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World News

Spain Issued ‘Equality Stamps’ in Pores and skin Tones. The Darker Ones Had been Price Much less.

MADRID – A new campaign by the Spanish Postal Service to condemn racism has backfired, offending many people with a series of stamps in skin tones – the lighter the hue, the more valuable the stamp.

The Equality Stamps were issued this week to mark the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, the black man whose murder by a Minneapolis police officer fueled outrage on the American streets and led to widespread calls for the fight against racism in the United States and America Furthermore. The release of the stamps also coincided with the European Diversity Month.

Moha Gerehou, the author of a new book on racism in Spain, said on Twitter that he understood the postal service was well meant – but said it was badly fired.

It is “a huge contradiction”, he wrote, “a campaign that launches stamps with different values ​​depending on the color to show the same value in our lives. The news is an absolute disaster. “

The cost of the postage starts at € 0.70 (85 cents) for the darkest color, and as the hue becomes progressively lighter, the value for the pale color increases steadily to € 1.60.

The postal service said on Twitter that the pricing was aimed at “reflecting an unfair and painful reality that shouldn’t be,” and that it had hoped the campaign would “give a voice to a generation committed to equality and diversity starts “.

However, some critics said that message was easily lost and that the campaign played into the hands of Vox, the far-right party that became the third largest group in the Spanish parliament after the elections in late 2019.

Mr Gerehou, the author and a Spanish native of Gambian descent, said the postal service had joined an anti-racism push that had spread from the United States to Spain. But he said such efforts “must be accompanied by profound changes”.

The campaign was designed with the help of SOS Racismo, an anti-racism organization, and promoted in a video by El Chojín, a rap artist.

SOS Racismo defended the stamps as “a very visual way of denouncing the racism that affects thousands of people in the Spanish state”.

The group said the campaign also highlighted broader issues such as the rise in xenophobia in Europe and the plight of migrants preparing to make the dangerous journey from North Africa and the Middle East across the Mediterranean to Spain.

Categories
Politics

Hometown Worldwide, NJ deli proprietor, value hundreds of thousands in inventory

He’s a legend in New Jersey high school wrestling – and a mystery in the stock market.

Paul Morina, the principal of Paulsboro, New Jersey, High School is listed in the financial records as the president, CEO, CFO, and more of a Nevada-incorporated company whose shares trade at levels that have a valuation of more than 100 million US dollar results.

That’s an oddly high rating given that Hometown International owns one deli – and only one small deli – in Paulsboro, where the Morina-trained high school wrestling team often wins state championships. The company announced that it has shareholders based in China’s Macau Territory.

Your Hometown Deli business had combined sales of only $ 35,000 for the past two years, according to Hometown International’s annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26th.

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn mentioned Hometown International in a letter to clients Thursday warning of the risks to retail investors.

“The pastrami has to be amazing,” Einhorn told the company, whose shares rose from $ 3.25 per share to over $ 9 per share from late March 2020 to early September, despite the delicatessen business – the only operating business – due to the coronavirus -Pandemic was closed during this time frame.

Hometown International’s annual report shows that Morina, who is also the company’s treasurer and director, owns 1.5 million common shares of the company and guarantees an additional 30 million shares. Morina owns 19% of Hometown’s outstanding 7.79 million common stock.

On Thursday, Hometown’s stock, which is barely traded on the over-the-counter market, closed at $ 13.50 per share.

That alone is Morina’s common stock worth $ 20.5 million – at least on paper.

FactSet data shows that in Hometown, rarely more than a few hundred stocks change hands per day, and often days when no stocks are exchanged.

CNBC has approached Morina for comment, whose biography on SEC files states that as a coach he has won 25 class state championships with more than 550 wins.

This biography does not imply that Morina had any previous experience in the food service industry.

Nonetheless, Hometown International said in its filing: “We believe that Mr. Morina is a valuable member of our Board of Directors because of his extensive knowledge and experience.”

Filing states that Hometown International, which was founded in 2014, has signed a lease agreement with Mantua Creek Group, which Morina is part of, for their retail space.

The hometown vice president and secretary is Christine Lindenmuth – a 46-year-old math teacher at Paulsboro High School.

Lindenmuth, who did not immediately respond to requests for comments, also appears to have no experience in food service.

However, Hometown International believes that her “in-depth knowledge and experience” also makes her a valued business leader.

According to the SEC filing, Lindenmuth does not hold any shares in the company.

The annual report states: “The company currently has no full-time employees other than its officers and directors, Paul F. Morina, President, and Christine T. Lindenmuth.” It adds, “Both are currently working for the company without compensation.”

Hometown’s annual report suggests that the company was founded with the idea of ​​creating a chain of stores with “a new delicatessen concept”.

