I think that’s how you stay viable for the future.”

Mark Wahlberg Pays Tribute to Late Mother Alma on His 50th Birthday

Mark Wahlberg is remembering his late mother Alma Wahlberg on his 50th birthday. 

The Fighter star took to Instagram on June 5 to share a sweet throwback photo of himself and his mom, who died in April at 78 following a battle with dementia. He captioned the pic, “Miss you.” 

Mark’s followers sent love his way in the comments section. One wrote, “Forever in your heart!” Another added, “She was an original for sure!”

The actor, who is Alma’s youngest child of nine, previously shared an Instagram tribute to his mom shortly after her death. “My angel,” Mark wrote alongside a photo of a smiling Alma at the time. “Rest in peace.”

He also shared a sweet note to his mom in May, during the first Mother’s Day the family celebrated without the matriarch. He posted a photo of himself, his wife Rhea Durham and Alma along with the caption, “Happy Mother’s Day. What would I be without these two. Miss you mom. love you babe. to all the moms, thank you.”

Theranos is historical past, however massive blood check breakthroughs are imminent

Medical researchers say that within a few years there will be major breakthroughs in blood testing technology that uses immune system response and genetic analysis to identify disease quickly and cheaply.

Image Alliance | Image Alliance | Getty Images

One morning in May last year, Tayah Fernandes’ mother, Shannon, found that her four-year-old daughter was seriously ill and took her to the nearest emergency room in Manchester, England. The coronavirus had crashed on Britain’s coasts weeks earlier, and emergency doctors were initially unsure how best to treat Tayah’s constellation of symptoms, which included abdominal pain and a bright red rash.

They gave her antibiotics for a suspected bacterial infection, but her condition only worsened, her fever rose. For her parents, for all parents, this was the ultimate medical nightmare; For days, doctors grope in the dark about the cause of their daughter’s illness.

Eventually, after further blood tests, doctors decided that Tayah had an unusual inflammatory syndrome that pediatric infectious disease specialists had just discovered, but which were believed to have links to Sars-COV-2.

Young patients across the UK and US arrived in intensive care units with symptoms similar to another disease that doctors have already recognized called Kawasaki. But they had no guarantee that the same treatment – injecting a solution of donor antibodies into the bloodstream – would be successful.

In Tayah’s case, the antibody solution known as immunoglobulin worked to provide relief to her parents. But around the same time last May, a team of researchers at Imperial College London, through complex analyzes of blood samples from patients like Tayah, confirmed that it was indeed a new disease, different from Kawasaki.

Hunt within the immune system’s response to bacteria, viruses

A related breakthrough in the same lab, specifically focused on individual gene behavior, could have seismic ramifications on a billion dollar diagnostics sector that has received unprecedented attention from patients, regulators, and the business community over the course of this pandemic.

A new way of identifying a particular disease from blood samples relies on the correlation between the activity of a small group of genes that make up the immune response and certain pathogens that cause a particular disease – just as the poliovirus causes polio, the coronavirus (SARS. ). -COV-2, a pathogen) causes Covid-19. Scientists believe that by examining a small number of genes, they can quickly identify what pathogen is in a patient’s system, what disease they have, and how best to treat them.

Companies, from small spin-offs from research universities to industry giants like Abbott Laboratories and Danaher’s Cepheid, want to build on two decades of research into how our own immune systems naturally react to foreign substances in our bodies, including pathogens like bacteria and viruses. A current technology like Cepheid’s GeneXpert technology is able to differentiate between the different RNA of different viruses like SARS-COV-2 or a certain strain of influenza, but experts are saying more and more clearly that our body’s immune system can be faster , more accurate detection systems.

In the past, doctors had to rely on a patient’s medical history and symptoms to narrow down the cause of a disease and develop a treatment plan. More recently, molecular-level laboratory studies like Cepheid technology have enabled clinicians to identify certain pathogens in nasal mucus, throat swabs, or blood samples that could have caused a disease. But searching for bacteria or viruses this way can be time-consuming, costly, and sometimes simply ineffective. The specific RNA signature of a virus can be difficult to identify.

Abbott and Cepheid did not respond to requests for comment.

