Monthly Archives: January 2024

Starbucks starts cup collection for Black History Month

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Starbucks has released new designs in celebration of black history month. Starbucks is celebrating Black History Month with its a collection of cups from Artist Damon Brown.

Brown’s work is the coffee chain Artists collaboration series with celebrates the unique stories of artists from the world. Versatile artists have use their creativity to amplify even like Pride Month this year marks the first designs for the Black community.

The latest cups and tumblers will be available across Starbucks locations in the Canada and U.S.starting Jan.30. The coffee giant continues to help Black organization like African American Mayors Association and NAACP.

Brown first worked on a Starbucks location in Seattle. His work was featured in poster commemorating the coffee shops 50th anniversary, bringing back the siren logo. This design will give joy to customers.

Brown added ” An international play on the classic color palette of red, green and black you may see in Black art or during Black History Month to make it purposeful.

“My goal for this collection was for it not to feel that its one month only but taking it farther and give you something more artistic that can be enjoyed and celebrated beyond February when it should be every day for us”.

Starbucks cups are always a good thing thanks to its Artists Collaboration Series the Coffee chain has been putting out some truly unique drinkware that collectors are going to desire to get their hands on.

Starbucks has used the series to highlight pride month artists from the Latin American Community and Alaskan natives. Now as we move into Black History Month Starbucks is turning its attention toward raising Black voices.

The Starbucks collection will feature 3 various pieces of drinkware, labeled with Brown brand name Creative Lou. The three cups feature a color scheme of pale blues, greens with cream, designs of moving Black figures and abstract shapes.

An international play on classic color palette of green, black and red that you may see represented in Black art or during Black History Month.Two of three cups will be 24 ounce cold cups with other being a 16 ounce stainless steel tumbler. The collection will be available for sales starting Jan 30 at participating Starbucks in the Canada and U.S.

50 Must Read New Books by Black Authors

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It is only a days until Black History Month. There is a list of 100 Essential New Works of Fiction by Black Authors to assist build your TBR for February. This list is only fiction including short stories and novels. This is a superb start to adding more Black authors into your reading.

These books range from this year to 10 years before and include modern classic as well less famous titles. They are separated by genre.

Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Chaing Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah

Short Story Collections

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah

Horror

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Ring Shout by P Djeli Clark

Romance

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

Stars in Your Eyes by Kachen Callendar

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

You Made a Fool of Death with with Your Beauty By Akwaeke Emezi

Historical Fiction

The Heaven and Earth Gorcery Store by James McBride

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whiteland

Cape Cod hotel to become 1st Margaritaville resort in New England

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A Cape Cod hotel will rebrand this summer to attract parrotheads as New England’s first “Margaritavlle” resort. A Margaritaville restaurant opened at Boston Faneuil Hall previous year.

Margaritaville Resort Cape Cod will change the Caped Codder Resort and Spa in Hyannis. The Jimmy Buffett inspired hotel chain has over 40 location worldwide.

The resort features 272 rooms , outdoor pool, indoor water park, spa and Margaritaville themed restaurants Grill and LandShark Bar and 5 o Clock Somewhere Bar.

The resort will honor reservation that were made for this year. it is operating as the Cape Codder or Margaritaville at that point.

Buffett died previous summer at 76 years from a rare shape of skin cancer. Margaritaville was his pop hit however he was masterful at promoting his lifestyle brand.

Forbes projected Buffets net worth more than a billion dollars.

Margaritaville is a casual luxury brand. It is not this party hard, drinking type crowd which I know is a concern but not it.

Plymouth based hotel investment and management firm Linchris bought the Cape Codder in late 2022. Greg Nawrocki added that this will still be a family friendly resort.

Universal Music to pull songs from TikTok

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Universal Music is set to pull its thousands of songs from TikTok after failure in talks over payments.

The move would mean the social media platform would no longer have reach to musics by artists including Taylor Swift, Drake and The Weekend.

Music companies earn royalty payments when their musics are played on social media platforms and streaming.

Universal accused TikTok of bullying and added it desire to pay a “fraction” of the rate other social media sites do for reach to its vast catalogue.

Music companies earn royalty payment when their songs are played on social media platforms and streaming.

TikTok which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance has over one billion users it accounts for only 1% of Universal total revenue the label added.

