Tag: Chart

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Entertainment

Drake’s ‘Licensed Lover Boy’ Arrives, as Chart Battle With Kanye West Continues

Drake's 'Certified Lover Boy' Arrives, as Chart Battle With Kanye West Continues

The digs, in song and on social media, continued a pattern of minor, direct and indirect offenses between the two that had existed for years, with Drake’s musical beef relationship with Pusha-T, a Western subsidiary, seemingly coagulating irrevocably 2018.

In the years that followed, the artists parted ways, even if they occasionally bumped their heads online and on records. West hugged former President Donald J. Trump, went on an ill-fated presidential candidacy, and turned to gospel. In October 2019 he released a Christian album called “Jesus Is King”. He kept his promises on “Donda” and even censored his guests.

Drake, meanwhile, released a steady stream of music, though it made itself less and less common. In spring 2020, the rapper followed the single “Toosie Slide”, which reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with a surprising mixtape, “Dark Lane Demo Tapes”, with songs that had been leaked online. He promised a studio album in the summer, and the wannabe lead single “Laugh Now Cry Later” reached # 2 in August. But the album never came out; Another holdover, the three-song EP “Scary Hours 2”, followed in March and led to another No. 1 single (“What’s Next”).

After months of only cryptic updates on the album’s status, a collision course with West seemed inevitable as summer ended and the two A-list rappers reappeared. When West toured an ongoing “Donda,” Drake appeared to be claiming a Sept. 3 release late last month with a guerrilla-style lo-fi ad on “SportsCenter” on ESPN.

And on a Trippie Redd track entitled “Betrayal” the rapper indicated that the hustle and bustle around West’s “Donda” would not affect its final release date. This time Drake rapped, “It’s set in stone.”

Categories
Business

Biden’s $four Trillion Financial Plan, in One Chart

Biden’s $4 Trillion Economic Plan, in One Chart

Most of the spending and tax cuts in Wednesday’s proposal are aimed at families with provisions for a national paid family and sick leave program. Childcare allowances; and renewal of several tax credit extensions from the latest Covid-19 Facilitation Act.

Newly proposed educational spending includes the universal preschool garden for 3 and 4 year olds; two years of free community college; an increase in the maximum Pell Grant award; and investing in colleges and universities that serve minorities.

The plan also calls on Congress to adjust the unemployment insurance system so that the length and level of benefits are automatically linked to economic conditions.

The president intends to pay the infrastructure portion of the plan with 15 years higher taxes on businesses.

The proposal, announced on Wednesday, would be funded in part through tax hikes for the richest Americans. Part of that strategy is giving the Internal Revenue Service more money and enforcement powers to fight tax evasion.

Categories
Business

This chart exhibits how the restaurant trade’s restoration stumbled in December

This chart shows how the restaurant industry's recovery stumbled in December

The hospitality industry spent most of 2020 recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, but poor sales worsened in the final month of the year.

According to the NPD Group, US restaurant chain transactions declined 10% in December compared to the same period last year. The company tracks transactions in 75 restaurant chains that together account for more than half of the commercial restaurant traffic in the United States. By December, the monthly decline in restaurant transactions had been improving steadily since April. Transactions in November were only down 8%.

However, the industry’s recovery has been hampered by a renewed spike in new Covid-19 cases, which led government officials to reintroduce strict food restrictions, and winter weather that has kept customers from dining outside.

The full-service restaurant segment is hardest hit by the pandemic. The sector, which includes Darden Restaurants’ Olden Garden and The Cheesecake Factory, found it harder to focus on delivery and takeaway as indoor eating was banned. Unlike fast food chains, full-service restaurants are not known for their convenience, and their food is not designed for travel.

At its low point in April, transactions in the full-service segment fell by 70%. In December, transactions were only down 30%. A new wave of indoor food bans has hit personal sales. And take-out and delivery sales aren’t enough to offset the decline in sales that resulted from fewer dine-in customers, according to the UBS Evidence Lab.

On the other hand, the fast food sector has recovered much faster. Until July, weekly transaction declines were in single digits. The segment benefited from previous investments in drive-through lanes, digital ordering and acceleration of service. And its great deals appeal to budget-conscious consumers who grow in numbers during a recession.

The NPD group only pursues restaurant chains. Bank of America consumer data shows that chain restaurants recover much faster than independent restaurants. Independent institutions typically do not have the same access to capital as chains. And while the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program was created to help small businesses through the crisis, big chains like PF Chang’s and TGI Friday’s have devoured millions of dollars.

The catering industry is pushing for more relief for bars and restaurants. Before the latest stimulus package was drafted, President-elect Joe Biden said he would support grants for restaurant loans. The House of Representatives passed a similar bill in October that gave the industry a $ 120 billion lifeline. After the Democrats took two Senate seats in Georgia this week, it’s more likely than ever that restaurants could see this kind of help.

Categories
Health

Properties Divided: Vaccinated Well being Staff Chart a New Regular

Homes Divided: Vaccinated Health Workers Chart a New Normal

Dr. Kuppalli and others have expressed some discomfort about being first to get the vaccine while so many others in the US and beyond are lining up for their own safety shot. “I don’t think guilt is the right word,” she said. The tier system recommended by government officials to prioritize those at highest risk made scientific sense. But there was still an immense privilege, she said, hidden in the tiny droplets of liquid that were stabbed in her right arm this month.

After almost a year at the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus, health workers are finally receiving long-awaited tools. It felt strange to wear, they said amid the many millions who are still left without their own chain mail.

Manevone Philavong, 46, who has worked in the environmental services department at the University of Pittsburgh’s Passavant Medical Center for 21 years, was one of the first in the country to be vaccinated on the morning of December 14th.

He long ago got used to the risks involved in his job cleaning almost “every aspect of the hospital,” he said. Coming home from work, he goes into the garage and undresses in the basement before going into the house where he lives with his mom and dad, who are in their 80s, and his pregnant 30-year-old niece.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Mr. Philavong has tried to keep physical distance from his parents. They speak to each other from opposite sides of the living room. His father had to work alone while he tinkered with the family cars – a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 2009 Ford F-150 – and tended the herbs and vegetables in the garden. That year, the family skipped their regular trip to Moraine State Park to fish for trout and perch.

When Mr. Philavong told his parents about his injection, they were delighted. “They said, ‘Now you can spend more time with us,’ he said. I said, ‘Not quite yet.’

The vaccine offers “a layer of hope,” said Mr Philavong. “But I’ll still take all the precautions I can.”

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