More of CNBC’s healthy returns

The team at Imperial College, London, which works separately but simultaneously with several colleagues around the world, is now convinced that future diagnoses can soon be carried out with table tests that will only take a few minutes.

These tests would not look explicitly for a specific pathogen, but instead would allow scientists and medical professionals to simply observe how certain genes behave in the body, as an indication of how an immune system is already reacting to a pathogen that may otherwise not be easily recognized is more detectable.

Imperial College Professor Mike Levin is currently leading an ongoing European Union funded study entitled “Diamonds” that focuses on this potential. In recent years he and other scientists have shown how the observed activity in a small number of our genes can function as a kind of shortcut for our body’s immune response to a pathogen. When a handful of certain genes out of the thousands in a blood sample are activated – or, on the contrary, inhibited – it can indicate that a person is preparing to fight off a particular pathogen.

We think this is a completely revolutionary way of medical diagnosis.

Imperial College Professor Mike Levin

Levin and colleagues already have a proof of concept for this diagnostic approach after studying thousands of patients with tuberculosis fever and hundreds of Kawasaki patients. And his Imperial College team’s work on the Diamonds study is starting to bear fruit and could help identify the diverse immunological markers of diseases such as coronavirus-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children like Tayah Fernandes, now commonly known as MIS -C. To identify.

When Covid-19 surfaced in multiple locations, with MIS-C in its wake, it provided Levin and his researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to test this technique on an entirely new disease.

In the future, these tests – by relying on huge amounts of data and machine learning – should be able to produce multi-class, rather than just binary, results. This not only enables them to determine whether a pathogen is bacterial or viral, or whether or not someone has a certain disease, but also to distinguish which of a variety of diseases affects their patients.

In short, Levin expects that by studying the behavior of a relatively small number of genes, clinicians will be able to assign patients to all major disease classes within an hour.

“We think this is a completely revolutionary way of medical diagnosis,” said Levin. He expects research to provide the basis for new technologies, but has no financial interest in any related business.

Rather than what he calls the “step-by-step process” of first clearing bacterial infections, treating the most common conditions, and then doing further research, “this idea is the very first blood test that can tell you whether the patient has an infection or not “. an infection, and which infection group it is, down to the individual pathogens. “

Purvesh Khatri, Associate Professor at the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection and Department of Medicine, says that our immune systems have been evolving for millennia to fight pathogens, and therefore, it could prove to be more effective and efficient in the response of our bodies .

“We didn’t have a technology that could measure a number of genes quickly at the point of care,” he said. “But there has been enough technology in the last few years that we can now measure some genes in a rapid multiplex point-of-care assay.”

Although neither the FDA nor any European regulator has approved these type of gene-based pathogen detection systems, Khatri, who is helping set up a related commercial company, says they are coming soon. “There will be more than one coming out in the next year or two.”

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Path Blazers are going through growing issues after being eradicated from the playoffs and altering coach

Damian Lillard # 0 of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots against Paul Millsap # 4 of the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter in Round 1, Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center on June 03, 2021 in Portland, Oregon.

Steph Chambers | Getty Images

It all happened so quickly and is another example of how quickly business can change with a National Basketball Association franchise.

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games and crowned their NBA playoff series with an 11-point win on Thursday. The Blazers failed to defend a 14-point lead in the second half and had a miserable fourth quarter. TV cameras captured the scene where franchise star Damian Lillard breaks into a dark tunnel at the Moda Center in Portland.

An Instagram post from Lillard seemed to ask how long he should be loyal to the only team he played for in his nine-year career. He made it clear to the media that the team had to improve.

“We didn’t win a championship so obviously it’s not good enough where we are now,” Lillard told reporters after the defeat. Less than 24 hours later, head coach Terry Stotts, who fell to 23:44 in the playoffs, paid the price. Lillard quickly informed a handful of the media, including Yahoo Sports, of his preference – Jason Kidd.

It’s the fourth time in five years that the team hasn’t left the first round of the NBA playoffs. When public messages about the future emerge, consumers and corporate partners should ask themselves: What’s wrong with the Blazers?