The company expressed it would stop licensing it content to Tik Tok when it contract expires on 31 January.

This is the first time that Universal has taken major step of removing its songs from a tech firms platform.

Universal holds a permanent position in the global recorded music industry. It holds the rights to a mega array of artists from the Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Ariana Grande and Elton John.

In July previous year Warner Music which is world third huge recorded music company and TikTok struck a new licensing deal.

It also owns Sophie Ellis Bextor Murder on the Dancefloor which is a mega hit on TikTok.

TikTok said ” It is said and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above interests of their songwriters and artists”

Samsung SDI Q4 net profit downs 21.6%

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Samsung SDI added Tuesday its 4th quarter earning down 21.6% on year due to decrease demand for batteries used in energy storage system and IT products.

Net profit came to 493.3 billion won in the October December period 2023 compared with 629.2 billion won from a year earlier, the company expressed in a regulatory filing.

The company posted 22.7 trillion won in sales, up 12.8% from a year ago. Company sales fell 6.7% on year to 5.56 trillion won, while operating profit slumped 36.5 percent on year to 311.8 billion won.

Sales down 6.7$ on year to 5.56 trillion won, operating profit slumped 36.5 % on year to 311.8 billion won. The average estimate of net profit by analysis stood at 383.3 billion won.

Shares in Samsung SDI fell 1.19% to close at 347,500 won on the Seoul stock market Tuesday.

For all of 2023, the company posted 22.7 trillion won in sales up 12.8% from a year ago. its operating income for the down 9.7% on year to 1.63 trillion won and net profit edged up 1.3 percent tp 2.06 trillion won.

Demand for automotive batteries remained strong in the 4th quarter of previous year, however sales of ESS products and small batteries faced challenges.

The P6 batteries will mass produced starting january for consumers in Europe and North America, with sales expected to contribute to the company earning from 2nd quarter.

In the electronic material business its sales spike 9.3% on year to 566.5 billion won and operating profit down 35% on year to 85.7 billion won.

Despite worries about slowing demand for electric vehicles, Samsung SDI told it will maintain factory rates in 2024 and proceed with the scheduled expansion of production facilities.

Samsung SD added it plans to initiate mass production of its premium battery product, P6 in the 1st quarter to sales and profits and secure projects for next generation platforms.

General Motors stock rises after earnings crush estimates

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GM’s quarterly revenue is $4 billion more than the consensus. General Motors Co.’s stock spike 7.7% early Tuesday after the auto giant blew past estimates for the the 4th quarter and offered upbeat guidance.

The company GM 9.27% posted net income of $2.102 billion or $1.59 a share for the quarter up from $1.999 billion or $1.39 a share, in the year earlier period.

Revenue fell to $42.980 billion from $43.108 billion.

Chief Executive Mary Barra wrote ” Consensus is growing that the US economy the job market and auto sales will continue to be resilient and at GM we expect healthy industry sales of about 16 million units with mix of Evs continuing to grow.”

In addition to internal combustion engine model like 2024 Chevrolet Traverse and 2025 Chevrolet Equinox, the company goals to grow its electric vehicle business.

The company plans to relaunch its self driving cruise business. Barra added.

The company is now expecting 2024 EPS of $8.50 to $9.50. It expects capex of $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion, including investments in its battery cell manufacturing joint ventures.

The stock has fallen 2.5% in the previous one year while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 22.7%.

In addition to internal combustion engine model like the 2024 Chevrolet Traverse and 2025 Chevrolet Equinox, the company mission to rapid its electric vehicle business. The company also plan to relaunch its self driving Cruisee Business. Barra added.

Californian regulators revoked Cruise license to operate in San Francisco after accusing the company of not being forthcoming enough about an Oct.3 incident in which Cruise driveries car struck a pedestrian who had already hit by another car.

The Cruise vehicle pulled to the side of the road, dragging the victim beneath it for about 20 feet

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Toyota recalls 50,000 vehicles in US over airbag death or injury threats

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Toyota has stress owners of 50,000 automobiles in the US to get immediate repairs as airbag inflators made by Takata could explode and murder them.

Since 2009 more than 30 deaths have been linked to air bag inflators produced by Takata. The Do not Drive advisory covers world mega carmakers from 2003 to 2005.