“Through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Your Hometown Deli Limited Liability Company (‘Your Hometown Deli’), we operate a deli that offers sandwiches and other ‘home-style’ entrees in a casual and friendly atmosphere,” the file says .

“The store is designed to provide a convenient hangout for local customers of all ages. The company’s first unit was built in Paulsboro, New Jersey and is aimed at smaller towns and cities.”

But that location, a low, box-shaped building just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, is still the only business the company owns after about seven years of operation.

The company’s chairman, according to its annual report, is Peter Coker Jr., who does not own any shares in Hometown International.

According to Coker’s biography in the company’s annual report, the 1990 Lehigh University graduate has been chairman of South Shore Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong-listed company, since 2013.

Coker is also said to have been the managing partner of Pacific Advisers from 2009 to 2013 and a partner in a Shenzhen, China-based private equity firm called TDR Capital Investment Ltd. was.

“From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Coker was Chairman of Global Trading Offshore Pte (Singapore),” the file reads. “From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Coker was Chairman of Wellington Securities, New Zealand. Mr. Coker was an officer of the Bridge Companies prior to joining Wellington Securities, New Zealand in 2002.”

Coker’s father, North Carolina-based Peter Coker Sr., is listed on the SEC as the holder of 63,334 common shares in Hometown International, with warrants for an additional 1.26 million shares.

CNBC has asked both cokers to comment.

Other Hometown stock owners include Blackwell Partners LLC, Series A, with an address in Hong Kong; and two other companies in Hong Kong, Star V Partners LLC and Maso Capital Investments Limited.

Four other companies or organizations listed as shareholders in Hometown International are based in Macau, China.

One of the companies in Macau, VCH Limited, entered into a consultancy agreement with Hometown International in May 2020.

“As part of this agreement, VCH was hired as an advisor to the company, including building and building a presence with wealthy and institutional investors,” Hometown said in its annual report.

“The term of the agreement is one year. Provided that either party has the right to terminate the agreement after 30 days’ prior written notice to the other party,” the report said.

“Under the agreement, VCH will receive $ 25,000 per month for the life of the agreement, in addition to reimbursement of company pre-approved expenses.”

Hometown International posted a loss of $ 624,438 for 2020 and a loss of $ 153,930 for 2019, according to the company’s annual report.

Much of the company’s 2020 cost increases came from $ 320,000 in so-called “consultancy fees.”

The elder Coker has been identified in other SEC filings, as has the founder and CEO of Tryon Capital Ventures, a North Carolina company that has an advisory agreement with Hometown that pays Tryon $ 15,000 per month.

“We are assuming that the term of the consulting contract with Tryon will be extended by another year,” says the annual report.

Categories
Business

Financial institution and cyclical shares are price shopping for on a dip

The weakness seen in banks and cyclical stocks on Monday will be short-lived and investors should buy them right now, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said.

“If you look at the stocks that hit today, I don’t think they’re going to stay down,” said the Mad Money host, noting the “counter-trend rally” on behalf of Monday’s stay-at-home session “won’t have legs.”

Darden restaurants and Norwegian Cruise Lines – names hit hard by Covid restrictions – fell 3.5% and 2.3%, respectively. Bank stocks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup each fell more than 1%. Shares in Clorox and Procter & Gamble – two companies that outperformed at the start of the pandemic – rose 2.6% and 1.6%, respectively.

“The main lesson today is that this market is volatile, so don’t throw it away … [these] Shares when they fall, “said Cramer.

Cramer said he expected the bank to move higher and cyclical stocks to pull back during the session. He also recommended investors buy shares in Disney and Boeing, two companies linked to travel and reopening the economy.

Cramer added that such days can be used by investors to reduce holdings in lockdown games and switch to stocks that can benefit from an economic recovery.

“Sooner or later the rotation is going to change direction, which means money is flowing back to the big reopening stocks – the banks and the cyclicals – so you want to use days like today and maybe tomorrow,” Cramer said, “to get them in the weakness to buy. ” while you trim your positions in the lockdown stocks. “

Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable foundation owns shares in Disney and Boeing.

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Categories
Health

‘I Am Value It’: Why 1000’s of Docs in America Can’t Get a Job

The 61 percent match rate for international students may underestimate the problem, say some experts, as medical students who do not receive interview offers are not considered. With these students included, the match rate for international medical students can drop to as little as 50 percent.

The directors of the residency program said that in recent years they have stepped up their efforts to take a holistic view of candidates. “Straight A’s in college and perfect test scores aren’t perfect candidates,” said Dr. Susana Morales, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. “We are interested in the diversity of the background and the geographic diversity.”