The roster takes a lot of work and the property – Paul Allen’s estate – is under pressure to make changes. The top basketball manager Neil Olshey remains until now with the task of raising the $ 1.9 billion. He has to do it quickly.

Satisfy the superstar

Lillard is one of the most dynamic stars in the NBA. He is heavily supported off the pitch, with Adidas and Hulu among his top sponsors. He is known throughout the league for his clutch performance, often referred to as “Dame Time”.

Against the Nuggets, he averaged the best 34.5 points of his career and created a statistic for age in Game 5, scoring 55 points and making 12 of 17 three-point shots. Nevertheless, the team lost in double overtime.

Lillard made $ 31 million this season. That’ll climb to $ 39 million next season, thanks to a four-year, $ 196 million extension signed in 2019. The contract keeps Lillard locked until 2025.

But the six-time all-star will be 31 years old in July. The agonizing injuries have begun and the window to victory with Lillard is closing. Olshey has given opposing teams no indication that he is ready to trade Lillard.

Lillard and his agent Aaron Goodwin could easily change that tone, however. A person close to Lillard told CNBC that he’ll likely wait and see what the Blazers do this off-season before deciding on his future.

A rival NBA agent who was in a similar situation with a star player said Lillard could first assess how serious it was about winning. The willingness of the Blazers to pay the luxury taxes associated with high fines also plays a role.

But according to his public comments, which Kidd solicited, the signs suggest Lillard wants to stay.

Who will be the new coach?

Kidd is currently an assistant coach with the Lakers, who won the championship last year. He has head coaching experience and a title as a player from his time in Dallas. He would bring credibility to the locker room and will be in touch with Lillard immediately as both are Oakland natives.

The thing is, can Olshey trust Kidd? If this is Olshey’s last coaching appointment before he is gone, can he count on Kidd to respect the organizational structure?

Kidd is commended for his work with the Lakers, and the talk is that he’s grown up. But his history as head coach in the NBA isn’t the nicest. He struggled with management in Brooklyn, was criticized for taking the helm in Milwaukee. Another well-respected trainer, Larry Drew, was on duty when Kidd was maneuvering to get there.

Chauncey Billups is another option.

Olshey would immediately trust Billups as he built a strong relationship with the former Detroit Pistons point guard while they were with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2011-12 season. Billups is now an assistant to the Clippers and active in NBA circles. He is involved in a point guards-powered gamer group discussing basketball concepts and is connected to NBA powerbooker Rich Paul, who added Billups’ agent Andy Miller to his sports group.

Other names like ESPN NBA analyst and former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy have also emerged. The name of Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni has also been promoted, but with his history as coaching non-defensive teams, he could be a big seller to the fan base.

The Blazers did not return a request for comment when contacted by CNBC.

But should he grant his coaching request, Lillard would still have to see the Blazers take steps to upgrade the squad that was among the worst in the league in defense. A top asset like Guardian CJ McCollum could make a healthy return. McCollum will earn $ 30 million next season, part of a three-year extension.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been cited as a possible target for McCollum. The San Antonio Spurs like McCollum, but his name hasn’t gained prominence in their trading scenarios. A Western Conference executive suggested that the Clippers would deal with Paul George this summer if the team failed to live up to expectations. Hence a possible McCollum for the Clippers package. And if Miami can’t lure a Lillard deal, McCollum could be an option there too.

“It’s disappointing to come up short in the first round and to end our season in our home game,” Lillard told reporters after the loss to the Nuggets. Speaking about his future, he added: “We’ll see what happens. I didn’t think that far.”

Portland Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Oshley looks on during a game between the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs at the Moda Center on February 06, 2020 in Portland, Oregon.

Abbie Parr | Getty Images

Olshey’s future seems secure for the time being

By the time Stotts left, the uncertainty about the future of the Blazers went all the way up.

Chris McGowan is CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, which operates the Blazers and Seattle Seahawks. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, died in 2018 and his sister Jody now has the last word. Olshey only reported to Allen when it came to basketball decisions. But this picture is more murky now.

