IKEA Monkey

Taylor Swift’s new fashion line for China debuted in a runway show at Hong Kong Fashion Week Monday, WWD reports.

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It cost CAH co-founder Max Temkin more than $1,000, but it looks like the militia needs it? [ more › ]

Back in 2014, the soft drink industry funded a study that, coincidentally, concluded that diet soda is better for weight loss than water. These same companies are at it again, not only providing the backing for another study extolling the virtues of diet drinks, but also — according to new reports — directly paying money to the researchers involved.

The latest research to be criticized over this apparent conflict of interest comes from the International Journal of Obesity, which recently published a review [PDF] of existing scientific research on the link between “low-energy sweetener consumption” and “energy intake and body weight.”

The study does disclose that it was funded, in part, by the International Life Sciences Institute — Europe, a group whose board of directors features not just a bunch of heavily credentialed academics, but also executives from Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Mars, and Unilever. In fact, while there are some 19 people on the ILSI Europe board, three out of five of its officers are representing the food industry.

Additionally, one of the researchers himself is an employee of ILSI Europe, while the study’s lead author previously received research funding from a group called “Sugar Nutrition, UK,” an industry lobbying group formerly known as the British Sugar Bureau. Others on the team have previously been paid for research by the Dutch Sugar Bureau, UK sweetener brand Canderel, or are — as disclosed at the end of the study — “employees and shareholders of companies that manufacture products containing sugars and low-energy sweeteners.”

According to the Times on Sunday [reg. required], the researchers didn’t just get their funding for this study from ILSI Europe, the group also directly paid some of the academics involved around $1,090 each.

Which may not be a concern if the review hadn’t come to such a pro-industry conclusion — that the effect of diet drinks on body weight “appear neutral relative to water, or even beneficial in some contexts.”

As The Independent notes, of the 5,500 studies included in this review, it appears as if the researchers are only using the results of three to reach that conclusion. And of those three, only one — the 2014 paper, funded by the American Beverage Association, mentioned at the start of this story — actually showed any weight loss benefit compared to water.

The University of Bristol, where the study’s lead author teaches, stands by the research, pointing out that it has been peer-reviewed, “which means the data and conclusions have been scrutinised by other scientists.” The school also contends that the study received additional funding from the National Health Service and the European Union.

This news comes on the heels of Coca-Cola’s attempt to start a “political campaign” by providing more than $1 million to the University of Colorado Foundation “for the purposes of funding” a group called the Global Energy Balance Network, which stressed the importance of diet and exercise and downplayed the role of sugary foods in the obesity epidemic.

When Coke’s involvement in the GEBN became known, the beverage biggie claimed it took a hands-off approach to the group. However, subsequently revealed emails showed that Coca-Cola was heavily involved in shaping the group’s message, likening it to “a political campaign, we will develop, deploy and evolve a powerful and multi-faceted strategy to counter radical organizations and their proponents.”

On Nov. 30, weeks after the university gave back $1.1 million to Coca-Cola, GEBN disbanded, posting a notice to the website that Coca-Cola had registered on the group’s behalf.

Then came the news that Coca-Cola had paid $550,000 directly to the man who would eventually head GEBN, and even offered to help his son find a job.

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A lot of my friends have stopped watching football this season. It’s wrong to keep watching, they say, to keep supporting the NFL when we know the long-term damage the sport causes to its athletes and the way both league and team officials have looked the other way when players commit violent acts. Many of them are surprised to know I watch, knowing me as a social justice–minded feminist. I’m surprised, too. If you’d told me a few years ago that I would regularly spend at least 14 hours a week watching football, I would have thought you were crazy—and that was before I was conscious to these issues, before I knew anything about Ben Roethlisberger or Ray Rice or Jameis Winston, before I’d heard anything about post-concussion syndrome.

Yesterday’s Donald Trump rally in Pensacola, Fla. featured all the hits: Crazy depraved old people in bad hats, mutual masturbation to the thought of a very large wall, and Trump himself publicly berating somebody for a minor perceived mistake. But it also featured what stands as a new classic in the Trump canon: a troupe of young girls clumsily performing a rather horrible pop song written in his honor.

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The acting world has lost one of its singular voices today, as sources confirm that Alan Rickman has died. He was 69. 