Those fragments could cause death to driver or passenger or serious injury. Toyota says. “If the airbag deploys a part inside is more likely to explode and shoot sharp metal fragments”.

The vehicles involved in the recall are 2003-2004 model Corolla, 2004-2005 RAV4 and Corolla Matrix 2003-2004.

Lot of concerns with Takata airbag inflators have resulted in the biggest motor industry safety recall in history, involving over 100 million products and over 20 carmakers.

This week , the japanese car giant suspended shipments of some vehicles due to irregularities in certification tests for diesel engines which were developed by Toyota Industries.

Toyota Industries employees manipulated horsepower output tests. After more than a decade and half of recalls, criminal investigation and lawsuits in the US, Takata filed for bankruptcy in 2017. It assets were sold to Chinese owned key safety system for about $1.6bm.

The affected engines are used in 10 models sold globally including Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle and Hiace Van. Toyota added

Toyota expressed it sold a record of 11.2 million vehicles in 2023 cementing its position as the world top selling carmaker for a 4th year in a row.

Toyota is also seeking to resolve a case of misconduct at small car specialist Daihatsu after admitted falsifying safety tests dating back over than 3 decades.

Daihatsu headquarters were raided by Japan transport ministry and global shipment of the vehicles were suspended. The government has since revoked certification of 3 Daihatsu models.

Germany Volkswagen sold 9.2 million vehicles previous year.

Verizon Customers get as much as $100 in Settlement Payout. How to Claim the Money.

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To settle claims over a misleading administrative charge, Verizon will pay $100 million into a fund.

If you are a current Verizon customer who bought a traditional, postpaid wireless plan in the past seven years, you could get money in 2024 as part of a $100 million settlement of a class action lawsuit. Verizon is making the payment to address claims that its services plans were misleading, advertised prices did not include an administrative charge.

In the suit the plaintiffs alleged PDF that Verizon implemented charged and increased as administrative fee for postpaid wireless or data services in a deceptive and unfair manner.

Who is eligible for money from the Verizon class action settlement?

You may eligible if you are current US customer who purchased postpaid wireless or data services form Verizon and paid an administrative charge or an administrative and telco recovery charge between Jan 1, 2016 and Nov. 8, 2023.

A postpaid wireless plan means consumers pay for the service after they use it at the end of billing cycle. The settlement does not include consumers who purchased prepaid plans from Verizon.

In October fact sheet Verizon reported that it serve 93 million retail postpaid customers as of Sept 30 2023.

According to Verizon administrative charge settlement website you are eligible to file a claim about the settlement by email or mail.

When will I get my settlement money?

The settlement FAQ says payments will be issued by electronic payment after the settlement is approved and finalized. Hearing is scheduled for March 22, 2024.

How do I claim money as part of the Verizon settlement?

The settlement administrative site claim form that eligible class members can fill out and submit online. You can download PDF fill out and mail a paper for to this address:

Verizon Administrative Charge Settlement c/o Settlement Administrator

1650 Arch St. Suite 2210 Philadelphia PA 19103

The deadline to submit claim is 11:59:59 pm PT April 15 2024

What settlement amount could I receive?’

If the settlement is approved. Verizon will pay $100 million into a settlement fund. Consumers filling valid claims by deadlines could receive up to $100 each as part of the settlement depending on how long they were a Verizon subscriber and how many valid claims are filed.

 

WWE Royal Rumble : Sami Zayn Makes Shocking Return

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WWE Superstar Sami Zayn made incredible return to in ring action for the WWE Royal Rumble. WWE Superstar Sami Zayn made his come back in ring action during the WWE Royal Rumble. Last time Sami Zayn in action he had been targeted by Drew McIntyre backstage during WWE Monday Night Raw.

Injury to his leg Zayn had taken the last several weeks off. Now fans would not have to wait much longer to see the WWE Superstar in action as he made come back to the WWE as the Number 30 entrant in the WWE Royal Rumble this year.

Sami Zayn made mega return to WWE as the Number entrant in the Men Rumble match and it was quite a stunning in a game that has been full of shocks through the course of its run. Zayn unluckily did not stand too long in the game itself as he eliminated not too long after his return to the ring.He will have lots to settle with Drew ,McIntyre and more once he is back in the main roster of WWE Monday Night Raw.