Some international medical students struggling to agree have been looking for alternative routes into medical work. Arkansas and Missouri are among the states that offer internship licenses to people who have completed their license exams but are not yet a resident. Unsurpassed doctors who wanted to use their clinical skills to help with the pandemic said they had found the opportunity to serve as interns, which was particularly significant during the crisis.

After failing a first attempt at a license exam and then passing her second attempt, 30-year-old Dr. Faarina Khan excluded from the matching process. In the past five years, she has spent more than $ 30,000 on application fees. With an assistant doctor license, she was able to join the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team in the spring and help in medical facilities where employees had tested positive for coronavirus.

“Hospitals need to recognize that there are people in my position who could be in for work within the hour if someone calls us,” said Dr. Khan. “I didn’t go to medical school to sit on the sidelines.”

Some states are considering legislation that would allow similar licensing. This position typically pays about $ 55,000 a year – much less than a doctor could make – making it difficult to repay loans, but it allows medical school graduates to keep up with their clinical education.

Dr. Cromblin, of Prattville, Alabama, felt a similar urge to join the Covid-19 front in the spring. She had defaulted on a loan and little in her bank account, but as soon as she got her stimulus check she bought a plane ticket to New York. She spent the month of April volunteering with the medical staff at Jamaica Medical Center in Queens.

Categories
Health

‘I Am Value It’: Why 1000’s of Docs in America Can’t Get a Job

The 61 percent match rate for international students may underestimate the problem, say some experts, as medical students who do not receive interview offers are not considered. With these students included, the match rate for international medical students can drop to as little as 50 percent.

The directors of the residency program said that in recent years they have stepped up their efforts to take a holistic view of candidates. “Straight A’s in college and perfect test scores aren’t perfect candidates,” said Dr. Susana Morales, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. “We are interested in the diversity of the background and the geographic diversity.”

Some international medical students struggling to agree have been looking for alternative routes into medical work. Arkansas and Missouri are among the states that offer internship licenses to people who have completed their license exams but are not yet a resident. Unsurpassed doctors who wanted to use their clinical skills to help with the pandemic said they had found the opportunity to serve as interns, which was particularly significant during the crisis.

After failing a first attempt at a license exam and then passing her second attempt, 30-year-old Dr. Faarina Khan excluded from the matching process. In the past five years, she has spent more than $ 30,000 on application fees. With an assistant doctor license, she was able to join the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team in the spring and help in medical facilities where employees had tested positive for coronavirus.

“Hospitals need to recognize that there are people in my position who could be in for work within the hour if someone calls us,” said Dr. Khan. “I didn’t go to medical school to sit on the sidelines.”

Some states are considering legislation that would allow similar licensing. This position typically pays about $ 55,000 a year – much less than a doctor could make – making it difficult to repay loans, but it allows medical school graduates to keep up with their clinical education.

Dr. Cromblin, of Prattville, Alabama, felt a similar urge to join the Covid-19 front in the spring. She had defaulted on a loan and little in her bank account, but as soon as she got her stimulus check she bought a plane ticket to New York. She spent the month of April volunteering with the medical staff at Jamaica Medical Center in Queens.

Categories
Business

Zoom Lessons. No Probability Conferences. Is Digital Enterprise College Well worth the Value?

“I feel very happy,” he said. “The pandemic has forced me to think about my priorities as well. I could step back and pause and ask, ‘What do you really want to do?’ “

Mrs. Reichert had the opposite experience. She did an internship at Chewy, the pet food website, last summer from her parents’ home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia – 1,000 miles from Chewy’s headquarters in Dania Beach, Florida. While she praised the company for its efforts to make the most of a bad situation, she decided to return to the consultation.

Networking is a big part of the MBA experience. It’s the component that could pay the most dividends well after closing. But in a virtual or socially distant world it got stunted.

“The social component was disappointing,” said Emma Finkelstein, a sophomore at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. “When I’m a floating head at Zoom, I will have a different relationship with my professors and classmates than in social situations.”

Mr Garg, who describes himself as an introvert, said he had pushed himself to get out.

“It’s a lot about being proactive,” he said. “I’ve had coffee with people. It takes a lot of effort. There are some days when you don’t want to do this. But then you realize that you’ve been home for three days and haven’t seen anyone. “

And it’s not just less sociable students who feel left out of the social aspect of business school. International students who have not been able to return to the USA and students from underrepresented minority groups are also affected.

“Of course, I would say that the impact of the pandemic on the nature of informal networking on our campus could be more impactful for students who, for some reason, felt less enclosed among their MBA peers,” said Dr. Rockoff from Colombia. “These missed opportunities for networks and connections will have a significant impact on them.”