Rickman has long been known in the world of British theater, but he broke through in Hollywood when he was 41, playing Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Since then his star has only risen, bringing his trademark rasp to the roles of Metatron in Dogma, Marvin in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and, most famously, to the role of Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. He directed two feature films, 1997’s The Winter Guest and 2014’s A  Little Chaos. He had been a fixture of British theater for all his life.

Rickman died in London on Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He’s survived by his wife, Rima Horton. The two married last year after having been together for 50 years.

 

 

All right, tough guy.

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Justin Bieber is an otherworldly sea creature. Behold, he’s a mermaid; or at least, he has “mermaid bangs.” In the most loving blog post ever penned, People describes Bieber’s locks:

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Daniel Dion, the brother of entertainer Celine Dion, died on Saturday after a battle with cancer, his family said. He was 59.

While our economy is supposedly expanding and consumers have more money in our pockets thanks to lower gas prices, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that that we’re not spending that money in retail stores, online or in real life. If we’re not out hitting the malls, where’s all that money going?

The country’s economy is so massive that tiny shifts make a huge difference. Retail and food spending in December of 2015 added up to $448.1 billion, or the equivalent of just under 300 Powerball jackpots. While December sales are up slightly (2.2%) from December 2014, Americans spent slightly less than in November of 2015. In news that will not surprise any readers of this site, “nonstore retail,” which includes e-commerce, had the largest increase at 7.1%.

Other surveys have showed that Americans aren’t spending all of the money we’re saving due to lower fuel prices: credit card data from Chase showed that we’re spending more on restaurant meals and on services, not necessarily on stuff.

In general, our spending (adjusted for inflation) has been increasing every year since the recession officially ended in 2009. The small expansion in 2015 signals that the economy is doing well, but that growth has slowed down.

ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES [Census Bureau]
Retail Sales in U.S. Decrease to End Weakest Year Since 2009 [Bloomberg News]

The famed explorer’s grandson introduces some of the ocean’s most flamboyant creatures.

JetBlue Airways Corp warned of delays or cancellations Thursday after a power outage took down its main website and affected customers checking in for flights.

A woman is under arrest after a naked rampage through a Waffle House restaurant, authorities said.

During crowded train rides and shows that require just half of my attention, I play games on my phone. Some condescendingly refer to this as “casual gaming,” but some mobile titles can be just as exciting as a chain reaction of explosions in a big-budget console game like Just Cause 3 . Neko Atsume, a Japanese game about luring adorable pussy cats to your home and adding their photos to your scrapbook, is one of them.

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It’s not too late to get started on those new year’s resolutions, and if strengthening your core is on your to-do list, this highly-rated ab roller is $15 off today on Amazon. [VIM Ab Roller Wheel w/Patented 3-Wheel Triangular Design, $20 with code Seller1ON1]

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   Christina Hendricks has had great success wearing Vivienne Westwood, but I’m not sure this look counts. Take a closer look. Read More ...

The average age of first-time mothers is at an all-time high in the U.S — over 26.

The Herbivorous Butcher will sell “small-batch, locally-sourced, all-natural meat alternatives.”

How Donald Trump’s ego killed a pro sports league:

azspot:

For three seasons, the crowds were good, ratings were decent, and spirits were high. But then the USFL’s owners made a fatal mistake: They listened to The Donald, who had purchased the Generals in the league’s second year of operation. Trump pressured his fellow owners to move their schedule to the fall in order to compete head to head with the NFL. It was an act of suicide. Ultimately, the USFL staked its future on an antitrust suit against the NFL, which ended with a Pyrrhic victory (a judgment for $3) that finished off the upstart league for good.

Filmmaker Mike Tollin, who ran the USFL’s equivalent of NFL Film back in the ’80s, told this story in “Small Potatoes,” a 2009 documentary that was part of ESPN’s “30 for 30″ series. One of the highlights of the movie is Tollin’s interview with Trump, who arrives for the taping in a combative mood, provides a series of hostile answers and then storms off the set. When the film debuted in October ’09, Trump publicly ripped it as “third rate” and attacked Tollin as “a sad guy.” (He also sent a note to Tollin with this handwritten postscript: “You are a loser.”)

The ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries are across the board good with some of them being truly great; regardless if you’re a sports fan or not. Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? (preview) is a fun doc on the business side of professional sports, how powerful the NFL is, how a league for a brief time was able to chip away at the NFL, and how some blowhard asshole named Donald Trump ran the whole enterprise into the ground.

