🌞 Potion of Love – May 27 2022

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00am ET. .

The Lead: Food Shortage Fears

credit: getty

The United Nations says that the world has about 10 weeks' worth of grain for us all, prompting fears of severe food shortages. Is this true or is it fear-mongering? Who is to blame? 

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department says that the food crisis is not linked to Russian sanctions. He said that sanctions were “designed to allow for the export of agricultural commodities and fertilizer for Russia.” 

He’s right, the Treasury shows that food and fertilizer is on the list of things that are exempted from sanctions. 

Russia says it is prepared to begin food exports out of the seaports it now controls in Ukraine and if the West has been accepting Russian food all this time, why wouldn’t it let them do this? 

It seems like a lot of politics are being played with starvation as a consequence for the poorest among us. 

Bright Lights Small City

credit: extra space

New census data shows that many people who left big cities during the pandemic did not go back. In the nine biggest U.S. cities, the population fell by 1.7%. According to the Wall Street Journal, here is how these numbers shake out: 

“New York, the nation’s largest city, lost 3.5% of its residents, or about 305,000 people. The second-largest city, Los Angeles, lost 1%, or 41,000 people, while the third-largest, Chicago, lost 1.6%, or 45,000 people. San Francisco’s population fell 6.3%, a loss of 55,000 people. It and Chicago have lost so many people that their populations have fallen close to their 2010 levels.”

Experts say that millennials in their child-bearing years are seeking out more space and better schools, which they can’t find in cities. This leaves governments to worry about small businesses that depend on urban workers such as lunch counters and transportation hubs. Not worried enough to help them out or anything. 

The only large U.S. cities that saw population growth were Phoenix and San Antonio. 

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All One Big Cabal

credit: latimes

The word “cabal” is becoming more mainstream. We’ve seen it pop up in a lot of reports and not just by the conspiracy theorists. 

Most recently, the Los Angeles Times reports that an FBI investigation is looking into Disney as a “cabal.” 

What is a cabal?

It is an unelected group of powerful people influencing society for their own gain. They don’t have to have secret naked meetings where they sacrifice virgins and livestock. 

In the case of Disney, executives are accused of influencing politics in the city of Anaheim, where Disneyland is located. The FBI alleges that a group of Disney executives regularly met and influenced city council. A city council member told the LA Times that it is the “worst kept secret in town.”

Another recent report showed that Brexit was orchestrated by a cabal. 

Cabals are not a good thing for democracy. One could argue that the Davos World Economic Forum is a meeting of a cabal but at least it is out there in the open for us all to judge them for eating $22 fries. 

One Size Does Not Fit All 

credit: wsj

Old Navy’s “inclusive” sizing concept was not a fit. The company’s parent company, Gap, reported disappointing earnings yesterday led by losses from Old Navy.

The inclusive sizing concept went like this: No petite or plus size separate sections of the store. All sizes from 0 to 30 were put in one place and priced the same. This is a good idea but it didn’t scale well in the stores. Old Navy ended up with too many items in the smallest and biggest sizes and people in the middle could not find items in their sizes because it all sold out too fast. 

Old Navy then had to struggle to move the extra small and extra-large clothing to discount racks and hope that they moved fast enough to keep up with newer items. It was a mess. 

Customers appreciated the effort. We all deal with body issues when we go to the racks but those issues may be compounded when the only size there is big and small and nothing in between. 

Gap lost $162 million in sales in the first quarter of 2022 compared with a profit of $166 million at the same time last year. 

News By The Numbers

$50. That is the price of a burrito in Davos, Switzerland where the world’s most powerful businesspeople are meeting this week.

48 days. That is how many days in prison a Texas man was sentenced to because he masturbated on a Southwest flight. 

60%. That is how many women would rather suffer at work than ask their boss for leniency over their period. 

What's Trending?

Ray Liotta is trending because the actor died in his sleep at the age of 67. 

Depeche Mode is trending because keyboardist Andy Fletcher died from “natural causes” at the age of 60.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is trending because the series is now out on Disney+.

Broken heart syndrome is trending on the news that the husband of one of the murdered school teachers died just two days after her of a heart attack. His family said that he died of a broken heart and if your heart doesn’t feel that one, you’re a bot. Just when you think this story can’t get any sadder. 

Andor is trending because of this new Star Wars series which will stream later this summer on Disney+.

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