Olshey is seen as a solid leader who went out of his way to work within the team’s budget and make a good squad around Lillard. And he’s been instrumental in keeping the franchise stable after former franchise star LaMarcus Aldridge left in 2015.

Bert Kolde, vice chairman of the Blazers and Seahawks, was mentioned both locally and by a former team member as the person who could fit in as the loud voice on future basketball affairs. What Kolde knows about hiring basketball executives is unclear. But Olshey’s name was in the announcement that he was parting with Stotts, so he appears to be getting another chance to direct basketball operations.

On the business side, McGowan doesn’t want the pressure to lose Lillard either.

When rebuilding takes place, a team loses influence in negotiating corporate partnerships. The Blazers will navigate a new regional sports network partner moving from NBC Sports Northwest to AT&T Root Sports. Sales problems have preoccupied the team for years and have cost the audience’s reach. But getting a new local TV deal without a superstar isn’t ideal.

Lillard is a huge financial drawback and losing him could be devastating. There would likely be fewer televised games nationwide. This is where the team’s jersey patch asset could take a hit, as lower exposure makes these real estate advertisements less attractive.

The good news for the Trail Blazers is that Portland has a proven record of having a loyal following. It was the city’s first major sports team, followed by the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer and Thorns FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Since 2007, the Blazers have been in the top 10 NBA attendees. The team was fifth, according to ESPN’s NBA attendance, in 2020 before the pandemic broke out. According to Forbes, the team has annual sales of more than $ 240 million.

The value of Lillard is no secret to management. A team leader who asked not to be named so he could speak openly told CNBC that Lillard’s departure poses the greatest risk to the franchise’s depreciation.

The board added that the team, as it is currently set up, is clearly not good enough to win a title. Regardless of who was to blame, the person said big changes needed to be made.

Stotts was the first step. Now fans, corporate partners, and the rest of the NBA are waiting to see what happens next in Portland. And especially if Lillard’s loyalty keeps the Blazers’ business from collapsing.

CLOCK: How Air Jordan built a $ 3.6 billion sneaker empire

El Salvador goals to be the primary nation to introduce Bitcoin as authorized tender

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, will address the Congress at the Legislative Assembly building in San Salvador, El Salvador on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Photographer: Camilo Freedman / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

MIAMI – El Salvador wants to introduce a law that will make it the world’s first sovereign nation to introduce Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar.

In a video broadcast on Bitcoin 2021, a multi-day conference in Miami considered the largest Bitcoin event in history, President Nayib Bukele announced El Salvador’s partnership with the digital wallet company Strike to power the country’s modern financial infrastructure with Bitcoin Build technology.

“Next week I’m going to send a bill to Congress that will make Bitcoin legal tender,” said Bukele.

Jack Mallers, founder of the Lightning Network payment platform Strike, said this will be considered “the world’s most hearing shot for Bitcoin”.

“What is transformative here is that Bitcoin is both the largest reserve asset ever created and a superior currency network. Holding bitcoin provides a way to protect developing economies from potential shocks from fiat currency inflation, ”Mallers continued.

From the main stage, Mallers said the move will help unlock the power and potential of Bitcoin for everyday use cases in an open network that will benefit individuals, businesses and public sector services.

El Salvador is a largely cashless economy, with around 70% of people without bank accounts or credit cards. Remittances or the money sent home by migrants account for more than 20% of El Salvador’s gross domestic product. The established services may charge 10% or more fees for these international transfers, which can sometimes take days to arrive and which sometimes require physical collection.

Bitcoin is not backed by any asset, nor does it have the full trust and support of any single government. Its value stems in part from the fact that it is digitally scarce; There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins.

While details of how the rollout will work are pending, CNBC is told that El Salvador has assembled a team of Bitcoin executives to help build a new financial ecosystem with Bitcoin as the base tier.

Bukele’s New Ideas party is in control of the country’s legislative assembly, so the bill is very likely to pass.

“It was inevitable, but here it was: the first country on the way to establishing Bitcoin as legal tender,” said Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream.

Back said he plans to contribute technologies like Liquid and satellite infrastructure to make El Salvador a model for the world.

“We are excited to support El Salvador on its journey to adopting the Bitcoin standard,” he said.