Side note: even if you’re not a sports fan at all, you should watch the 30 for 30 documentary, Broke. If you ever thought, “how can that professional athlete with all that money go broke,” this explains it in great detail.

In the foodservice industry, fast food joints have long been referred to as “quick service restaurants” or QSRs, but that was never a term intended for use by the public, which was just fine using the equally accurate “fast food.” But for many in the QSR business, this phrase has the stink and sheen of rancid french fry oil. So they are increasingly turning to borderline nonsensical descriptors to avoid it.

The AP’s Candice Choi recently investigated this shift away from “fast food” and toward a host of other terms that restaurant chain brand managers actually believe will change the way people look at these restaurants.

Most of us have heard terms like “fast casual,” often used to describe places where you don’t have to lie to to your coworkers about going there to eat lunch. This term usually applies to chains like Panera, Potbelly, and Chipotle.

But then upstart burger chain Shake Shack tried to one-up that term, referring to its business — in filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, no less — as “fine casual” because eating there is an experience “grounded in fine dining,” even though the food is served up on cafeteria trays and, during lunch, there are often people queued up just to maybe find a seat.

Arby’s — a restaurant known for something called the “Meat Mountain” — is apparently attempting to convince diners that its kitchens are filled with quick-working artisans, referring to its food as “fast crafted.” The company even trademarked the phrase back in 2014, just in case anyone else might want to use it…

Then there’s the Dairy Queen slogan: “Fan Food, Not Fast Food.”

As I’ve mentioned before, I had the honor of working at a DQ for three, glorious summers. I sold a lot of Blizzards, Peanut Buster Parfaits, and Dilly Bars, and while I recall lots of people being happy with their food, I don’t remember anyone ever saying they were a “fan” of the soft-serve treats.

[via Eater]

When you’re not feeling super energetic, your first instinct might be to chill out on the couch and relax. If you want to get your energy back, though, do something more active than watch Netflix.

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“Is it too late for Justin Bieber to say sorry for ending Adele’s Hot 100 reign?” the headline of Vulture’s report on Bieber’s Purpose hit “Sorry” vanquishing Adele’s 25 single “Hello” rhetorically wondered this week. A headline essentially pondering whether Bieber’s apology should apologize to Adele’s apology might well lead us to note a certain similarity in the two most explosively popular tracks of the past few months. Between Adele moping as she revs up her landline to “tell you [she’s] sorry for everything that [she’s] done” and Bieber — over the odd calm created by what sounds like an electronic peacock and a Dembow-ish beat — asking whether it’s too late for redemption, it’s pretty clear that we’re having a bit of a love affair with penitence. And these two songs present us with an opportunity to experience apology from opposite poles — based on the seemingly oppositional ways we perceive these two celebrities.

Bieber is the quintessential celebrity who we pay attention to because of his very celebrity-ish antics, the kind that throb the hearts of tweens (and lead non-tweens to internal battles over whether they just “hate-clicked” or regular-clicked his potentially photoshopped bulge). Adele, on the flip side, is someone whose persona and voice have somehow been equated with a zenith of relatablilty.  She’s your sexually normative, white EveryHuman who pops up every five years and belts 11 four-minute miniatures that somehow sound to us like The Human Condition at its purest — despite or perhaps because of their utter safeness. Alas, we have the disdained celebrity apologizing to us, and the celebrated pseudo-EveryHuman apologizing through us. 

Bieber’s “Sorry” centers on a subject that’s neither sexy nor fun nor fast nor furious; it’s rather just about the kind of mildly sad experience mature human beings concede to having when they recognize their faults. Few things sound less exciting than a track called “Sorry” — apologizing is almost antithetical to pop, which so often focuses on emotional extremes or self-affirmation, while heartfelt apologies tend to be measured, and driven by perhaps the most sexless and least danceable emotion: guilt. Yet one thing that seems to make the mind of anyone who follows pop culture brim with glee — and affirmation — is the celebrity apology.