WWE Match Card and Results

Sami Zayn was only one of thirty contestants who tried to win the Men Rumble match. Cody Rhodes that grab the victoryas he aim squarely for a second shot at Roman Reigns and Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Powerball winning numbers for Saturday January 27 lottery drawing with $164M Jackpot

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The Powerball Jackpot for Saturday now sits at $164 million with a cash value of $79.1 million.

Powerball winning numbers 1/27/24

The winning numbers from Saturday drawing were 7-38-65-66-68 and the Powerball was 21. The Power Play was 2X.

Did anyone win Powerball drawing Saturday, Jan 27, 2024?

No one won the mega prize. there was a Match 5 winner worth $1 million in New York and Kentucky.The grand prize climb to $174 million with a cash value of $83.9 million.

Powerball winning numbers 1/24/24

The winning numbers from Mondays drawing were 1-5-32-50-64 and the Powerball was 8.The Power Play was 4x.

Did anyone win Powerball drawing, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024?

No body won the grand prize, there was a Match 5 winner worth $1million in Wisconsin.

When is the next Powerball drawing?

The next drawing will be Monday Jan.29 at 10.59 pm ET. In Delaware tickets may be purchased until 9.45 pm ET on the day of drawing. In Pennsylvania and New Jesrsey you can purchase tickets until 9:50 p.m.

What is the largest Powerball Jackpot?

  • $2.04 billion Nov.7 2022-CA
  • $1.765 billion Oct 11, 2023 CA
  • $1.586 billion Jan 13,2016 CA FL, TN
  • $1.08 billion July 19, 2023-CA
  • $842 milllion Jan 1, 2024 MI
  • $768.4 million March 27, 2019 WI
  • $758.7 million Aug 23, 2017 MA
  • $754.6 million Feb 6, 2023 WA
  • $731.1 million Jan 20, 2021 MD
  • $699,8 million Oct 4, 2021. CA

What days are the Powerball drawings? What time does Powerball go off?

Powerball drawing are held three times a week ever Saturday, Monday and Wednesday at 10 59 pm ET.

What are the odds of winning the Powerball?

The odds of winning the Powerball grand prize are 1 in 292, 201,338. The odds for the lowest prize $4 for one red Powerball are 1 in 38.32.

The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.87 based on a $2 play and rounded to two decimal places.

How much are Powerball tickets

The Powerball cost $2 per play. Tickets can be buy online in New Jersey nilotto.com. In Pennsylvania you can purchase tickets online www.paillottery.com/games/draw-games/

To play select 5 number from 1 to 69 for the white balls then select one number from 1 to 26 fro the red Powerball.

To win match one of the nine ways to win

  • whiteballs + 1 red Powerball=Grand prize
  • 5 whiteballs= $ 1 million
  • 4 white balls+ 1 red Powerball =$50,000
  • 4 white balls=$100
  • 3 white balls + 1 red Powerball = $100
  • 3 white balls =$7
  • 2 white balls + 1 red Powerball= $7
  • 1 white ball + 1 red Powerball =$4
  • 1 red Powerball=$4

Million-dollar lottery ticket sold at Florida Publix

According to Florida Lottery a $1 million winning ticket was sold at the Publix on 2414 West 60th Street in Hialeah. This was the only big winner of that night drawing. The winning numbers were 16, 31, 34, 47, 54 and 10.

Per lottery policy, this ticket holder will have 180 days to claim the prize from the draw games. If they desire to collect the single payment cash option, the prize must be claimed within the first 60 days.

State law indicates that the prize winner will be exempt from public disclosure for 90 days. The next drawing will be Monday. The projected jackpot will be $133 million.

PowerBall Jackpot defeated winner Again reaches record R120 million

This is one of the mega South African jackpots on record. Another round of PowerBall and no jackpot winner. R120 million making it one of the mega jackpots in South Africa. Taking a chance on a life changing bet can be filled with joy and nervous emotions.

Your odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 350,000 this mean that you are 58 times more likely to get struck by lightning that winning the Lotto Jackpot.

The PowerBall odds toughen up more offering a staggering 42,375,200 combo when selecting 5 from 50 number and 1 from 20 numbers