This isn’t El Salvador’s first step in Bitcoin. In March, Strike launched its mobile payment app there, which quickly became the number one downloaded app in the country.

Bukele was very popular with its populist New Ideas party, which won the last election. However, the new congregation recently came under fire after removing the attorney general and chief judges. The move prompted the US Agency for International Development to call for help from the El Salvador national police and a public information institute and instead divert funds to civil society groups.

Megan Thee Stallion’s Boo Pardison Fontaine Lets It Be Identified How He Feels About Her—“I Actually Love My Woman”

Megan Thee Stallion and Pardison Fontaine

Roommates, Megan Thee Stallion is not only enjoying an impressive string of professional success, she is also winning in her love life courtesy of her boyfriend Pardison Fontaine. In a recent post on social media, Pardi didn’t hold back regarding his feelings for head hottie-in-charge Megan Thee Stallion—as he gave fans a little insight into how much he “loves” her.

In the world of hip hop, many men choose to take the seemingly cool approach and frequently downplay their relationships, however that doesn’t include Pardison Fontaine, who never misses an opportunity to inform the world how in love he is with Megan Thee Stallion.

In his latest show of love an affection, he took to Twitter and wrote, “I really love my girl…I know n***as who be iffy on they girl…that s**t gotta be a**.” He also shared a video of the two, who are currently on vacation, all hugged up and shooting for the new title of #CoupleGoals.

As we previously reported, back in April Megan also publicly spoke about her relationship with Pardi on social media, specifically how he showed her what true love is:

“Pardi really showed me what it’s like to respect your partner … bc i used to be talking to people CRAZYYYY. My boyfriend let’s me be me bc he confident I ain’t going no where … I like that.”

She added a bit more and dropped a potential bombshell regarding #HotGirlSummer 2021activities, writing “Hot girl summer …but my man coming to pick me up after.”

 

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United would require new workers to affix Delta. Present proof of the Covid vaccine

A United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER is towed while an American Airlines Boeing 737 departs from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois.

Kamil Krzaczynski | Reuters

Starting this month, following a similar move by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines will require new employees to provide evidence that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The new rule requires outside applicants with job vacancies submitted after June 15 to confirm that they are fully vaccinated by their start date, the Chicago-based airline said.

The move comes as companies grapple with the question of whether to vaccinate their employees or find a way to incentivize vaccination. United, Delta, and American have offered vaccinated employees additional time off or pay. Big employers like Walmart have taken similar measures.

“As we welcome new employees to the company, it is important that we convey United’s strong commitment to safety,” the airline said in a message to the employees.

The new employees “have to upload their COVID vaccination card to My Info no later than 7 days after the hiring date,” said the airline. The company added that it will evaluate any religious or medical circumstances of candidates who cannot be vaccinated.

United CEO Scott Kirby said in January that he wanted to make Covid vaccines mandatory for employees, but the airline hasn’t taken that step.

Airlines have spent much of the last year downsizing, but airlines like United have announced that they will resume hiring pilots and other positions when travel demand picks up again.

How Donald Trump’s Smallness Is Fueling the GOP’s Grandiose Grasp Plan

Republicans these days tend to complain about “woke” culture, referring pejoratively to an increasing attention to, awareness of, and concern about abiding injustices and inequities that have long structured American society.

Apparently, advocating for Black lives, believing transgender people deserve civil rights, or decrying and resisting assaults on American democracy in favor of minority rule somehow constitute unwelcome assaults on what Senator Marco Rubio (R-FLA) calls “traditional values.”  Indeed, Rubio went so far as to pen recently an open letter to “woke corporate America,” threatening them with the elimination of corporate tax cuts if they didn’t stop meddling in politics by expressing opposition to the scads of voter suppression bills on state legislative dockets around the nation.

No doubt Donald Trump’s brash racism and unapologetic authoritarianism have emboldened Republicans in voicing such brazen and overt complaints about people and entities wielding power to participate in democracy and to advocate for the protection of civil rights for all, the cornerstone of democracy. 

It would be wrong, however, to see Trump as the source or chief promoter of this autocratic assault on democracy and civil rights.