Despite our knowledge that celebrity apologies are often written by publicists and released predominantly because contrition will spackle a dent left in a celebrity’s reputation, we still revel in calling out celebrities and then seeing — perhaps illusorily — the power we exerted force them to reconsider their behavior or beliefs. After a celebrity gaffe, the Internet collectively stands, figurative arms folded and eyebrows raised, awaiting the moment when the celebrity admits that the people who are upset at them were right. This seems our fastest, newest way to create a bridge between ourselves and celebrities: we probably won’t meet them, but when they’ve been especially sucky, and then we say they’re sucky, and then they release a statement about having been sucky, there is a sense that we can influence the people we simultaneously deify.

Our relationship to Beiber epitomizes this, and so his release of a song called “Sorry” — and the subsequent hugeness of that song — makes a ton of sense. (It’s worth mentioning that Skrillex, Yektro, and Blood Diamonds’ production on the track is astoundingly good, and somehow gives dynamism to such a lyrically tepid song.) The introduction of a piece in Bustle on “Sorry” perfectly exemplifies how Beliebing in this day and age is predicated on an awareness of both his misdeeds and his subsequent remorse:

We have officially entered the age of the Bieber renaissance — the “Bieberenaissance,” if you will. After a few years of little music and a whole lot of bad choices, Justin Bieber has finally gotten his groove back…

Indeed, he made enough bad choices to necessitate a roast that even Steven Soderbergh watched, and thus his comeback — and our open-armed acceptance of it — came through our love of apology. He jettisoned himself back to popularity by giving us this thing we’ve come to love — through song! Sure, the song addresses a specific person, someone who he “let down,” but the hushed way he sings makes the apology sound intimate, like he’s delivering it directly to the listener. Further, pop that brings up nighttime, as “Sorry” does, normally would do so as innuendo — in pop, “tonight” is euphemistic for “tonight when we fuck.” But in “Sorry,” Bieber croons, “So let me, oh let me/ Redeem, oh redeem, oh myself tonight.” Since pop purports to reflect the desires of the People, it seems that we’ve substituted the excitement of sex with the excitement of sorry: here, they’re one and the same.

Meanwhile, the tone of “Hello” is such that no one would ever assume Adele was aiming the apology at them. Rather, the listener gets swept up in Adele’s swaying voice and the wind effects in Xavier Dolan’s accompanying video and feels they’re being beckoned to become Adele — or that they already are Adele. As the hilarious and uncharacteristically on-point SNL sketch above suggests, reactions to “Hello” automatically assumed the song spoke for literally everyone‘s human experience. While Bieber’s “Sorry” gives us fodder for — and even sexualizes — an apology obsession, turning it into a fetish, Adele’s “Hello” practically forces us to identify with the song and experience the catharsis of apology. And if the song itself didn’t force that connection, a popular response to it that was so fervently positive as to seem a form of mass hysteria did. Those of us who didn’t connect suddenly pondered whether we were sociopaths.

Writing for The New Inquiry, Robin James pointed out how the viralness of a video of a “pit bull howling along to a verse and chorus from the song… shows people think ‘Hello”s interpretive horizon is so natural even animals understand the song’s emotions.” Through being lyrically safe — and through the frequent assumption that whiteness and heterosexuality are unspecific — Adele’s song has been equated with such a universality that it’s seen as a positive that our musical taste would be shared with a (very cute) dog.

When we enjoy Bieber’s “Sorry,” we’re fulfilling the common desire to see pedestal-dwelling celebrities apologize. But Adele’s “Hello” and its attendant fervor allow us to get caught up in the apologizing, amplifying the gesture to near-spiritual levels of intensity (despite it all being about an apologetic phone call placed years after the end of a relationship). Bieber’s voice acknowledges the mild, pop-unworthiness of the act while his instrumentation turns it into something that beguiles the ears — making the apology almost sound personalized. Adele’s voice, meanwhile, dramatizes the seemingly undramatic act to the extent that the listener connects emotionally to it.

Songs florid and popular enough that they would once have inevitably been about sex, or love, are suddenly about the act of apologizing. “Sorry,” a word that may never have seemed worthy of dance-floor excitement or ballad-set exaltation, seems to be experiencing a powerful reign in pop. And our ecstatic reactions to these songs suggest that everyone — celebrities, the rest of us plebes — will do it, and everyone will love it. Or must. 

An amazingly clear pond is drawing tourists from around the world to Seki, Japan.

Despite the diversity initiatives of many Silicon Valley tech firms, sexual harassment is still alive and well.

On the first day, God created the line.

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