He may have emboldened and enabled Republicans to speak more loudly, but we should be clear that Republicans have embraced Trump and in many ways used him to attempt to advance their long-standing master plan of implementing a permanent Republican majority, which translates to an anti-democratic minority rule that in no way represents the will of the American people.

At least as far back as 1994, members of the Republican Party gave voice to their ambitious desire for a permanent majority. In that year, then-Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX) foresaw a re-alignment that made possible this permanent majority, as did Tom DeLay in 2004. Republican operative Karl Rove, of course, fantasized that George W. Bush’s election to president would usher in such a majority.

In 2014, after another Republican election wave, Rep. Greg Walden proclaimed with similar delusions of grandeur, “We’re as back to a majority as any of us have seen in our lifetimes. It may be a hundred-year majority.”

And let’s be clear: Republicans weren’t achieving these majorities because they represented the will of a majority of the American electorate.  George W. Bush, of course, was elected with a minority of the popular vote. They were even then, as I wrote recently in the pages of PoliticusUsa, gaining seats through gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts that positioned them to win a majority of seats with a minority of votes.

Steve Benen’s analysis of what he calls Walden’s “hubris” back in 2014, really underscores the similarities between the characters of the Republican Party before Trump and what it reeks of now.

Responding to Walden’s delusion of a “hundred-year majority,” Benen writes:

Got that? The Republican Party may be unpopular, and its ideas may lack public support, and it may not have a real policy agenda to speak of, but its leaders are nevertheless comfortable remaining in the majority — until 2114.

Benen’s compelling analysis suggests that today’s GOP is more identical to, rather than a distortion of, the supposedly sane pre-Trump GOP we hear some commentators and so-called establishment Republicans pine for.  Today we see the GOP refuse to support policy proposals of the Biden administration that polls indicate are very popular with Americans. But the GOP was not listening to or caring about the majority of Americans then either.

Paul Abrams, in a 2011 piece in the Huffington Post, argues that the GOP’s tendency to work against the interests and health of Americans far precedes Trumpism. Let’s take his analysis of Karl Rove, which begins looking at Rove’s role in American life before entering politics proper, raising the question:

What about Karl Rove, a man who had an early career job with Brown & Williamson tobacco company, learning how to sell something that no one, rationally, would buy, and being comfortable knowing that he was helping recruit 5000 children per week to start a life habit of smoking?

Similarly, in Abrams’ analysis, Rove’s goal was to finagle a Republican majority that had little to do with respecting the rules of a democratic system that operated to represent the interests of the people, as he writes:

Rove’s vision for a permanent Republican majority had little to do with winning properly run elections for the simple reason that there IS no Republican majority in free elections, and Rove knows that. To get a Republican majority and make it permanent, therefore, he had to 1) gain power; and 2) destroy the vitality of democratic institutions. He accomplished (1).

Rove’s game plan, as Abrams identified it then, is precisely what’s being played out today. Republican state legislatures are actively engaged in suppressing the vote and trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The difference now is Trump’s dangerous psychology that combines a severely narcissistic personality with clearly deep-seated insecurities that make him require constant adulation and make it impossible for him to admit he did not win an election.

In other words, Trump’s overwhelming psychological disturbances, which make him a mean and small person, so self-centered as to have a personality disorder that makes him grossly incompatible with democracy itself.

His particular psychology made him the perfect candidate to attempt to realize the Republican will of anti-democratic minority rule.

Previously, Republicans, their actual practices aside, seemed constrained the by the need to show some deference for democratic norms.

Trump’s narcissism and his obvious belief that rules don’t apply to him have exploded that fragile constraint.

His psychological profile, and his smallness, have meshed perfectly with the grandiose historical agenda of the Republican Party.

His belief that he is still president, or entitled to the presidency, is simply the most honest and overt expression Republican ideology.

Tim Libretti is a professor of U.S. literature and culture at a state university in Chicago. A long-time progressive voice, he has published many academic and journalistic articles on culture, class, race, gender, and politics, for which he has received awards from the Working Class Studies Association, the International Labor Communications Association, the National Federation of Press Women, and the Illinois Woman’s Press Association.